Dictation - Introduction

On the next page, you’ll do your first dictation: listen to audio, pause, and write what you heard. It will be a challenge for you. Therefore here a few words to help you through the difficult part. The moment you get the hang of this exercise you will love it. It's extremely powerful and it's worth every ounce of pain you will go through. Let me ease your pain pre-emptively:

Listening

Endings like “ein” vs. “einen” oder "den" vs. "dem" can’t really be heard — even by natives. You’ll learn to "hear" them through grammar and memory.

Writing

After a few sessions, correct spelling of the more frequent words will come naturally. Your brain absorbs patterns without additional effort.

Reading

You read what you write — often. That alone improves your ability to recognize patterns, make better guesses about what comes next and familiarity with the structure. This will improve your understanding and thefore later your ability to speak more fluently.

Grammar

You’ll probably make many mistakes in the beginning. That is absolutely expected throughout this course. Don't focus too much on getting everything right. Celebrate the little wins. Keep writing your dictations — you won't regret it.