This was a great success with over 100 participants!
Totalny Diktant is an annual educational event: a text, written specifically for this event by a famous contemporary Russian writer, is read out to the participants. In Manchester the reader this year was the journalist Masha Slonim. The goal of this event is to demonstrate the importance of literacy, and to unite everyone who wants to write and speak in Russian.
The first Totalny Diktant took place in 2004 and the event is organised by the Department of Humanities of Novosibirsk University, Siberia. Participation is free and marked papers are returned to participants with appropriate comments. Total Dictation takes place simultaneously in cities and countries around the globe, adjusted for time zones.
