What had initially been intended as a one-off event has since grown into one of the most anticipated events celebrating Native Language Day, now in its 18th year.

Not just individuals but also hundreds of schools, companies, organizations and institutions tune in each year to take part in the live nationwide writing exercise.

This year, writers were put to the test with a four-sentence text dedicated to the Year of the Estonian book.

On Friday morning, Vikerraadio editor Kaja Kärner read the e-dictation text live on air multiple times, starting at 10:25 a.m. local time, and participants had until 11 a.m. to submit their entries.

The e-dictation page was also adapted for blind and low-vision participants, while deaf and hard-of-hearing participants were able to participate by following a prerecorded video version of the text, read by ERR news editor Veronika Uibo and released simultaneously on ERR.ee.

Participants this time ranged in age from 9-89, among them 4,148 people between the ages of 20-25 and 21 ten-year-olds.

280 flawless entries

Of the more than 10,800 entries submitted on Friday, 280 entries were deemed flawless, and another nearly 700 contained just one or two mistakes.

The full text of the 2025 e-dictation exercise was as follows:

"Aktuaalsest kaamerast" näeme ängitekitavaid¹ sõjauudiseid, lakkamatuid päevapoliitilisi kemplusi,² kuuleme väikesevõitu pensionidest³ ning aktiivsus- ja tähelepanuhäire käes vaevlemisest.

Võiksime tänavusel raamatuaastal õppida ajaloost, mis pole muud kui ülekohus ülekohtu otsa, ja kultuurist, mis teeb nähtavaks ebavõrdsusest läbiimbunud⁴ võimumustrid⁵.

Trööstigu meid eestikeelse kirjasõna rikkalikkus,⁶ meeldigu siis modernne või traditsiooniline proosa, žanrikirjandus, ühismeedialuule⁷ või räpplüürika, e-raamatud või tekstid iidvanades⁸ koltunud katekismustes.

Tänavu möödub Noor-Eesti⁹ esimesest albumist sada kakskümmend aastat,¹⁰ seetõttu võiksime kiirtarbimiseks mõeldud vemmalvärsside või "Chuck Norrise anekdootide"¹¹ kõrval ammutada vaimujõudu meie oma kõrgkirjandusest.

Acceptable alternate spellings and punctuation:

1. ängitekitavaid or ängi tekitavaid

2. kemplusi, or kemplusi;

3. pensionidest or pensionitest

4. läbiimbunud or läbi imbunud

5. võimumustrid or võimu mustrid

6. rikkalikkus, or rikkalikkus – or rikkalikkus:

7. ühismeedialuule or ühismeedia luule

8. iidvanades or iidvanades,

9. Noor-Eesti or "Noor-Eesti"

10. kakskümmend aastat, or kakskümmend aastat –

11. "Chuck Norrise anekdootide" or Chuck Norrise anekdootide

The most frequently occurring mistakes involved the way the name of ETV's news program "Aktuaalne kaamera" was written, and many participants were also troubled by how exactly to write the name of the literary collective Noor-Eesti (or "Noor-Eesti").

Click here (link in Estonian) to listen to or watch this year's e-dictation text again, as well as for a thorough overview of Friday's exercise text – including more detailed explanations about commonly made mistakes and tricky parts.

This year's winners

The winners of the 2025 e-dictation contest, who were the fastest in each category to submit the most accurately written text, were as follows:

• Brita Kaasik, overall winner second year in a row, Estonian philologists
• Margaret Pärli, Tallinn French School, students
• Maarja Oras, adults
• Timo Raussi, non-native speakers
• Mart Marjak, Estonians living abroad
• Laura Lang, video dictation for hard of hearing
• Margit Kerov, smart device entries, fourth year in a row

This year, 2,277 entries were submitted via smart device.

Friday's more than 10,800 entries also included 4,583 in the students category, among them from 454 students at Tartu Jaan Poska High School, 241 students at Tallinn Pelgulinn High School, 229 students at Narva High School, 215 at Nõo Science High School, 125 at Pirita High School of Economics and 125 at St. John's School.

The authors of the 2025 Native Language Day e-dictation exercise text were:

• Joosep Susi, junior lecturer of literature didactics and Estonian literature at Tallinn University (TLÜ);
• Peeter Päll, chief language planner, Institute of the Estonian Language (EKI);
• Maire Raadik, senior language planner at EKI;
• Helika Mäekivi, chairperson of the Estonian Association of Copy-editors (EKL) and language adviser at the University of Tartu (TÜ);
• Merilin Aruvee, lecturer of L1 didactics at TLÜ;
• Helin Kask, language policy adviser at the Ministry of Education and Research;
• Ester Põldma, language editor and proofreader at Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR).

Friday's e-dictation exercise was organized by Vikerraadio together with the Institute of the Estonian Language and the Ministry of Education and Research.

Native Language Day, a flag day in Estonia, is celebrated on March 14, marking the birthday of Estonian poet Kristjan Jaak Peterson.

Peterson, who was just 21 when he died in 1822, was nonetheless a key figure in the emergence of Estonian literature in the 19th century and is regarded as the father of modern Estonian poetry.

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