The Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan hosted a solemn ceremony of awarding the winners and prize-winners of the French Language Olympiad, annually organized jointly by the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and the French Institute at the French Embassy in Turkmenistan.

Prize-winning places among schoolchildren of Ashgabat were distributed as follows: in the category from 3rd to 7th grade, Melissa Tribunskaya won the first place, the second - Amaliya Arutyunova, students of school № 27. The third place was given to Suleyman Guvanjov (school № 7).

In the category from 8 to 11 grades, Ramina Hasanova won the first place, Lidiya Bagdasarova, a representative of school № 27, took the second place. The third place went to Aynur Amandurdyyeva, a student of school № 7.

The results of the students of the schools of the velayats of Turkmenistan are as follows:

The Grand Prix of the Olympiad was won by Servi Bairamaliyeva, a student of school № 3 in Dashoguz. Four schoolchildren received the first prize of the competition: Bahar Atajanova (school № 3 in Turkmenabat), Sheker Shohradova (school № 36 in Kerki), Aganyyaz Mergenov (school № 10 in Mary) and Gulsenem Nagimova (school № 10 in Dashoguz) .

Among the winners of the competition are two students of the French Institute in Turkmenistan - Milana Serdyukova and Aynur Kulova, as well as students of the French school MLF-Bouygues - Evangeline Reshov and Serafin U. Each of these students, who performed in the categories of junior and senior classes, received the first prize of the competition.

The winners were presented with laptops from the French companies «Bouygues Turkmen», «TotalEnergie» and «VINCI Construction». The winners of the Olympiad received valuable prizes and gifts from a number of other partners and sponsors of the project. Among them are the embassies of different countries in Turkmenistan - Armenia, Romania, Ukraine, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada, as well as private foreign companies - «Tissot», «Eurocosmetics», «Bossan Concept», «Alliance» / «Boutique de Paris», «La Tartine cafe» and «Dessange» beauty salon.

The French Language Olympiad among schoolchildren of Turkmenistan with the study of French is held for the third year in a row at the end of the academic year, in April-May. Pupils of 12 schools of the capital became permanent participants of the competition. Among them are 9 schools in Ashgabat where French is taught, as well as the International School of Ashgabat, the French school MLF-Bouygues and the French Institute in Turkmenistan.

This year, for the first time, representatives of velayat schools with the study of French took part in the Olympiad. In this way, the students of seven more schools from different parts of the country - the cities of Dashoguz, Mary, Turkmenabad and Kerki demonstrated their knowledge of the French language in the competition. In total, 460 Turkmen schoolchildren performed at the Olympiad this year.

The first round was held in the form of testing, the level of students' preparation was also assessed on the basis of a dictation in French. In the second final round of the Olympiad, the contestants were offered oral testing on the topic «Temps», which means «weather» or «time». For participants from the capital, the final was held in Ashgabat School № 4, which specializes in teaching French. Schoolchildren from the velayats took part in the final test in an online format.

French, spoken by over 320 million people, is the fifth most spoken language on our planet. More than 130 million people study French, making it the second most popular learning language in the world after English.

French language competitions are aimed at further developing and stimulating the interest of young people in learning the language of international communication, as well as the wide popularization of the French language, literature, culture and history of France.

The French language Olympiads are held both in Turkmenistan and in many countries of the world and are organized by the representative offices of France with the support of the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF), in which the cooperation of the French-speaking countries of the world has been successfully established. Today, the OIF unites 88 participating countries.