Your first lesson, step by step

Start with one short recording: press Play, type what you hear, choose Check my answer, then compare your answer with the transcript. Nothing plays until you press Play, and you can replay as often as you like.

Open Practice and press Play

Use the Learn, Practice and Test tabs at the top of the lesson. Some lessons also have a Watch tab. Choose Practice to reach Listen and write. If an accent choice is shown, choose from the available voices, then press Play on the first clip. Listen the whole way through before you type; replay it when you need another listen.

Type what you hear

By default you get one box per word, and the width of each box hints at the word's length; press Space or Enter to jump to the next one. Prefer one box for the whole line? Change Choose how to write your answer to Whole sentence. Capital letters and punctuation don't affect your score. Spelling does, so if you're unsure, type your best guess anyway. Stuck on one word? Get a hint shows part of the line; Reveal transcript shows all of it, and that sentence then counts as zero.

Check your answer

Choose Check my answer. Each word turns green or gets a note, and you see the share of words you matched. Fix what you missed and check again, or open Read the transcript to compare line by line. Then choose the next clip.

Read the rest of the lesson

The Learn tab explains the topic with examples and checks. The number of sections depends on the lesson. You can read it before listening or return to an explanation after a difficult clip. Membership or an active trial also opens Test, where you try new recordings without hints or a transcript reveal.

Do you need an account?

You can try each lesson's free sample dictations without an account. The lesson shows how many samples are available. You can also complete the Practice dictations in one lesson a day for free. Answering, asking for a hint or revealing a transcript beyond the free samples chooses that lesson for the day; simply opening a lesson or listening does not use this allowance. The next day starts at midnight UTC.

A free account keeps your progress across devices. Signing in alone does not unlock all lessons or tests. Membership or an active trial opens the full listening library and Test activities. Eligible learners can start a seven-day trial without a card; it ends automatically and does not charge you.

Find the next lesson

Choose Lessons in the site header to browse by level and topic, or use the "Keep listening" suggestions at the end of the lesson you just finished.

If audio does not play, check your device's media volume and follow Audio won't play or cuts out. Copy any unfinished answer you want to keep before reloading the page.