Radio dictation with a challenge: social networks discuss the length of Zabuzhko’s sentences
25 October 2024 22:43
Today, on the Day of the Radio Dictation of National Unity, social media is actively discussing the length of sentences in the text prepared by writer Oksana Zabuzhko for the dictation, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
This morning, Ukrainians wrote the 25th anniversary radio dictation of national unity, which this year was called “The Magic of the Voice”. The text for the dictation was prepared by the famous writer Oksana Zabuzhko, and read by the poet, musician and soldier Pavlo Vyshebaba.
The dictation was also held in Ukrainian publishing houses, media, various companies, courts, embassies and schools. The military also joined the dictation. For example, soldiers of the 44th separate artillery brigade took some time out of their day to join the dictation directly from their school in Suja.
As noted on the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff’s page in X, the Ukrainian defenders took the dictation at firing positions, near guns, combat vehicles, in hospitals, and in Suzha, Kursk region.
The air raid alert that sounded during the dictation did not interfere with the writing, and most of the Ukrainians who wrote it were able to complete the work in shelters.
In addition to mistakes and spelling, the audience’s attention was drawn to the complex syntactic constructions, which, in the opinion of many, made the text difficult to understand, especially for schoolchildren and people who were not used to this style.
“Zabuzhko’s sentences are longer than the air-raid during the radio dictation,” Ukrainians wrote.
“My impressions: a bit of a carrot and a stick with these forgiveness and two complicated sentences, but I quite liked it,” they wrote in the comments.
According to one of the participants in the radio dictation, Oksana Levkova, Chair of the Board of the NGO “Don’t be indifferent!”, PhD in Social Communications, who has visited more than 3,000 schools in Ukraine over the past 15 years of working with educators, numerous teachers from different regions have repeatedly expressed the wish that texts that should attract people to Ukrainian literature be more accessible and understandable.
“Only the lazy do not talk about the length of Oksana Zabuzhko’s sentences today, on the day of the Radio Dictation. As a person who has been working with educators for 15 years and has visited 3,000 schools in Ukraine, I will inform you that teachers of many institutions in different regions of Ukraine have asked me to tell Oksana Stefanivna that they find long sentences like hers difficult to read, so it scares away those who would like to dive into her work,” she said, adding that many teachers have asked me to tell Oksana Stefanivna.
Despite this criticism, there are those among Zabuzhko’s supporters who defend her choice, arguing that the writer’s unique style emphasises the richness of the Ukrainian language and the depth of her thinking.
How to submit your dictation for review
On Monday, 28 October, at 11:00, the text of the Radio Dictation of National Unity will be published on the Ukrainian Radio website and the Suspilne Culture website, so you can check yourself for mistakes.
And if you want your dictation to be checked by experts, you can send in your work.
A paper letter should be sent to the following address: 26 Khreshchatyk Street, Kyiv, 01001. It is important that the postmark is no later than 27 October;
The work can also be submitted online. To do this, you need to take a photo or scan the written text in jpg, png, jpeg, tiff, pdf formats and send it to [email protected] by 11:00 on 28 October.
No emails will be accepted after the text of the radio dictation is published. All submitted works will be checked by a professional committee.
The results will be announced after all the letters have been processed and checked by the committee. To find out the exact date of the results announcement, you need to follow the news of “Public Broadcasting”.
As a reminder, the All-Ukrainian Radio Dictation of National Unity was launched by the Ukrainian Radio team in 2000 to unite around the language. Since then, it has been held annually and has already become the largest Ukrainian-language flash mob that unites Ukrainians and Ukrainian language experts around the world.
The most active participants of the flash mob are schoolchildren, students and teachers, but every year people of all ages and professions around the world write the radio dictation.
In 2024, the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language will be celebrated on 27 October. The holiday was established in 1997 by a presidential decree.
