The aim of dictatext
Dictatext is for intermediate students of English as a foreign language who want to take their English to a higher level.
The shorter texts can be memorised using dictation and other exercises. This helps students to internalise details of the language, such as adjective choices or particular verb patterns which even quite advanced learners fail to reproduce accutately.
The method
Dictatext is based on a method for language learning and development technique used in the former Soviet and Eastern-European educational systems.
The technique aids language acquisition through memorisation, rather than through learning grammar rules and memorising vocabulary lists.
Many learners have said that memorising texts has given them language that they are later able to produce automatically they need it. In other words, they have internalised the language they want to learn.
Recent research into language aquisition has also highighted the effectiveness of text memorisation.
The kinds of text used
The core texts for memorisation are short texts written to focus on particular grammatical or lexical aspects of the language.
In addition, the website features some longer ‘authentic’ texts with a spoken version and exercises to reproduce the written text. Once the student has become reasonably familiar with the text, there are exercises to focus on aspects of its language as well as short dictations for memorisation of a part of the text or that exemplify some aspects of language that have featured in the text.
A note on understanding the texts
Dictatext does not offer complex explanations of grammar or translations. Students should therefore use translation software, dictionaries and grammar books to help them understand the texts before memorisation.