Lee Pei-wha, a professor from the French Department, who is also the secretary in chief of the French Teacher Association, Taiwan, led 26 students to attend a dinner gala celebrating the “French-speaking Day” on March 18 in Taipei. Apart from local students, delegates from 8 Franco-phone countries also attended the event to honor such a special day that is celebrated by over 100 French-speaking countries worldwide.

On this night, a Chanson competition was staged. Four of TKU students chose a love song, “Sous le Vent” to demonstrate their repertoire and two of them, Juan Hai-lung and Lee Song-pai even won the number one for their beautiful voice. Other TKU students also fared pretty well at the competition, they got number 8, for instance.

It was a memorable evening packed with audiences and participants despite the cold weather outside. A drum troupe from Burkina Faso of West Africa, AAKZB—Artistic Association Kaam Zong Bangre, opened the celebration with their hip-hop flavored drumbeats igniting the crowd with an unusual but extremely sensual sound. Other high lights included the comic performances from several pupils from various Taipei high schools singing familiar tunes such as “Promenons-nous dans les bois” and “Les Champs-Ely-sees”.

Another band from France, ARDIVELLE, entertained the crowd with a wide range of songs—from crooning to folksy music—they all had a way of charming the audiences. Among one of their songs, the Director of Belgian Office, Taiwan, Hugues Mignot suddenly whirled Professor Lee to the center stage for a dance that won a standing ovation. In the end, the gala was closed by AAKZB fusion music that in a sense epitomizes the whole event—a French-speaking day, which bridges the old and new world, and no language can exist alone. (Ying-hsueh Hu )

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