Updated 23 October 2026

Written and checked by The Sada Team · How we check

English dictation practice: listen, type, check, then say it

Pick one line of a real talk, listen to it as many times as you like, and type what you hear. Sada then shows the line word by word: what you heard, what you missed and what you typed that isn’t there. Then you record yourself saying the same line and compare. It is free, in the browser, with no account.

Try one line now

Hear one line, then say it“You don't need to speak fast.” Six slow words. Listen once, say them after the speaker, then play your take beside the original. Free, no account.

Then type the same line: Open a free dictation exercise

The exercise opens in Type it on that short, slow line from a beginner shadowing lesson, at 2:20. The line is hidden behind one block per word. Tap Listen, type what you hear, and press Enter or Check.

Free, with no account and no paid plan. What you type is never saved: only how many words you heard stays on your device.

How dictation works in Sada, step by step

Open a line in Type it. Use a button on this page, or open any talk in the app and choose Type it next to With the speaker and After the speaker. The line’s words are hidden until you check, in the line list too.
Listen as often as you need. The blocks light up with the speaker, so you can see how many words you are listening for. Turn on Loop to hear the line again and again, or slow it to 0.75×.
Type what you hear, then Check. You see “7 of 7 words” or “5 of 8 words”, and the whole line with each word marked heard or missed, plus any word you typed that is not in the line.
Read the one tip. Sada looks at what most of your missed words have in common and gives one tip: an ending left off, the last word swallowed, the small words said softly, a word you heard but spelled wrong, or words that run together.
Type again, or say it. Type again clears the box. Record this line switches back to the speaking mode you used last and starts a take, so you say the words you just found.
Compare. Play your take beside the speaker and see which of your words were recognised and how your timing compares.

What the check forgives, and what it doesn’t

The point of dictation is hearing, so the check is lenient about everything else and strict about the words themselves.

Forgiven: capitals and punctuation; curly, straight or missing apostrophes (“dont” for “don’t”); contractions written out (“do not”, “it is”, “going to” for “gonna”); a number in digits or in words, up to 99 (“7” or “seven”, “36” or “thirty-six”); and one slip of the keyboard, a wrong, missing, extra or swapped letter, in a word of four letters or more.
Not forgiven: a missing ending such as -s, -ed or -ing. “course” for “courses” is a word not heard, because hearing that ending is the point. Short words must be exact, since one wrong letter in a short word usually makes another word.

Five real examples, each run through the same check the app uses:

The line	What was typed	The check
The honest answer is, I don't know.	`the honest answer is i dont know`	7 of 7 words. Capitals, the comma and the missing apostrophe do not count.
It isn't what they do, it's who they are.	`it is not what they do it is who they are`	9 of 9 words. A contraction written out in full is the same words.
I received a letter recently from a 13-year-old boy.	`I recieved a letter recently from a thirteen year old boy`	9 of 9 words. One slip in a long word (“recieved”) is forgiven, and 13 can be typed as a word.
Could be book, could be DVDs, could be courses, could be anything.	`coud be book could be dvds could be course could be anything`	11 of 12 words. “coud” is one slip and counts. “course” for “courses” does not: a missing ending is a word not heard, and the tip says to listen for -s and -ed.
Not missiles, but microbes.	`not missiles but`	3 of 4 words. The last word is missing, and the tip says so: the end of a line is often swallowed, so listen again at 0.75×.

Lines to practise, easiest first

Each opens in Type it at the exact line. Every range was checked against the talk’s captions, as the app splits them.

“You don't need to speak fast.”
English Unleashed · 2:20 · Type this line →
Six short words, said slowly. Listen for how “don’t need to” runs together in one breath.

“It gives you a path into the future.”
Carol Dweck · 0:40 · Type this line →
Listen for the ending of “gives” and for the small word “a”: both are short and easy to miss when you type.

“The honest answer is, I don't know.”
Angela Lee Duckworth · 4:27 · Type this line →
“Honest”, “answer” and “know” each have a letter you do not hear, so spelling them is a test of its own.

“It isn't what they do, it's who they are.”
Sir Ken Robinson · 3:46 · Type this line →
Two contractions said fast in a British accent. Type them either way: “isn’t” or “is not” both count.

“Could be book, could be DVDs, could be courses, could be anything.”
Josh Kaufman · 10:38 · Type this line →
Four times “could be”, and plurals at the end of each item. Miss the -s of “courses” and the check says so.

“Not missiles, but microbes.”
Bill Gates · 0:59 · Type this line →
Only four words, and the last one is the least everyday word of the four. Listen for both of its syllables: did you get “microbes”?

Free dictation exercises by level

Here are 16 more lines, grouped by the level of the talk they come from, from B1 to C1. Start at the level where most words come easily; if you miss more than two words in a line, go back a level. Each opens in Type it at the exact line, and every range was checked against the talk’s captions.

B1: slower speakers and everyday words

“Everyone needs a coach.” Bill Gates · 4 words · 0:12 · Type this line →
“When the work came back, I calculated grades.” Angela Lee Duckworth · 8 words · 0:33 · Type this line →
“Please join me in welcoming Denzel Washington.” Denzel Washington · 7 words · 0:00 · Type this line →
“We all need people who will give us feedback.” Bill Gates · 9 words · 0:38 · Type this line →

B1–B2: a little faster, with more questions and asides

“I have a confession to make.” Kelly McGonigal · 6 words · 0:12 · Type this line →
“How about a moderate amount of stress?” Kelly McGonigal · 7 words · 0:32 · Type this line →
“We live in an incredibly busy world.” Andy Puddicombe · 7 words · 0:15 · Type this line →
“The human voice: It's the instrument we all play.” Julian Treasure · 9 words · 0:13 · Type this line →

B2: natural speed, with words that run together

“Empathy fuels connection.” Brené Brown · 3 words · 0:14 · Type this line →
“Why do you get out of bed in the morning?” Simon Sinek · 10 words · 2:53 · Type this line →
“How can you get fired from a company you started?” Steve Jobs · 10 words · 6:09 · Type this line →
“Management is not a tree, it's a television set.” Dan Pink · 9 words · 13:08 · Type this line →

B2–C1 and C1: fast speakers and longer sentences with less common words

“We struggle with rethinking in all kinds of situations.” Adam Grant · 9 words · 0:50 · Type this line →
“In fact, we've found that every single business outcome improves.” Shawn Achor · 10 words · 10:24 · Type this line →
“We fail to recognize the danger because we're reluctant to rethink the situation.” Adam Grant · 13 words · 0:45 · Type this line →
“Humans might be smarter than frogs, but our world is full of slow-boiling pots.” Adam Grant · 14 words · 0:33 · Type this line →

For five new lines a day, easiest talks first, follow the 30-day plan: a line counts as done when you type and check it.

Why say the line after typing it?

Dictation trains your ear; it does not train your mouth. Once you know every word of a line, you are ready to say it, and the say-it step is the part most dictation exercises leave out. Record this line uses the same line, so you do not have to find it again. For what each method trains and how to combine them, see dictation or shadowing.

Who it is for

You understand English on the page but not by ear. Dictation shows you exactly which words you do not hear yet.
You are preparing for a listening test. Typing what you hear is close to note-taking and gap-filling tasks.
You drop word endings when you listen or speak. The check will not let -s and -ed slide.
You want a daily habit. The 30-day shadowing plan gives you five lines a day, and a line counts as done when you type and check it or record it.

Honest limits

The check compares your typing with the video’s captions. If a caption is wrong, the check is too. The lines on this page were checked by hand; with a video of your own, trust your ear when a word looks odd.
The forgiving rules (contractions, numbers in words) are for English. Other captioned languages can be typed, but only capitals, punctuation and typos are forgiven there.
Typing needs only a keyboard, on a phone or a computer. The say-it step needs a microphone, and speech recognition runs in your browser.
Sada does not grade individual sounds, and it is not a test of your level. The levels above are the talks’ levels, not a graded course: beyond these lines, you type lines from the talk library or from any captioned YouTube video you paste in.

Other dictation sites

Two well-known dictation sites, with each fact taken from the site’s own home page (read on 30 September 2026):

Daily Dictation: describes itself as 100% free, with more than 1,000 exercises by topic. Its steps are listen, type, check and correct, and then read the sentence out loud. Daily Dictation and Sada compared.
FluentDictation: turns a YouTube link you paste into dictation exercises, with a shadowing mode and a pronunciation coach. It says its basic dictation tools are free with no sign-up. FluentDictation and Sada compared.

Where Sada differs: the same line goes from typing to your own recording and a side-by-side comparison, with no account.

Related guides

Questions people ask

Is this English dictation practice free?

Yes. Sada is free, with no account and no paid plan. What you type stays in the page; only how many words you heard is kept, on your device.

Do punctuation and capital letters count?

No. Capitals, punctuation and apostrophes are ignored, and a contraction written out in full (“do not” for “don’t”) counts as the same words.

Does a spelling mistake count as wrong?

One slip in a word of four letters or more is forgiven, such as “recieved” for “received”. A missing ending such as -s or -ed is not, because it means the ending was not heard.

Where can I find free English dictation exercises by level?

On this page: 16 lines from real talks, grouped from B1 to C1, each opening in Type it at the exact line. For five new lines a day, easiest talks first, follow the 30-day plan.

Can I do dictation with any YouTube video?

With any YouTube video whose captions Sada can read: paste the link, open a line and choose Type it. The check compares your typing with those captions.

Do I need a microphone?

Not for typing. You need one for the next step, recording yourself saying the line and comparing it with the speaker.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. It runs in the browser on a phone or a computer, with nothing to install.

Start practising