French language students over the course of March have taken a more musical approach to March Madness. Manie Musicale is a ranking of French songs that students around the world vote to decide the best French song in the bracket.
Voting which took place in the French classroom over the course of March and into Aprill, narrowing the list of 16 songs down to one winning song, the votes were based off of what students wanted to win.
LHS French teacher Amy Ryan hopes the songs will bring fun into the classroom while still helping students learn the French language.
“It’s in a language class so the idea is, just a fun and hopefully engaging thing to do in a kind of a blah time of year.You can use the different songs to, like, study certain concepts when it comes to vocabulary or grammar,” said Ryan.
The musical aspect connects with students. Though this year’s song choice has been lackluster.
“It is a cool way to explore more music but the songs aren’t as good as last year,’’ said sophomore French student Josh Spray.
While seeming similar to the basketball competition March Madness, Manie Musicale is distinctly different.
“You have a bracket, and then it narrows down to the final winner. But it’s not based on who wins the game. It’s based on students voting on their favorite song out of two. Every time there’s a matchup of two songs, so one song moves on, you know, and then it gets narrowed down to the winning song,” said Ryan.
Manie Musicale is not limited to just LHS students, students all over participate.
“There’s 38 countries participating, all 50 states, almost all Canadian provinces. So there’s a lot of kids out there in their French class participating,” said Ryan.
Manie Musicale was originally started in Maine back in 2017 but over the course of 9 years has expanded.
The contest is a mix of songs from French speaking countries around the world, songs are chosen with the goal of expanding students’ cultural exposure and vocabulary.
“If I can get the kids to sing along, sometimes, even if one, they’re one song, you know the best, like it helps them learn, even if it’s just a couple phrases that stick in their mind. So it is a good vehicle for some amount of language,” said Ryan.
Winning in Manie musicale isn’t all about getting the perfect bracket, a winner is chosen by who got the closet bracket.
“I give out prizes for best bracket, and also I give out a prize for the worst bracket, which is usually like a certificate and some candy,” said Ryan.
This year’s winning song was “Toucher la lune” by Maheva, with “Je rentre à la maison” by Boulevard des air as the runner up.
