What the dictation task involves

The AQA 8652 Paper 1 dictation section typically:

• Uses a short paragraph of approximately 40 words
• Is read at a deliberately slower speed than regular listening passages — this is dictation pace, not conversation pace
• Is read twice in full, with a pause between readings
• Allows 5 minutes at the end to check your answer
• Tests accurate spelling, not just comprehension — you lose marks for every incorrect word
• Tests gender agreement (adjectives), past participle agreement (verbs with être), and accents

📋 Step 1 — First listening: capture

Your goal in the first listening is to capture as much as possible, not to write perfectly.

• Write what you hear, even if you are uncertain — a partial word is better than a gap
• Use // (double slash) to mark a gap where you missed a word — you can fill it on the second listening
• Work in chunks — the reader will pause at natural phrase boundaries; use those pauses
• Don't stop writing to correct errors during the first pass — keep moving forward

📋 Step 2 — Second listening: fill and verify

• Use the second reading to fill any gaps (// marks) from step 1
• Check word boundaries — did you run two words together? (e.g., lappareil → l'appareil)
• Listen especially carefully to plural markers that are silent: les parents vs le parent — you hear the article, not the -s
• Check for liaison clues: les enfants [lez ɑ̃fɑ̃] — the liaison z sound tells you it is les, not le

📋 Step 3 — Agreement check

• Find every adjective — does it agree in gender and number with the noun it describes? (e.g., un délicieux repas → masculine; une délicieuse soirée → feminine)
• Find every past participle with être — does it agree with the subject? (e.g., elle est allée, ils sont partis)
• Check for reflexive verbs in the perfect tense — agreement with subject: elle s'est levée

📋 Step 4 — Accent check

Accents are part of correct spelling in French — missing them costs marks. Check for:

📋 Step 5 — Silent endings check

The most common errors in dictation are silent endings that students fail to write. Always scan for:

• Final -s on plurals: les parents not les parent; des amis not des ami
• -ent on ils/elles verb forms: ils regardent, elles mangent — the -ent is completely silent
• -e on feminine adjectives: grande, belle, intéressante — the -e makes the consonant before it audible, which is your clue
• -d in grand: un grand ami — the d is silent alone but you hear it in liaison [grɑ̃t ami] — write the d
• -t in final position: il fait, c'est, il voit — silent but must be written