Practice dictations
Below
are dictations to help train your sensitivity to the sounds of English. Get
a pen or pencil and paper ready, connect and put on a headphone set, then
click on the speaker icon to play the (Windown Media) audio file. Write down
the words you hear first in English orthography, then in IPA symbols. Each
item will be read twice, and a pause will be left after the second reading.
Pause or replay the file if you need more time to think and/or write. Finally,
mark the line next to each number to reveal the answers and check your work
carefully. Give yourself five points for each correct spelling, another five
for each correct IPA transcription.
Each item must be completely correct to earn the
points; no partial points are given. Add the points for each correct answer
together to get a percentage score on the dictation. Above 80 percent is good;
aim for 100. Getting below 80 percent on any of the quizzes means you need
more practice!
The first examples in this series emphasize
English vowels and final stops.
Here is an example to show how it works:
Example:
pick
[pɪk
̚ ] (Mark
the area after the speaker icon with your mouse to reveal the answers.)
Dictation I.
1. boot [but
̚ ] 2. bat [bæt
̚ ] 3.
bought [bɔt
̚ ] 4.
bet [bɜt ̚ ] 5. but [bʌt
̚ ]
6. bit [bɪt
̚ ]
7.
bait [beɪt
̚ ] 8.
bot (clipped form of "robot") [bɑt
̚ ]
9.
beat [bit
̚ ]
10.
boat [boʊt
̚ ]
Dictation II.
1. head [hɛd]
2. heed [hid] 3. hide [haɪd]
4. hub [hʌb] 5. hid [hɪd]
6. who'd [hud] 7. had [hæd]
8. hod [hɑd]
9. hoed [hoʊd] 10. hood [hʊd]
Dictation III.
1. rod [rɑd]
2. read (verb, present) [rid] 3. raid
[reɪd] 4. red [rɛd]
5. rid [rɪd] 6. Sam [sæm]
7. soon [sun] 8. same [seɪm]
9. sang [sæ̝ŋ] 10.
sane [seɪn]
Dictation IV.
1. mitt [mɪt
̚ ] 2.
moot [mut
̚ ]
3.
meet/meat/mete [mit
̚ ]
4. moat/mote [moʊt
̚ ] 5.
met [mɛt
̚ ] 6.
mat/Matt [mæt
̚ ] 7.
mushy/mooshy ['mʊʃi] 8.
mate [meɪt
̚ ]
9. might/mite [maɪt
̚ ] 10.
mutt/mut [mʌt
̚ ]
Dictation V.
1. lit [lɪt
̚ ]
2.
lead [lid] 3. lid [lɪd]
4. late [leɪt
̚ ]
5.
let [lɛt
̚ ]
6.
lout [laʊt
̚ ]
7. led/lead (mineral) [lɛd]
8. loiter ['lɔɪɾɚ]
9. loud [laʊd] 10. loot/lute
[lut
̚ ]
Dictation VI.
1. nook [nʊk
̚ ]
2.
knack [næk
̚ ]
3.
nog [nɑg]
4. nuke [nuk
̚ ]
5. nag [næ̝g]
6. nick/Nick [nɪk
̚ ] 7.
nab [næb]
8. neck [nɛk
̚ ]
9.
nap/Knapp [næp
̚ ]
10.
knock [nɑk
̚ ]
Dictation VII.
1. whack/wack [wæk
̚ ]
2.
what [wʌt
̚ ] 3.
wig [wɪ̝g]
4. wag [wæ̝g]
5. wit [wɪt
̚ ]
6.
whip [wɪp
̚ ]
7. wet [wɛt ̚ ] 8. web
[wɛb]
9. wick [wɪk
̚ ]
10.
wad [wɑd]
Dictation VIII.
1. ate/eight [eɪt
̚ ]
2. ache [eɪk
̚ ] 3.
at [æt
̚ ] 4.
et/ate (conservative British pronunciation) [ɛt
̚] 5.
ape [eɪp
̚] 6.
ick [ɪk
̚] 7.
eat [it
̚ ] 8.
it [ɪt
̚ ] 9.
app (abbreviation for "[software] application") [æp
̚ ] 10.
eke/eek [ik
̚]
Dictation IX.
Dictation X.
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