The world's biggest dictation was held at Champs-Élysées in the city of Paris on Sunday June 4, 2023, with 1,650 participants certified by Guinness World Records.
According to the French reports, 50,000 people had applied for the 'Grande Dictée des Champs', the first-of-its-kind event in France for the participation of grammar enthusiast whose attempt was to transcribe a text read to them.
About 1,700 desks were laid out at the event for the "largest dictation in the world". It consisted of three rounds. In each, a text was read out and contestants tried to transcribe it without error.
In the first, 1,397 people wrestled with an excerpt from a short story by 19th Century author Alphonse Daudet. That session was recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest such competition ever.
French spelling is notoriously tricky and dictations have inspired dread in generations of pupils from Dunkerque to Perpignan.
The second and third rounds were based on a modern short story and a text about rugby respectively.
