"Total Dictation – 2026" starts in Russia and abroad

The global educational campaign "Total Dictation" will take place on Saturday, April 18. On this day, thousands of participants in Russia and abroad will simultaneously write a text dedicated to the family and childhood of Alexander Pushkin. It will be possible to take part in the dictation both in person and online, which will allow you to join it from anywhere in the world. For more information about how the campaign will be held in 2026, see the Izvestia article.

Most of the participants will be able to write dictation on sites organized in libraries, universities, museums, cultural centers and other public spaces. At the same time, an online format with text translation will be available. Traditionally, offline platforms will be open on all six continents.

"In Russia, it will be possible to write dictation in person in more than 1,000 settlements from Kaliningrad to Chukotka. Sites in 67 countries will be waiting for participants abroad, including Australia, Armenia, Hungary, Georgia, Spain, Canada, Cuba, China, Libya, Mexico, Mongolia, Norway, Turkey, the USA, France. For the first time, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Ghana, Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka will join the action," the Total Dictation press service told Izvestia.

Ulan-Ude was chosen as the capital of the campaign in 2026. It is from there that the central broadcast will be conducted, and the author of the text will read the first part of the dictation. The start of the event in most cities is scheduled for 14:00 Moscow time, however, in the regions the time can be adjusted according to time zones so that participants around the world write dictation synchronously.

Registration for participation is available on the official website of the project. In 2026, it started in early April, and you can sign up through your personal account by choosing a convenient platform or online format.

The author of the text of "Total Dictation – 2026" was Alexey Varlamov, rector of the Gorky Literary Institute, writer and winner of the Big Book Award. In a comment to Izvestia, he said that the choice of the topic was related to his scientific work, namely, the preparation of a book about Pushkin. The philologist emphasized that many people know the lyceum period, but they can say almost nothing about the poet's early years and his parents.

"The dictation will be more or less devoted to these pages of Pushkin's life, as well as his ancestral history. There will be several stories related to his ancestors, the complex relationships that existed in his ancestral history, and how this affected his personality and creativity," Varlamov explained.

He also noted that the family theme helps to better understand the poet's work. In particular, we are talking about the impact of events related to the Decembrists. According to Varlamov, Pushkin's brother's participation in these events sheds light on the very difficult topic of Pushkin's relationship with the Decembrists in its own way. He added that this could have influenced the creation of the poem "In the depths of the Siberian ores."

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Preparations for the "Total Dictation" began long before the action itself. The organizers conduct online courses, lectures and debriefings, where complex spelling and punctuation cases are explained. These materials are available on the official website of the project and remain one of the main preparation tools.

Vladimir Pakhomov, Chairman of the Philological Council of Total Dictation, told Izvestia that most of the difficulties are related to cases of combined, separate and hyphenated spelling.

"I will give you an example from the text of last year's dictation. The most common mistakes were: "as if" separated by a hyphen in the first part, the separate spelling of the combination with the application "biology student" and the adverb "in the morning" in the second part, as well as the separate spelling of the adverb "still" in the fourth part," he said.

The author of the text, in turn, urged not to rely on quick preparation. According to him, it is important to take a systematic approach to language learning and use the available educational resources of the project. At the same time, he stressed that participants should not be afraid of mistakes.

"There is a wonderful Pushkin phrase from Eugene Onegin: "Without a grammatical error, I do not like Russian speech." Pushkin himself forgave and blessed us in advance, so we shouldn't be afraid of mistakes," Alexey Varlamov said.

At the same time, the writer emphasized that participation in dictation is not so much a test of knowledge as a reminder of the importance of taking care of the Russian language. He added that language is not only a right, but also a duty, and the idea of the campaign is to consciously address this responsibility at least once a year.

Total Dictation is an annual educational event aimed at promoting literacy and interest in the Russian language. It has been held since 2004 and during this time has turned into an international project uniting hundreds of cities and dozens of countries. Initially, the campaign originated as a student initiative, but over time it went far beyond the university environment, becoming one of the most anticipated educational events of the year.

Earlier, Izvestia told what topic the "Total Dictation" was dedicated to in 2025.