A 102 square metre blackboard, a 6,600 square metre classroom and no fewer than 1,779 desks: thousands of people aged between 10 and 92 took part in a giant dictation on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Sunday, transformed into a huge classroom. The event received over 50,000 entries and is a world first. Of the entries, 5,100 people were drawn at random to take part in one of the three major dictations, i.e. 1,779 participants per exercise. The "Grande dictée des Champs" (the giant dictation of the Champs-Elysees) is an opportunity to test one's spelling and celebrate the French language. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES