If you've been with us for a while, you'll know that every LLTT+ mock breakdown is built around a single, carefully considered idea: that preparation is not cheating — it's the intelligent approach to building lasting speed.
Today we're introducing something new to the LLTT+ library: the Themed Pair Dictation.
A student who sits down to a dictation on an unfamiliar subject is, in effect, doing two jobs at once — decoding meaning and converting to Teeline simultaneously. That dual demand is precisely where speed can collapse. Subject familiarity, by contrast, gives the brain a head start. Related terms cluster together; the mind begins to anticipate rather than merely react.
The Themed Pair puts that principle to work in a specific way. Two passages. One subject. Different angles.
The first passage front-loads the vocabulary.
By the time you reach Passage Two, the relevant word families are already activated. The vocabulary isn't cold. The passages share a subject whilst approaching it from different directions: different 'speaker', different event, different aspect of the same story. The vocabulary overlaps partially, but not completely. That overlap is where the skill-building happens. Total repetition, incidentally, would make Passage Two trivially easy and teach you very little. That's not what we're after.
A Three-Tier Structure
This particular breakdown follows a scaffolded approach built around a single body of vocabulary:
At the base, a 100wpm passage — your first encounter with the vocabulary, supported by extensive annotation. Think of it as active groundwork, not background reading.
The middle tier is a 120wpm passage covering the same core vocabulary in a longer, more demanding passage. Because you've already encountered, drilled, and absorbed the key outlines from the 100wpm version, the cognitive load at this speed is significantly reduced. You're not learning new material under pressure — you're deploying familiar material at speed. That is an entirely different challenge, and a far more manageable one.
At the top, a 60wpm NCTJ-format mock. For those not yet at 120wpm, this provides full access to the passage at a realistic exam pace. For those who've attempted 120wpm, it's the means of verifying accuracy.
A Note on Syllabic Count
Don't be deceived by the wpm figure on the 60wpm mock. A passage dense with polysyllabic vocabulary will feel faster than the number suggests — your pen travels further, your brain processes longer sound-chains, and outline decisions take fractionally more time. This mock is excellent preparation precisely because it imposes that demand at a forgiving speed.
Before You Begin
Return to your notes from the 100wpm passage first. Spend ten or fifteen minutes reviewing the commentary, visualising each outline, and writing the trickiest ones through a few times — in sentences, not in isolation. When you sit down for the 120wpm attempt, those outlines should not require thinking.
Here are some screenshots from the dicatation in LLTT+.
Note the Word Grouping for 'About the' - do you see the line item for Families - Patterns Worth Studying - Part I Adding "THE" to a grouping? In LLTT+, if you click that link, you're brought to a larger database table of how many opportunities there are to add "THE" to a grouping (four such examples shown below). One small example of how easy it is to access the type of information that greatly expands your Teeline knowledge.
A final word: if 120wpm is currently beyond your reach, the 60wpm mock is not a lesser option. It's just as much an intelligent one.
The structure has been designed with care. Trust it.
If you are already a member, you will find it in LLTT+ now.
If you are thinking about joining, head over to https://www.letsloveteelinetogether.com/llttplus.
