✍️ DICTATION UBI 3 · Weird English
Today we'll have a dictation. The text will include weird spelling, silent letters and tricky pronunciation, just like the words we saw in Unit 2.
📖 Step 1 · Mini vocabulary
Let’s read these word before we start. You will hear them in the dictation:
- silent letters: Letters that are written but not pronounced when wes speak
- spelling: The way a word is written with letters.
- pronunciation: The way a word is said aloud.
- knight: A man in old stories who wore armour and fought on a horse. The letter k is silent.
- debt: Money that you owe to someone. The letter b is silent.
- subtle: Something small or not easy to notice. The letter b is silent.
- queue: A line of people waiting for something. Many letters are written, but only one sound is heard.
- though / through / rough: aunque / a través / difícil (áspero, duro...)
👂 Step 2 · First listen
Listen to the whole text once. Don’t write yet. Just listen and try to understand the general idea.
✍️ Step 3 · Dictation
Now we listen again, sentence by sentence. Write what you hear. I will pause and repeat if you need it.
👂 Step 4 · Listen again
We listen one last time without pauses. Check your text and make small corrections, but don’t open the text yet.
✔️ Step 5 · Let’s correct
Open the text and compare it with yours. Look at your mistakes: spelling, silent letters, sounds… These mistakes tell you what you need to practise.
📄 See full dictation text
Yesterday I tried to read a short message in English and I got confused. The spelling looked easy, but the pronunciation was not. Some words had silent letters, like knight and debt, and others were very subtle when I listened to them. Then I saw the word queue and I laughed, because there are many letters but only one sound. Later, I heard three similar words: though, through and rough, and they all sounded different. English is strange sometimes, but with practice, spelling and pronunciation slowly starts to make sense.
Remember: weird English is weird for everyone.
