Language Learning Tips #1: Dictation

Hello!

It has been a while since my last column. I was enjoying the festive season - this is a term we use to refer to the Christmas and New Year season that we have just celebrated. I had a lot of fun visiting friends in Germany, going to Christmas markets and eating and drinking all the good things like mince pies, mulled wine, cheese and crackers and Christmas dinner (turkey, roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy) and of course getting to spend quality time with friends.

But, today's column is not about Christmas or New Year. I thought I would start the year with a language learning tip. I am learning Korean and I teach English, so I am very interested in how to learn a language effectively. I read different opinions from people about what has and has not worked for them. Something new that I have started doing is dictation. This is such a challenge for me!

Dictation is a method of language learning that was quite popular in the past, but it lost popularity because it was very "teacher-centred" - focussed on the teacher. However, it still has some very beneficial aspects to it. And you can do it without a teacher.

So what is dictation exactly? Dictation is listening to a native speaker and writing down what they say. Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately not. As language learners, we often miss a lot of what native speakers say. Dictation helps you to practise listening, writing, spelling and grows your grammar knowledge as well as tests your memory and focus.

When I started doing dictation, I realised how bad my memory was even for short sentences in Korean. My spelling was terrible! But, it also helped me listen more carefully and I was able to hear and see the grammar. This method has helped me remember the way words sound, how they are spelt and how the grammar sounds when spoken by a native speaker.

Here are some tips if you want to practise dictation.

Choose something very simple to listen to that has a transcript. I use beginner-level native speaker YouTube videos.
Focus on one sentence at a time.
Choose something that you have listened to before to make it easier.
If you don't hear everything perfectly the first time, try to write down the idea of the sentence using what you know already and what you understood.
Slow down the video and repeat the sentence a few times.
Check what you have missed using the transcript.

I would recommend doing dictation once a week. It is a useful tool for so many things and really tests your knowledge of the language! You can also practise shadowing (see my Pronunciation column) using the sentences you used for your dictation practice.

Let me know if you try it and what your thoughts are. Thanks for reading!