How to teach dictations in a fun way [2 min read]

Dictations are a great way of checking students' understanding of phonics in MFL lessons, but can be a bit dry if taught the same way each time.

In October 2024, I hosted a workshop all about how to teach dictations in a fun way, with lots of great ideas for how to "train" your students for the dictation element of the new GCSE, and 12 engaging games and activities to make dictations a bit less... well, boring!

You can purchase the workshop with my CPD bundle here, or with Buy Everything.

Here are 3 of these fun activities to practise dictations with your students - they all work with a range of students and languages, from beginners to GCSE, and even A Level.

1. Pair Work Dictation and Reading Aloud - Split the class into pairs. Partner A reads the first half of a text, Partner B writes it down, then they switch roles. Start with gap-fill, then you can progress to full texts.
2. Running Dictation - Post sentences around the room. Students work in pairs. One reads and memorises a sentence, runs back to dictate it to their partner who writes it down. Can be done as a competition.
3. Picture Dictation - Teacher describes a picture in the target language. Students draw the picture based on the description. Good for practising GCSE photo cards, and especially colours, adjectives, and the present continuous tense (in Spanish). At the end, show the picture for comparison. Write out your description beforehand to ensure consistency!

If you'd like to know how to really embed phonics teaching into an outstanding lesson, then you'll want to get your hands on my self-paced course "Structuring an Outstanding MFL Lesson", which walks you through how to include phonics and dictations into your lessons in a meaningful way, not just another afterthought or add-on.