In April, recent graduate Jason Young took first place at the annual French competition held by the Alliance Francaise of Santa Clara Valley, for which he received a prize of $400. The contest, open to high school senior non-native French speakers, was held at San Jose City College and tested participants on their written and oral abilities. During the timed written portion, students wrote an essay about a novel of their choice. The oral portion had the students hold a 10-minute conversation with two of the contest’s judges.