Dictation

Dictation 1:

This year we have got new books at school.  Our classroom is big and beautiful. It has got lots of things like desks, chairs, a white board, and a CD player.  Students have also got nice things to work.  They have got notebooks, pens, pencils, rubbers, rulers, sheets of paper, dictionaries, and corrector pens.  There are nice murals on the walls, too.  We have got interesting school subjects like:  language, maths, English, French, IT, PE, and music.   This is going to be a great school year!

Dictation 2:

Adam and Lewis are best friends.  They are at Adam’s house now.  Adam’s parents are making a barbecue in the garden.  His grandmother is helping in the kitchen.  Adam and Lewis have got the same favourite things.  They like eating burgers and playing football.  They also enjoy watching films and listening to music.  Today, Adam is wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, and trainers.  Lewis is wearing a blue shirt, trousers, and black trainers.

Dictation 3:

Will is fourteen years old.  He is a student at Broadfield Junior High School in London.  His parents and grandparents are ex-students.  Will likes studying English and listening to music.  In his free time, he plays the drums in the school orchestra.  In the evening after school, he forgets about school and homework.  He meets his friends and practices the drums.  He wants to be a professional musician.

Dictation 4:

In Mount Hagen, the capital of New Guinea, there is a spectacular festival every year in August.  It is the Sing-Sing festival.  Hundreds of people get together and dance, sing, play the drums, and act dramatic stories for a weekend.  They wear different costumes and paint their bodies with patterns in beautiful colours.  They have competitions and there are judges who decide the winners.  The Sing-Sing festival is a very good opportunity for people to make new friends.

Dictation 5:

Adam, Judy, and Lewis are good friends.  Lewis and Adam are in the theatre group.  They invite Kate to join them.  Kate says she loves acting, and she agrees to join the club.  They meet every Wednesday at four o’clock in room seven.  Judy doesn’t like photography and she hates playing an instrument.  In the end, she joins the magic circle club.  She says she loves magic. 

Dictation 6:

The Notting Hill Carnival is a very popular festival in London.  People celebrate it every year at the end of August.  They spend months making spectacular costumes, practising dances and playing music.  The music is originally from Trinidad, and they play steel band and calypso music.  Families and friends join in the carnival parades as they go through the streets of London.  The music and the dancing are great!

Dictation 7:

I’m Kelly King, the weather forecaster.  I do the afternoon weather reports on TV.  A typical day in my life starts at 11 o’clock in the morning.  First, I read the information from the weather scientists and then I decide what the weather story is.  Today’s story is about the snowstorms in Britain.  At the moment, it is very cold, windy, and it’s snowing a lot.  Classes have been cancelled until roads are cleared and safe for traffic.  People are staying in their homes until authorities say it is safe to go out again.

Dictation 8:

Bogii is a boy who lives in the Darhad Valley Mongolia with his family.  They are farmers and keep animals.  Bogii works very hard to help his family.  In October, he usually goes to school in the city, but this year the weather is too cold and there is not any food for the animals. Then, Bogii’s family and their animals are travelling to Lake Hovsol because it is a warmer place and there is grass for the animals.  In spring, they come back home.

Dictation 9:

Kate is at the Town Hall with Judy.  They are waiting for Lewis to go to the Halloween Fair.  Lewis is late.  Kate decides to phone him to see if he is OK. She phones him and his father answers.  He says Lewis is not at home.  Kate leaves a message saying that the Fair closes at half past two and his father writes it down.  At the end, his father tells Kate that he thinks his son is at Adam’s house.  Kate thanks Lewis’s dad and agrees to call him there.

Dictation 10:

Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. In winter, in the north, it is cold, dark, and icy for six months that is why there are not many towns there.  It is hard for people to live in the north, but it is great for wild animals like grizzly bears, polar bears, and wolves.  These animals usually live in the National Parks.  English and French are the official languages.  Canada has good minerals and agricultural products, and the USA is its main trading partner.

Dictation 11:

Matt Hughes is from New Zealand, but he is living in London now.  He works in a restaurant because he is a chef.  He says he works very hard, but he likes his job very much. He works in the evening and finishes late at night.  When he goes home, he sleeps.  His favourite free-time activity is going to the cinema, and he sometimes goes at weekends.  He usually meets his friends on Saturday nights.  He loves singing, too, but he doesn’t play any musical instrument.

Dictation 12:

Five thousand years ago, people didn’t read or write.  They didn’t have books, but they drew and painted on cave walls.  These paintings were the first recorded stories.  Years later, in 1453, Guttenberg invented a machine to print words on paper.  From that time on, it was possible to make books quickly.  About four hundred years ago, newspapers also appeared.  People started to send letters to family and friends, and twenty years ago, computers were a revolution.  Now Internet is part of our daily life without printing or paper.

Dictation 13:

I went to see the new Johnny Depp film last night and it was terrible.  Depp played the role of a New York policeman.  His friend disappeared and he went to look for him.  This took him on a long, slow journey through America, where he met some very strange people.  He drove through some beautiful American countryside, and the music was great, but he spent most of the film in his car.  It was very boring and the film didn’t have a real story.  I was bored.

Dictation 14:

Pirates are popular in stories for young people.  Treasure Island and Peter Pan are famous pirate books.  Pirates of the Caribbean films have the same kind of stories in them, with fighting on ships, interesting foreign places, exciting people, and gold treasure.  But I was surprised to know that there are still pirates in the world today.  Last week there was a story on the news about pirates.  They took the captain of the ship, but the American navy caught the pirates and rescued the captain.

Dictation 15:

It’s very difficult to discover the origins of the American burger.  Some people say it came from Mongolia hundreds of years ago.  We also know that people in Hamburg, Germany, ate a type of beef sandwich with round bread, and that many people from Germany came to live in America.  In America, people in different states say they created the burger.  There’s a town in New York State called Hamburg, but people in Texas don’t agree.  They say a man from Texas sold the first real burgers in 1904.  So, what’s the real history of the American burger?

Dictation 16:

When I was in Africa last year, I went on a safari to see the animals of the savannah.  It was very exciting.  We went in a jeep across the savannah and saw lots of zebras and antelopes; they were feeding in the open country.  Our guide showed us a family of lions sitting under the trees.  In the afternoon, we came to a large river where there were crocodiles and hippopotamuses.  We didn’t go near them because they are dangerous.  Just before we left, six elephants came down to the water to drink and play.

Dictation 17:

Blackbeard was a typical pirate.  His name came from his black beard and his long, black curly hair.  His face was brown from the sun.  He wore gold earrings and a hat.  Billy the Kid was another famous criminal.  He was slim, short, and young.  He had short fair hair and blue eyes.  He started his life of crime when he was 18, and he died at the age of 21.  Bonnie and Clyde were also popular American bank robbers.  Bonnie was very slim and short.  She had blue eyes and fair hair.  Clyde was also short.  He had short, dark wavy hair and brown eyes.  He had a tattoo on his left arm. 

Dictation 18:

When Kate arrived to school this morning, she met Lewis in the corridor and asked him for her Spanish book.  Lewis told her he left it on the kitchen table because he was hurrying and late for school.  Kate got really angry because she had a Spanish lesson that afternoon.  Lewis apologised himself saying that he was very sorry, and that he could bring it at lunchtime.  Kate told him it was all right. 

Dictation 19:

Another famous Australian is Banjo Patterson.  Every student in Australia studies the story of this writer and poet.  He was born in 1864.  When he was 31, he did two incredibly successful things.  He wrote a book of poetry called “The Man from Snowy River”.  It was the most successful book of Australian poetry.  In the same year, he wrote a poem called “Waltzing Matilda”.  It became the most popular song in Australia. Everybody in Australia knows the words and the tune to this song.

Dictation 20:

The Transformers is a science fiction film.  It grew out of Japanese toys.  They are robots which can transform themselves into vehicles and other mechanical forms.  The story is about a war between two groups of robots:  the good Autobots and the bad the Decepticons.  Sam, a human, is the hero of the film.  Fallen is the leader of the Decepticons and he wants to kill everyone on Earth.  Some people say the film is exciting and has amazing special effects, others say it is a bit long and confusing.

Dictation 21:

Animals can be very big, very fast, and very small.  Killer whales are enormous.  They can be ten metres long and weigh five and a half thousand kilos.  The green anaconda is a snake from South America.  It can be between six and nine metres long.  The smallest ants are only two millimetres long, and the biggest ones are twenty five millimetres.  Everything about the African elephant is big.  Its ears are about one metre wide.  Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world. 

Dictation 22:

Let us think about a few extreme facts of our planet.  We can say for example, that Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, that North America is bigger than Australia, but it is smaller than Africa, and that Asia is the largest continent of all.  We can also say that because of their long necks, giraffes are the tallest animals in the world, elephants are shorter than giraffes, but they are the heaviest land animals in the world. 

Dictation 23:

Yesterday, Adam went shopping.  Adam wanted to buy a pair of boots.  He went into a shop and the assistant came to help him.  Adam saw a great pair of boots.  He asked for the price, but they were too expensive.  He wanted something cheaper.  The assistant looked for another style of boots and told him they were cheaper.  Adam liked the boots and the colour, too.  He tried them on, but they were too big.  The assistant told them she was sorry she didn’t have a smaller size at the moment. 

Dictation 24: 

The Okavango River is in Botswana in Africa.  It is called a delta because it ends in many smaller rivers and lakes.  It is the largest inland delta in the world.  Most rivers end in the sea, but the Okavango ends in the Kalahari Desert.  This is great because people and animals depend on this water to live. The river also helps plants to grow which animals eat later on.  During the dry season, the river can almost disappear, but elephants are smart enough to dig in the sand and find water underground.

Dictation 25:

You must follow certain rules when you go camping in a group.  You must be in your tents before 10 p.m., and you mustn’t make any noise between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.  You must be in the dining tent before 7:30 a.m.  Breakfast ends at 8 a.m.  You must get your sandwiches before 8:15 from the kitchen tent.  You mustn’t drop paper or other litter; you must use litter bins in the camp. Dinner is between 7:00 and 7:45 p.m.  You mustn’t touch the animals and plants which live and grow around the camp.  Enjoy your stay here.

Dictation 26:

When people are on expeditions, they have to eat a special diet.  In our ordinary lives, it’s best to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and not much meat or fish.  But people on expeditions are very active every day, so they have to eat a lot of food that gives their bodies a lot of energy.  They can get energy from biscuits, chocolate, pasta, beans, and rice.  But this kind of diet is a bad one for ordinary life.  A lot of sugar and fat makes you too fat!  Remember, a balanced diet with a lot of fruit and vegetables is the best for normal, daily life.

Dictation 27:

Judy and Kate are in the library with their teacher.  The teacher is telling them they have to do a project for Wednesday and he is telling what they must do.  Judy thinks Wednesday is too soon and asks if they can hand in their project on Friday.  The teacher says he is afraid they can’t because all projects must be on his desk on Wednesday.  Judy and Kate also say that it is difficult for them to print their projects at school.  Finally, the teacher tells them they can email him their projects on Wednesday, but they must give them the printed copies on Friday.

Dictation 28: 

Nicky and a friend went to New Zealand on holidays and they had an amazing time there.  Her friend wanted to go bungee jumping, but she was too scared and didn’t go.  Nicky liked activities in the water best, so they decided to do canyon descent because you climb and swim down a river valley. It was a bit tiring and dangerous, but they enjoyed it.  Last day, they decided to go skydiving.  She thought it was not bad.  She jumped from the plane with a partner and it was the scariest experience of her life!

Dictation 29:

The United Kingdom or UK has four regions:  England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.  Wales is in the west of Great Britain.  Its capital is Cardiff and there are around three million people living there.  Winters in Wales are very cold and summer temperatures are warm.  Sometimes, it snows a lot in winter and there is also a lot of rain.  Wales has beautiful beaches and many people come to swim in the sea.  Cows and sheep are very popular in Wales because they have a lot to eat.  The most popular sport is rugby and the rules to play it are very difficult. 

Dictation 30: 

When I got to the crime scene it wasn’t nice.  As a detective I’ve seen many terrible things, but this was one of the worst.  There were two bodies on the floor and a lot of blood everywhere.  There were broken windows, drawers and cupboards were open, and there were things thrown on the floor everywhere:  books, papers, clothes.  Perhaps it was a robbery, and the owners of the house came home and surprised he thief, so he killed them.  There was a lot of work for me.  I took photographs and collected evidence.

Dictation 31:

To stay healthy I try to do a lot of exercise and have a healthy diet.  I start every day with different kinds of cereal and fruit juice for breakfast.  A cup of coffee is next at ten thirty.  Then, I eat fresh fish and vegetables for lunch.  A nice cup of tea is another secret to my healthy living every afternoon.  For dinner, I cook a healthy meal – some pasta or an omelette, and before going to bed I always drink a glass of water.  Of course, doing some sport, being happy, and smiling are also secrets to a healthy living.

Dictation 32:

Dear Elsa,

 I’ve booked to go on a school camping week in the mountains, but I don’t think it’s going to be much fun.  The weather is really bad and it’s going to rain again.  I don’t like climbing, swimming, or kayaking, and we have to do those activities.  What do you think I should do?  Should I say I’m ill and not go?  Or should I go and then not join in the activities?  My parents say I have to go because they’ve already paid for it, and they say it will be a good experience for me.  I need some advice!

 Best wishes,

Sara

Dictation 33: 

A bog is a wet area of compressed vegetation which has turned into peat.  Many years ago, some Irish people buried a man’s body in a bog, and his body turned into a mummy because of the chemicals in the bog.  This was an interesting discovery because the bog bodies give clues to how people lived and died thousands of years ago.  When archaeologists studied the man’s body, they discovered he had a kind of gel in his hair, shoes and a hat.  This was evidence that the man was rich and perhaps he was a sacrifice to the gods.

Dictation 34:

I love travelling.  I don’t mind how or where, I just like being inside a vehicle going somewhere!  I even like using the trams, buses and underground in the town where I live.  Of course, what I really love is getting on a train or a plane and going somewhere far away.  I think I prefer trains, because you can see more of the country while you travel.  I’ve never flown in a hot air balloon, and I’ve never been in a spaceship, but I’ve got my name on the waiting list!  Now I just have to find $100,000!

Dictation 35:

We’re going to go to Dunton on Saturday.  We’re going to start in the Market Square, and then walk to Western Shopping Centre and do some shopping.  There’s a great computer games shop there and mum’s buying me some CDs.  After that we’re going to visit the art gallery because there’s an interesting exhibition at the moment.  Then we’re going to walk to the City Park.  We’re having a picnic lunch there.  In the afternoon, we’re going to see the Police Museum.  I’ve never been there before, so I think that will be really exciting!

Dictation 36:

Kate and Lewis are at the Tourist Information Office.  They want to go to the Dungeon Museum and they are asking the assistant how they can get there.   The lady kindly tells them that the museum is about five minutes from there in the town square.  She shows them a map and points to the place they are.  She tells them, “Go along City Road and turn left at the end.  Go along Park Road to the square and turn right.  Go past the Art Gallery, and you will see the museum in the corner.”  Kate and Lewis are very pleased.

Dictation 37:

Patrick visited the UK last year, but he has never visited Hungary, so he has decided to go there for his holiday next month.  He’s going to fly from Bristol to Budapest, and he’s booked a hotel near the River Danube for a week.  He’s going to go with his friend Lisa, and they have planned lots of sightseeing activities.  They are going to visit all the museums and art galleries, and sit outside Budapest’s cafés and watch the boats on the river go past. 

Dictation 38:

I went to South America last year.   I flew from Britain to Buenos Aires by plane.  Then I got a taxi from the airport to my hotel in the city centre.  I stayed in the city for a while, and then I went by train to the south of the country.  After a few days there, I took a coach west into Chile.  I started to go north up the coast of Chile, and I had to take a lot of ferries.  After a few days I arrived in Santiago, where I stayed for a week.  While I was there, I went by helicopter to look at the Andes Mountains.  They were really beautiful!