For 10 euros, drinks and snacks included, residents of the 14th arrondissement can sit a French dictation over an aperitif, combining the nation’s two great passions: grammar and wine
Pens, Glasses, Accents
PARIS. Residents of the 14th arrondissement are invited to an aperitif dictation on Tuesday, October 20, at 7 p.m. on Rue Lacaze, according to Sortiraparis’s guide to offbeat outings in Paris in October 2026. The session, run by the local association ACAGL14, costs 10 euros, with drinks and snacks included. Participants take down a passage read aloud and then discover exactly how many accents, agreements and silent letters they managed to get wrong.
For a nation that treats spelling with the solemnity other countries reserve for religion, combining a dictation with an aperitif is either a stroke of genius or a recipe for a very emotional evening.
A National Sport
The dictation holds a special place in French culture. Generations of schoolchildren have trembled before teachers reading slowly from classic authors, while televised spelling competitions have drawn large audiences. A retired schoolteacher who plans to attend explained the appeal. In France, she said, we are humble about many things, but never about spelling. A Frenchman will forgive you for insulting his football team. He will never forgive you for forgetting the agreement of the past participle with avoir.
A software developer who lives nearby admitted he was nervous. I have not done a dictation since school, he said. I still have nightmares about the word chrysantheme. My plan is simple. One glass of wine to relax, one glass to concentrate and no third glass, because after the third glass every word gets an accent, whether it needs one or not.
The Science Of The Second Glass
Scientists have not formally studied the relationship between wine and spelling, but participants in such events tend to have firm theories. A linguist from the Sorbonne offered a cautious hypothesis of her own. A small amount of wine reduces anxiety, she said. Anxiety causes mistakes. So in theory, a little wine might help. In practice, the wine also reduces your interest in whether the plural takes an s. The two effects cancel out. The only reliable result is a very happy evening.
The Snacks
The inclusion of snacks has been praised as a humane touch. A participant in a previous event said food was essential. You cannot face the subjunctive on an empty stomach, he said. You need cheese. Perhaps saucisson. At one point the reader used a word with three consecutive consonants and I ate four crackers in a row from sheer stress.
The Corrections
The most dramatic moment of any dictation is the correction, when each error is revealed. At an aperitif dictation, observers expect the atmosphere to be gentler than in a classroom. A local cafe owner described it. At school, you get a red pen and a disappointed teacher, he said. Here, you get a red pen and another glass. It is the same humiliation, but with better hospitality.
The Last Word
At the end of the evening, a woman in her seventies stood up to collect her corrected sheet. She had made only two mistakes, the best score in the room. The other participants applauded. She raised her glass modestly. In my day, she said, two mistakes meant you stayed after class. Tonight it means I get the last piece of cheese. Then she took it, without waiting for permission, which everyone agreed was the correct spelling of victory.