Aujourd’hui, nous faisons une petite dictée.

Because it is a fixed expression made from older elements of French. In modern French, you should simply learn aujourd’hui as the normal word for today.

The apostrophe appears in d’hui, and even though the history is a bit old-fashioned, the important thing for a learner is:

• aujourd’hui = today
• it is always written as one word
• it keeps the apostrophe and the accent marks

The comma separates the time expression from the rest of the sentence.

So:

• Aujourd’hui, nous faisons une petite dictée.

means something like:

• Today, we are doing a short dictation.

The comma is very common when a sentence begins with a word or phrase like:

• Aujourd’hui, ...
• Demain, ...
• En classe, ...

It is not absolutely required in every casual context, but it is very normal and natural in writing.

Because faire is an irregular verb.

In the present tense, faire is conjugated like this:

• je fais
• tu fais
• il / elle / on fait
• nous faisons
• vous faites
• ils / elles font

So nous faisons is simply the correct we do / we are doing form.

This verb is worth memorizing early because it is extremely common in French.

In French, the simple present tense often covers both meanings:

• we do
• we are doing

So nous faisons une petite dictée can mean:

• we do a short dictation
• we are doing a short dictation

The exact meaning depends on context. With Aujourd’hui, the sentence often feels like Today, we’re doing a short dictation.

French does have ways to emphasize an action in progress, but the ordinary present tense is usually enough.

French often uses faire in places where English might use do, have, or sometimes a completely different verb.

Here, faire une dictée means to do / have a dictation exercise.

This is a normal French collocation. In other words, it is just the usual way French expresses the idea.

You will see faire used in many similar school or activity contexts, for example:

• faire un exercice
• faire une activité
• faire un test

So this is a good phrase to learn as a chunk:

• faire une dictée

Because French usually needs an article before a singular countable noun.

Here, dictée is a singular countable noun, so French normally uses an article:

• une dictée = a dictation

That is why the sentence says:

• une petite dictée

not just:

• petite dictée

English can sometimes omit articles more easily than French, but French usually cannot.

Because some common adjectives often come before the noun in French, and petit / petite is one of them.

So:

• une petite dictée

not usually:

• une dictée petite

A useful beginner rule is that certain short, common adjectives often go before the noun, especially ones about:

• beauty
• age
• goodness
• size

This is sometimes remembered with the label BAGS.

Since petite describes size, it normally comes before the noun.

Because dictée is a feminine noun.

French adjectives must agree with the noun they describe:

• masculine singular: petit
• feminine singular: petite

So:

• un petit exercice
• une petite dictée

You can often recognize feminine nouns by the article:

• une dictée

That tells you the adjective also needs the feminine form:

• petite

The article tells you:

• une dictée

Since it uses une, the noun is feminine.

Also, many nouns ending in -ée are feminine, though you should not rely on endings alone 100% of the time. The safest habit is to learn nouns together with their article:

• une dictée
• not just dictée

That way, you automatically know its gender.

A dictée is a dictation exercise, especially in a school context.

Typically, one person reads words or sentences aloud, and the students write them down. It is often used to practice:

• spelling
• listening
• punctuation
• grammar

So une petite dictée suggests a short, probably simple classroom dictation exercise.

A common pronunciation is approximately:

• oh-zhoor-dwee

A more detailed pronunciation guide is:

• aujourd’hui ≈ o-zhoor-dwee

A few points:

• the j sound is like the s in measure
• au sounds like o
• the final hui sounds roughly like dwee

If you know IPA, it is commonly written as:

• /o.ʒuʁ.dɥi/

It is pronounced approximately like:

• noo fuh-zon

More precisely:

• nous = noo
• faisons = roughly feh-zon or fuh-zon, depending on accent and speaking speed

If you know IPA:

• nous faisons = /nu fə.zɔ̃/ or similar in natural speech

A very important point: the s in faisons is pronounced as a z sound here.

Also, the -ons ending in faisons is nasal, so the final sound is not a full English on.

Yes, absolutely.

That would be very natural in everyday spoken French.

Compare:

• nous faisons = more formal, more careful, often seen in writing or formal speech
• on fait = very common in everyday conversation

Both can mean we are doing.

So:

• Aujourd’hui, nous faisons une petite dictée.
• Aujourd’hui, on fait une petite dictée.

are both correct, but the second one is often more conversational.

No. It can move around.

For example:

• Aujourd’hui, nous faisons une petite dictée.
• Nous faisons une petite dictée aujourd’hui.

Both are correct.

The difference is mainly one of emphasis:

• Aujourd’hui, ... puts focus on today
• ... aujourd’hui sounds a bit more neutral

French is flexible here, though sentence-initial Aujourd’hui is very common.