'Total Dictation 2018' Comes to Belgorod

260 residents of Belgorod participated in this annual test of literacy, which is normally held at the Pedagogical Institute's Faculty of History and Philology. This year saw another venue added in the new campus, the Faculty of Journalism. People of all ages took part, from schoolchildren and students, to pensioners. 106 competitors came to the university for testing.

The text for Total Dictation this year was an excerpt from the novel 'My Children' by Guzel Yakhina. The text was dictated by Dr Svetlana Narozhnaya, a member of the Union of Journalists, an expert on the history of Russian and regional journalism, and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Journalism, and Dr Svetlana Petrova, Assistant Professor at the Pedagogical Institute's Department of Theory, Pedagogy and Methodology of Primary Education and Fine Arts.
Participants expressed their satisfaction with the organisation of the competition and the way the dictation was conducted.

“I came to Total Dictation for the first time in order to test myself and eliminate gaps in my knowledge. It really helps to know your result and to be able to work on your mistakes.” said Yulia Ustinova, a student at the Pedagogical Institute.

Dr Kira Stebunova, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Theory, Pedagogy and Methodology of Primary Education and Fine Arts, said that ten residents of Belgorod received the highest grade of 5, while about half achieved a 2, which is considered a normal mark, and many more people scored 4 than did in last year's competition.
The results will be posted on the Total Dictation website.

N.B.

The first Total Dictation competition was held at Novosibirsk State University on 11^th March 2004. Each year the competition grows to accommodate the increasing number of people wishing to raise the level of their literacy. This year saw participants enter from 80 countries around the world. The results for Total Dictation 2018 will be posted on totaldict.ru after 18^th April.