We all know what ‘dictation’ means –  speaking words aloud for someone to write down. Once every office had its supply of shorthand typists who took down dictation from the boss, and typed it up into letters. It reminds me of G.K. Chesterton’s famous joke about the very early days of the feminist movement (the suffragette days). Chesterton wrote: ‘Young women stood up and shouted “We won’t be dictated to!” –  and went out to become shorthand typists.’ The word ‘dictation’ is recorded in English from 1624 (with the same meaning it has today). Behind it is a classical Latin word meaning ‘to say repeatedly’. I mention all this because of an event held in Paris at the start of June –  an open-air, mass ‘dictation’ spell-a-thon. The organisers were aiming to break the world record for a dictation spelling competition. It was held on the Champs-Elysees, almost under the Arc de Triomphe. That broad boulevard was closed to traffic and almost 2,000 desks were set up. Some 50,000 applied to take part, and 5,000 were chosen – for a series of dictation sessions. Those chosen were (it was hoped) France’s brainiest bookworms. The whole event is said to be a celebration of France’s ‘love affair with words’. Three passages were read out at dictation speed – a passage from the novel La Mule du Pape by Alphonse Daudet, followed by a piece about sport, and finally a piece of contemporary journalism. The event’s president, Marc-Antoine Jarmet, said the event was about more than spelling. He said: ‘Dictation helps us to live together. It’s unifying.’ Well, I believe Australians also have a great love affair with words (which is why the Australian language is the most colourful and inventive branch of English). So, could we do it here? Perhaps also in the open air, on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House? Wouldn’t it be great to see language being celebrated here in Australia? Bring it on!