What began as a one-off has grown into one of the most anticipated annual events for Native Language Day, with hundreds of schools, businesses and other organizations joining in alongside individual participants.

On Friday morning, veteran Vikerraadio editor Kaja Kärner read the exercise text live on air multiple times, starting just before 10:30 a.m. Participants had until 11 a.m. to submit entries online.

The e-dictation page was adapted for blind and low-vision participants, while deaf and hard-of-hearing participants could follow a prerecorded video of the text, read once again by ERR news editor Veronika Uibo and released simultaneously on ERR.ee.

This year's contest drew 8,451 entries, with feedback coming from as far away as the United States and Brazil. Participants ranged in age from 9 to 91.

71 flawless entries

Of the nearly 8,500 entries submitted on Friday, 71 entries were deemed flawless, and another more than 200 contained just one mistake.

The full text of the 2026 e-dictation exercise was as follows:

"Isegi minu kui aasta looma jaoks on säherdune maastikuvaade liigmodernne¹," üürgas stereotüüpne siil, kui oli kesk kapitalistlikku masinavärki oma tintmusta nospli leetmulla seest välja torganud.

"Hei, lageraiujad, kas te Nietzschet olete lugenud?" päris okkaline olevus pretensioonikalt, ent söandamata vasturepliiki ära oodata põgenes² isetahtsi e-etteütluse apokalüptilisest stseenist, kus kõik haavadki horisontaalselt värisevad.

Ränkraskelt rännuteelt naasnud suitsu- ja piirpääsuke kiibitsesid pilvepiiril³,⁴ põline rekajuht⁵ kuulas Fred Jüssi linnulauluplaati⁶, korpas palgega kassivolask popsutas kännu otsas piipu, ere kodumaapäike⁷ silmi pimestamas.

Poststalinistlikust traumast võitu saanud üldinimlik harvester jäi pimedaks nagu Oidipus ja hakkas otsima oma pärimuslikku algupära.

Acceptable alternate spellings and punctuation:

1. liigmodernne, or liigmodernne!
2. päris okkaline olevus pretensioonikalt, ent söandamata vasturepliiki ära oodata põgenes or päris okkaline olevus pretensioonikalt, ent söandamata vasturepliiki ära oodata, põgenes or päris okkaline olevus pretensioonikalt, ent, söandamata vasturepliiki ära oodata, põgenes
3. pilvepiiril or pilve piiril
4. pilvepiiril, põline rekajuht kuulas Fred Jüssi linnulauluplaati, or pilvepiiril; põline rekajuht kuulas Fred Jüssi linnulauluplaati;
5. rekajuht or rekkajuht
6. linnulauluplaati or linnulaulu plaati
7. kodumaapäike or kodumaa päike

The most frequently occurring mistakes involved the phrase kesk kapitalistlikku, the spelling of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's name and the word söandamata, which many participants spelled söendamata.

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 2026 e-dictation contest, who were the fastest in each category to submit the most accurately written text, were as follows:

• Auli Veske, overall winner, adults
• Otto Arro, Tallinn Secondary School of Science, students
• Margit Kerov, Estonian philologists, smart device entries (5th year in a row)
• Nikolai Kuznetzov, non-native speakers
• Maria Lume, Estonians living abroad
• Jüri Tõnisson, video dictation for hard of hearing

Friday's contest was also a hit at schools across Estonia, with Tartu Jaan Poska High School yet again setting the participation record at 358 students.

More than 200 students each took part at Nõo Science High School and Narva High School, and more than 100 each at Viimsi High School, Pirita High School of Economics, EBS High School and Tallinn Pelgulinn State High School.

Experts measure up

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

• Peeter Päll, chief language planner, 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;
• Joosep Susi, junior lecturer of literature didactics and Estonian literature at Tallinn University (TLÜ);  
• Triin Toome, Estonian language and literature teacher at Türi Basic School;
• 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 contest 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 poet Kristjan Jaak Peterson.

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

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