Pupils from La Jolie Ronde, a language centre that offers French to pre-school and primary school children aged between four and 11 years, gathered at Strathclyde Park in North Lanarkshire on 1 June to sing a three-minute French song.
The children, from Linlithgow, Falkirk, Dunoon, Paisley, Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Edinburgh, took part in the event to help raise money for young children suffering from sleeping sickness in the French Congo.
Speaking at the event, Lesley Clarke, La Jolie Ronde tutor, said, 'The children have fun and we cannot stop them from singing a lot of the time, so we thought we would put this natural energy to good use. Helping other French-speaking children was a natural thing to do, and it's great to have achieved a world record.'
The event was held in association with the charity Medicins sans Frontieres and marks the beginning of a fundraising campaign by La Jolie Ronde classes in Scotland. The initiative has already received assistance from the French Consulate, footballers Neil MacFarlane of Hearts FC and Didier Agathe of Celtic FC, a French national, the actor Alistair Satchel and North Lanarkshire Council.
La Jolie Ronde French programmes are also used alongside curriculum classes else- where in Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, Indonesia, South America and Japan.
Colette LeClerq Hallam, founder and director of La Jolie Ronde, said, 'Learning French can help with personal, social and emotional development, knowledge and understanding of the word and physical development. The earlier you start teaching children French, the better.'
For more information, contact La Jolie Ronde, 43 Long Acre, Bingham, Nottingham NG13 8AG (tel: 01949 839715, e-mail info@lajolieronde.co.uk,website www.lajolieronde.co.uk).
For more information, contact La Jolie Ronde Ltd, 43 Long Acre, Bingham, Nottingham NG13 8AG, tel: 01949 839715, email: info@lajolieronde.co.uk,or visit www.lajolieronde.co.uk.
