Nearly 3,500 people took part on Monday, August 31, in the fourth edition of the National Dictation, held in Chisinau and at least 16 districts across the country. The event, organized on Romanian Language Day, brought together students, teachers, parents, grandparents and people of different ages who came to test their Romanian language skills.
This year’s participants were asked to write an adapted excerpt from “The Testament”, a play by the late Gheorghe Urschi, one of the prominent figures of Moldova’s cultural scene. Urschi was an actor, director, screenwriter and writer.
The papers will be assessed by a special committee, with participants receiving grades of 9 or 10 to be rewarded with prizes. Those achieving the highest scores will receive gifts provided by the event’s sponsors, including books, vouchers, gym memberships and theater tickets.
National Dictation Becomes More Inclusive
For the first time, people with visual impairments also took part in the National Dictation. The Ministry of Education and Research provided the necessary conditions and materials to allow them to participate in the event.
Speaking in the Great National Assembly Square, Education and Research Minister Dan Perciun highlighted the responsibility of the current generation to preserve the Romanian language and pass it on to future generations.
“Nothing we celebrate today happened by itself. Neither the independence of the Republic of Moldova, nor the restoration of the Romanian language to its rightful place, nor the return to the Latin alphabet simply came to us by chance, on some day in 1989 or 1991. They were won,” Perciun said.
The National Dictation was launched in 2023 by the Ministry of Education and Research. The initiative aims to promote the Romanian language and encourage its correct use.