La Trousse d'Expédition · Bilingua Quest — Pilot Kit v1
One exceptional 45-minute quest for 4–6 adults, downtown Fredericton. Print, cut, host. The whole pilot fits in an envelope.
🎻 Rendez-vous du jeudi — Dolan's Pub, 18 h. Chaque semaine.Thursday rendez-vous — Dolan's Pub, 6 pm. Every week.
How to use this kit: print it (button below), cut the cards, recruit 4–6 adults (18+) and one host, and run the quest as written. Run it weekly for 4 weeks with ~30 adults total, measure only the five numbers on the last sheet, and you'll know whether Bilingua deserves to be software. Design rationale: DESIGN-EXPEDITIONS.md in the repo.
1 · The host sheet (read this first)
The promise you are choreographing
Strangers arrive safely → know instantly what to do → need one another to succeed → laugh within five minutes → leave expecting to meet again. Your job is the sequence, not the French. French-first, never French-punitive.
Check-in (10 min before)
Hub: the Officers' Square gazebo (rain backup: inside the Fredericton Public Library entrance, 12 Carleton St — confirm with staff that week).
Greet each arrival by name from the registration list. Minimum party of 4 — below that, convert to a café conversation and still count it.
Each player signs the participation & photo-consent sheet (section 6), draws a role card, keeps their 3 rescue phrases, and sets a correction-consent card face-up where the group can see it.
Say once, out loud: « On peut partir quand on veut, sans explication. » ("Anyone may leave at any time, no explanation needed.")
During (the host's only 4 jobs)
Keep time (15 min per location, gentle).
Enforce consent cards kindly if anyone slips ("elle a la carte 🕊️ ce soir !").
Rescue anyone who dominates by handing them L'Observateur's spotting card for the next leg.
Tally French-speaking turns per person, roughly (tick marks — imprecise is fine).
Check-out (at the café)
The funniest phrase of the night is voted, read aloud, and written on the postcard.
The group votes the next expedition's date before anyone leaves.
Contact exchange is opt-in and player-to-player only — the host never collects or shares numbers.
Everyone checked out by name.
Alcohol policy (read verbatim to hosts)
The expedition formally ends on arrival at the final venue; drinks afterward are an optional social extension, everyone buying their own from the licensed venue (which carries the service duty).
The organizer and hosts never buy rounds, supply alcohol, or encourage drinking. If someone appears impaired, the host offers taxi/safe-ride information.
Pub-ending variants are 19+ (New Brunswick's drinking age), even though the game itself is 18+. Café and alcohol-free endings (Chess Piece Pâtisserie, the library) are 18+ and run at least once per month.
Route accessibility (this quest)
Distance
Duration
Terrain
Step-free
Seating
Washrooms
Sensory
In/out
~900 m
45 min
Paved sidewalks, flat
Yes, fully
Officers' Sq., ending café
Ending café; City Hall (daytime)
Low–moderate (street noise)
Outdoor ×2, indoor ×1
A support person may always join (doesn't count against party size). Quiet-mode variant: swap Location 2's crier for the written version on its card.
2 · The six role cards (cut; players draw blind; roles rotate next time)
Le Guide rôle 1/6
You alone hold the route. You may describe, never point.
You know: Location 2 is « là où les livres dorment dehors » — the Little Free Library box on the Queen St side of Officers' Square; Location 3 is the partner café (host told you which).
Give directions only in French; gestures forbidden (for you!).
Objectif secret : get the whole group to cross one street without you saying « gauche » or « droite » once.
L'Archiviste rôle 2/6
You hold the history. One of your facts is absurd. Sell it straight.
Your clues: (1) Officers' Square held military parades for over a century. (2) The Wolastoq's name means "beautiful river." (3) In 1897, a moose was elected deputy mayor of Fredericton for one afternoon.
The group must decide which is false — they must ask you questions in French to probe.
Objectif secret : defend the moose story for at least two full minutes.
Le/La Diplomate rôle 3/6
Only you may address strangers and staff — in French first, always politely.
At Location 3, you must secure from the café staff: the group's order, one recommendation, and one napkin « pour un document officiel » (the postcard).
Objectif secret : learn the first name of one person who is not in your group.
L'Observateur·rice rôle 4/6
You hold the spotting list. One item on it does not exist.
Find, between locations: une porte rouge · un vélo attaché · une affiche bilingue · un chien qui sourit · une statue de castor.
The group must talk you out of the fake one — in French.
Objectif secret : insist the beaver statue exists until at least two people have argued with you.
Le/La Trouble-fête rôle 5/6
You carry one complication. Deploy it exactly once, anywhere.
Your complication: « Pendant deux minutes, tout le monde parle seulement en questions. » (Two minutes: everyone may only speak in questions.)
Objectif secret : deploy it at the least convenient possible moment.
Le/La Gardien·ne des mots rôle 6/6
You guard the group's magic. Spend it wisely.
You hold: the group's 3 emergency phrases (below), the mime token (30 s of gestures, always legal), and LA phrase anglaise — one full English sentence for the whole quest. When it's spent, it's spent.
Objectif secret : finish the quest with the English sentence unspent. If you do, the group earns the « Purs et durs » cheer.
3 · Correction-consent cards (one per player, face-up; change any time)
✅
Corrige-moi souvent
Correct me often — it helps.
⚖️
Seulement si on ne se comprend pas
Only when meaning breaks.
🧭
Aide-moi à trouver les mots
Help me find words — don't correct.
🕊️
Ce soir, je veux juste parler
Tonight, I just want to speak.
4 · The quest script — « Le Carnet du kiosque » (host copy)
Lieu 1 — Officers' Square gazebo (15 min)
Host reads the hook: « En 1969, la plus belle conversation de Fredericton a eu lieu ici même. Quelqu'un l'a notée. Le vent a fait le reste. Ce soir, on la reconstitue. »
Challenge 1 — Le vrai du faux : L'Archiviste presents the three facts; the group interrogates (in French) and votes which is false. Any vote is "correct" — the debate was the game. Reward: the host hands over Page 1 of the night's carnet (any beautiful line — improvise or reuse the game's: « Deux langues, une rivière. »).
Trouble-fête may strike at any time from here on.
Lieu 2 — the Little Free Library, Queen St side (15 min)
Le Guide must get the group here without pointing. L'Observateur·rice hunts the spotting list en route.
Challenge 2 — Le mot interdit : at the book box, each player describes (in French) a book they love without saying its title or the word « livre ». The group guesses. Two minutes each, laughter mandatory, accuracy optional.
Reward: Page 2 (« Le courage, c'est une phrase à la fois. »).
Lieu 3 — the partner café (15 min + stay as long as you like)
Le/La Diplomate handles the counter (order, recommendation, official napkin).
Challenge 3 — La grande jasette : around the table, each person completes, in French: « La chose la plus courageuse que j'ai dite cette année, c'est… » (The bravest thing I said this year was…). No corrections during this round regardless of cards — 🕊️ rules for everyone.
Vote the funniest phrase of the night → write it on the postcard → vote the next date → check-out.
The three emergency phrases (Gardien·ne's card)
« Pouvez-vous répéter plus lentement ? »Can you repeat more slowly?
« Comment on dit ___ en français ? »How do you say ___ in French?
« Attends — je l'ai, je l'ai… » Wait — I've got it, I've got it… (buys ten glorious seconds)
5 · The five numbers (measure nothing else)
#
Metric
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
1
Registered → showed up (%)
2
Quest completed (%)
3
French turns per person (host tally, rough)
4
Consent-based contact exchanges (count)
5
Re-registered within 14 days (%)
Green light for v1 software: ≥60% completion and ≥25% 14-day return. Anything else: change the quest, not the mission.
6 · Participation & photo consent (one per player per night)
DRAFT — not legal advice. Have this reviewed by a New Brunswick–licensed lawyer before public use. See LEGAL-ANALYSIS.md.
I am 18 or older. I am choosing to join a free, volunteer-run community walking activity of about 45 minutes on public sidewalks and in public places in downtown Fredericton. I understand ordinary walking risks (weather, surfaces, traffic) apply and that I am responsible for my own safety, belongings, and any purchases. I can leave at any time without explanation. The organizers are volunteers and this is a free community activity; to the extent permitted by law, I release the organizers and hosts from claims arising from ordinary risks of this activity. This is not a waiver of rights I cannot waive by law.
Photos: ☐ Yes, photos including me may be shared publicly ☐ Photos are OK but don't identify me ☐ No photos of me.
7 · Venue permission note (send/hand to the ending café a week ahead)
Bonjour ! I run Bilingua Quest, a free community activity helping Fredericton adults practice French. On around , a group of 4–6 adults would like to end our walking quest at your venue — each buying their own order, staying about 30–45 minutes, at whatever table suits you. We'd love your team's French-speakers to say bonjour, and we'll happily leave if you're slammed. May we? — Kurt Goddard, kurtrgoddard@gmail.com
8 · The expedition postcard (one per party per night)
Expédition n° — Fredericton
Date : · Météo : · Prénoms (si tout le monde veut) :
La phrase la plus drôle de la soirée :
« »
✶ Photograph this card, not each other (unless everyone signed yes). Share it anywhere — it names no one and locates nothing. That's the point.