Porthor

By title - By theme - By diffculty - By spelling points

50 préparations de dictée 50 dictées

This website is for all those who want to improve (or help others improve) their spelling, whether French speakers or students of French as a foreign language.

As a multimedia tool, the spelling exercises offer a chance to put what has been taught in class into practice. Spelling issues are tackled as they arise naturally in the texts, with learning aids offering specially designed solutions. What is learned is immediately put into practice.

As a tool for those studying independently at home, the 188 spelling points raised in the dictations and listed in the index represent a “spelling manual” for referring to and for checking that each point has been fully understood and assimilated in practice. More details.

Preparation for the 16 dictations for beginners (levels A1 and A2) is available in English. There is free and permanent access to 3 dictations and a free 7-day website trial. To find out more, go to the page headed Free demo.

The website comprises 50 dictation preparatory exercises, plus the 50 dictations themselves, categorised according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF) and including illustrations. All the dictations are read out at a normal speed and at dictation speed; preparatory materials for levels A1 to B1 are also read aloud.

A table contains a comprehensive listing of over 188 key spelling points.

Methodology: Immediate application of two types of memory  ________________________________

- Explanations point up elements of immediate use in the dictation that follows.
- Two types of memory – visual and analytical – are deliberately drawn on.

What is taught: Typographical rules and new spelling   ______________________________________

- Typographical rules, including the most commonly seen typographical forms.
- New spelling, taking account of modifications made in 1990.

Texts: ‘Stand-alone’ and varied  ___________________________________________________________

- The texts used are not extracts but ‘stand-alone’ pieces.
- The themes cover history, literature, animals, DIY, sports, brief news items, opinions, etc. The texts also feature conversations, correspondence, etc.

What method is used for these dictations?  _________________________________________________

1. Emphasis on analytical memory
The first stage consists of preparing for the dictation.
Examples do not contain either underlining or bold print to ensure the student makes an effort to analyse the example and to find where the point under study occurs.
This effort has its reward as most of the preparatory exercises contain at least two words used again in the dictation.

2. Emphasis on visual memory
Website users firstly read the text to be transcribed carefully and try to fix new or difficult words in their memory. They may also begin to think about the underlined passages that correspond to questions of spelling dealt with in the preparatory exercises.

3. Après la transcription
A range of activities is possible based on the images or text itself.

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