Method guide
Write from Dictation: the method
A short sentence, played once, typed from memory. Every correctly spelled word is a point, and by our estimate it is among the largest contributors to both Writing and Listening. This is the method: how to listen, when to type, how grammar gives back the words you missed, and the two-column log that fixes the rest.
What this guide covers
The Write from Dictation task page explains the format, how the scoring counts correct words and the mistakes that cost the most. This guide is the method: what to do while the audio plays, what to do the moment it stops, how to recover words you did not catch, and how to practise so that the fifteen or twenty words that keep costing you points stop doing so.
Two facts drive it. First, scoring is a point per correct, correctly spelled word, so a misspelled word is a wrong word: you can hear a sentence perfectly and still lose points to spelling. Second, partial credit means an incomplete answer is always worth typing. If you caught eight of eleven words, type the eight, in order. Never leave the box empty.
The principle: phrases, then grammar
Dictation sentences are short, but they are complete, natural sentences. The technique is the one that works for Repeat Sentence: hear the sentence as two or three phrases, not a row of separate words. Then let grammar do the second half of the job. The small words (the, have, of, -s, -ed) are spoken quickly and quietly, so they are the ones people miss. They are also the easiest to recover, because grammar decides them.
The procedure
- Listen without typing. Typing while the audio plays splits your attention, and you tend to catch the first phrase and lose the rest. Hands still, eyes off the keyboard, hear the whole sentence as phrases.
- Note the skeleton if it helps. Some candidates jot the first letter of each word on the erasable noteboard as they listen: t l h e i o h. It keeps the number of words and their order. Try it in practice first; it does not suit everyone, and for some it is the splitting of attention that step 1 warns against.
- Type the whole sentence immediately. The moment the audio ends, get it down while it is fresh. Do not stop to fix a word mid-sentence; a stop is where the rest of the sentence leaks away.
- Read it back for sense. A sentence you typed should be one someone would actually say. If it is not, a word is wrong, and the next section shows how to find it.
- Fix spelling last. Only now look at individual words. Common words you know; long words you have learned from your log.
Let grammar rebuild what you missed
Read-back for sense is where points are recovered. Each row below is a sentence as typed, the clue grammar gives, and the fix.
| What you typed | What grammar tells you | Corrected |
|---|---|---|
| The library have extended its opening hours. | "The library" is singular, and "its" confirms it. The verb must be "has". | The library has extended… |
| Research suggest that sleep improves memory. | A singular subject takes "suggests". | Research suggests that… |
| The course has been cancel due to low enrolment. | "Has been" needs a past participle. | …has been cancelled… |
| Most of assignments are due next week. | "Most of" is followed by "the" before a specific group. | Most of the assignments… |
| Students must register the end of the month. | A verb of time needs its preposition. | …register by the end… |
Our own example sentences.
A worked example, start to finish
All visitors are required to sign in at the reception desk before entering the building.
Phrases heard: all visitors are required / to sign in at the reception desk / before entering the building.
Typed at once: All visitors are require to sign in at reception desk before enter the building.
Read-back: "are require" cannot be right after "are": required. "at reception desk" needs an article: the. "before enter" needs the -ing form after a preposition: entering.
Submitted: All visitors are required to sign in at the reception desk before entering the building.
Three words were wrong after the first typing and all three were recovered without hearing the sentence again, because each was a grammar decision, not a listening one. That is the pattern on most dictation sentences: the content words arrive, the function words and endings are rebuilt.
Spellings worth learning now
Dictation sentences draw on everyday academic and workplace vocabulary. These are words that learners misspell often. Learn them in groups of five, a group a day.
| Group | Words |
|---|---|
| 1 | accommodation · necessary · environment · government · recommend |
| 2 | separate · business · successful · knowledge · library |
| 3 | beginning · committee · occurred · definitely · experience |
| 4 | temperature · opportunity · particularly · schedule · technology |
Pick one spelling system, British or American, and stick to it. Mixing "organise" and "organization" in the same answer looks careless even when each spelling exists on its own.
The two-column error log
After every practice session, mark each sentence word by word against the original and count the correct words, the same way the test does. Then sort every wrong word into one of two columns.
| Did not hear | Heard but misspelled |
|---|---|
| the (×6), of (×4), -s endings (×5), by (×2) | accommodation (×2), necessary, occurred, schedule (×2) |
The two columns need different work. The first column needs listening practice, and the grammar rebuild above recovers most of it. The second column just needs memorising, and it is finite: most people find the same fifteen or twenty words keep costing them. Fix those and your average rises quickly.
A practice routine
- Ten sentences a day, each played once, from any clear audio source or a practice set. Type each one with the procedure above.
- Mark word by word against the original. Count the correct words.
- Sort every error into the two columns.
- Review the log weekly. Spend one session only on the right-hand column: write each word three times, then take a dictation that uses them.
Drills for specific problems
| What the log shows | The drill |
|---|---|
| Small words missing | Dictation of five sentences where you type only the function words, leaving gaps for the content words. Then the reverse. |
| Endings dropped (-s, -ed, -ing) | Read-back drill: for ten typed sentences, underline every verb and noun and check its ending against its subject or preposition. |
| Second half lost | You are typing during the audio. Practise with hands under the desk until the sentence ends. |
| Long words misspelled | The weekly right-hand-column session. Five words a day until the column is empty. |
| Sentence left blank | Never. Type the words you have, in order. Practise submitting partial answers until it feels normal. |
Writing has the highest CLB cut-offs of the four skills, and Write from Dictation feeds Writing as well as Listening. A few extra correct words here can matter more than their size suggests.
Sources: Pearson, PTE Core test format (Listening); Pearson, PTE Core Test Taker Score Guide. The sentences on this page were written for this guide.