Dictation
Hearing a sentence and writing it down in Spanish, every word spelt right.
Learn
Dictation, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how the dictation is set and marked
Dictation is Section B of the listening paper with both boards. AQA's is 8 marks at Foundation, with at least 20 words in all, and 10 marks at Higher, with at least 30; you hear each sentence three times, once whole, once in short sections, then whole again, and it is marked across all the sentences for how well the meaning comes across (AO1) and how accurately the words and grammar are transcribed (AO3). Edexcel's is 10 marks at both tiers: six short sentences, the first three at Foundation and the first two at Higher with single words to fill in, marked on one scale by the number of words you spell right.
Use the three hearings for three different jobs
On the first hearing, listen for the meaning and jot only a skeleton if it helps. On the second, in short sections, write each section as it comes. On the third, check: add accents and endings, and any small word such as de, el or que that slipped past.
Spell from the Spanish sound rules, not from English
Spanish spelling follows its sounds closely, so the rules let you write even a word you have never seen. The throaty h sound is j before a, o and u (jamón), and g or j before e and i (gente, jefe). The th sound of think is z before a, o and u or at the end of a word (zapato, vez), and c before e and i (cine). Ll sounds like the y in yes, and ñ like the ny in canyon.
Remember the letters you cannot hear
The h is always silent, so hay, hermano and hora all start with a letter you will not hear. A k sound before e or i is written qu with a silent u (quiero, quince), and a hard g before e or i is gu (guitarra). Learn the common silent-h words by sight.
Use the grammar to fix endings and small words
The meaning helps the spelling. If the sentence is about mis amigas, the verb is plural and the adjectives end in -as: mis amigas son simpáticas. Listen for el, la, los and las to decide gender and number, and make everything around them agree.
Put in the accents, the ñ and the opening question marks
Accents are part of the spelling: está means is and esta means this, while sí is yes and si is if. The ñ is a letter of its own, so año and mañana need it. A question opens with ¿ and an exclamation with ¡, so put both marks in.
Have a go at the two words from outside the list
Every dictation includes two words that are not on the vocabulary list. You can still spell them, because Spanish is mostly written as it sounds: write what you hear using the sound rules. A sensible spelling keeps the meaning moving, so never leave a gap.
Dictation key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Dictation
- A listening task where you write down in Spanish exactly what you hear. At GCSE it is marked for meaning and for accurate spelling and grammar.
- Communication of meaning
- The first thing a dictation is marked for (AO1): whether what you wrote would let a reader understand what was said.
- Transcription
- Writing spoken words down in their written form. In the dictation it is marked for accurate spelling and grammar (AO3).
- Silent h
- The Spanish h is never pronounced, so words like hay and hablar have to be remembered by sight.
- Tilde
- The wavy line on ñ, which makes it a separate letter with the ny sound of canyon, as in España and mañana.
- Written accent
- The mark over a vowel, as in está or música, which shows the stressed syllable or tells apart two words that sound alike.
- Agreement
- Making endings match: a plural subject takes a plural verb, and adjectives match their noun in gender and number, as in las casas blancas.
- ¿ and ¡
- The upside-down marks that open every Spanish question and exclamation, as in ¿Dónde vives? and ¡Qué bien!.
Common mistakes in Dictation
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Spelling a sound the English way, such as kiero for quiero or yamo for llamo.
Learn the Spanish spelling of each sound: a k sound before e or i is qu, and the y sound in me llamo is spelt ll. For words on the list, picture how you have seen them written.
Writing s for z or c by ear, as in sapato for zapato.
In Spain, z and a c before e or i sound like the th in think, not like s. Hear the th and spell it z before a, o and u or at the end of a word, and c before e and i.
Leaving out the silent h, writing ay for hay or ermano for hermano.
You never hear an h, so learn the common ones by sight: hay, hacer, hablar, hermano, hora and hoy. On the last hearing, ask whether each word starting with a vowel sound needs one.
Dropping accents and the ñ, so está becomes esta and año loses its tilde.
Accents and the ñ are part of the spelling and count towards accuracy. Use the final hearing to listen for the stress and put in every accent you know the word needs.
Leaving a gap for a word you did not catch or do not know.
The dictation is marked as a whole, and a sensible attempt can still carry the meaning. Write the word as it sounds using the sound rules, and fix it on the next hearing if you can.