Dakar the new French capital?

2008-07-24 16:42

Daniel Magnowski

Dakar - French speakers from around the globe gathered in Senegalese capital Dakar this week to show their mastery of the language at the 37th Francophone Scrabble World Championships.

The heat of a West African summer may not be the traditional setting for parlour games and wordplay, but the board game has a huge following across the French-speaking world.

Tournament hosts said the chance to play in the game - where players earn points for building words from randomly selected one-letter blocks - drew around 500 entrants to Dakar for this year's competition.

"I feel like I am representing my country," said competitor Ibrahim Ndiaye, a 65-year old from Dakar, wearing the green, yellow and red of the Senegalese flag.

"I play for the pleasure of learning and forming words. I feel I am participating in the evolution of the French language."

French is not a home language

Senegal's love of the word game - President Abdoulaye Wade is patron of the Senegalese Scrabble Federation - is especially unusual given that French is not widely spoken outside the workplace.

"It's the official language, but most Senegalese speak Wolof at home, which is unlike other countries in the region, where French is spoken among families," said Khalifa Diop, 52, who teaches French in Senegal.

"Certain words are very familiar in French, but in reality we don't have them here. It's part of the game you have to cultivate, learning new words," he said.

Competition organisers announced Frenchman Pascal Frisch as winner of the quickfire Blitz format, beating local contender Ndongo Samba Sylla - himself a former world champion - into fourth place. For many at the championships, the event is as much about broadening the mind as battling for glory.

"It's always new, it's never the same game twice, and you can re-use in normal life the vocabulary you learn," said Christelle Billon, visiting Dakar from Toulouse.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

- Reuters