Question for French speakers

[Yudan Taiteki]

I'm taking a graduate reading French course, and we're looking at the following article:
http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/Locales/Loos ... renn.shtml

The only part I don't understand is this: "> Pas difficile. « Ce n'est pas aussi compliqué qu'on le croit », répondent en coeur les terminales du lycée Beaupré quand on leur demande si l'apprentissage du chinois est difficile."

What I have now is:
Not difficult. “It is not as complicated as people believe.” responded an administrator of Beaupre high school when asked if learning Chinese is difficult.

But I don't think I have the right meaning of "en coeur les terminales". Can anyone help?

[JaySee]

I'm not a native speaker, but I think I might know what's being said.

You need to split 'les terminales en coeur' up in two parts. 'Les terminales' (final year high school students) is the subject of répondent, 'en coeur' tells you how 'les terminales répondent'.

Where did you get 'an administrator' from in your translation?

[Yudan Taiteki]

Where did you get 'an administrator' from in your translation?

That was a total guess; I had just thrown something in there while I was translating the rest, it seemed to sort of fit the context although I knew it was wrong. Thanks for your help.

So is "en coeur" = "by heart" or "in unison"? "Responding by heart" still doesn't really seem to make that much sense but it's better than before, I guess "in unison" is more sensible.

[Monal]

"Les terminales" or "les étudiants en terminale" corresponds to last year students. "En coeur" means something like "together". It is often used in the expression "chanter en coeur", which means "to sing a song with other people".

It could not be used in another context. For example, "danser en coeur" (to dance) would not make any sense. It has to have something to do with people using their voice.

[Monal]

So is "en coeur" = "by heart" or "in unison"? "Responding by heart" still doesn't really seem to make that much sense but it's better than before, I guess "in unison" is more sensible.

"By heart" would be "par coeur" . "En coeur" would mean "in unison".