Foundation Level
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Listen First
Key terms in this arc (8 unique words)
| Word | Freq |
|---|---|
| shop | 2× |
| engineer | 1× |
| record | 1× |
| sound | 1× |
| music | 1× |
Learning objective: Strengthen your written English by transcribing spoken content with precision. Discovery narratives build suspense and reward curiosity.
Practice the same content with a different skill focus.
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The Hidden Voice
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Treat each dictation exercise as a micro-sprint — listen, type, check, repeat — for rapid Foundation listening improvement. This arc has about 26 words across 5 exercises and 5 sentences. A full pass takes about 1 minutes at a natural speed. You will encounter about 8 unique words, so repeat tricky terms to lock in form. Average sentence length is about 5 words, which supports controlled pacing.
She goes to a record shop.
This arc contains only declarative sentences, making it ideal for practicing steady speech rhythm and consistent stress placement across every line. At just 5 words per sentence on average, this arc's short lines make it a perfect warm-up or quick-fire repetition drill for Foundation learners. At under a minute of reading time, this arc works as a micro-drill that you can repeat several times in one session for deep reinforcement. Dictation mode forces exact recall of every word and punctuation mark, so treat each exercise as a test of your listening precision, not your typing speed.
Nila is a sound engineer.
She works with music.
She is usually very quiet.
She goes to a record shop.
The shop is old and cozy.
Rather than generic prompts, this lesson anchors practice in Discovery & Exploration content from "The Hidden Voice" Arc 1. The arc emphasizes shop, engineer, record, sound, and the declarative structure across about 5 sentences supports repeated exposure with predictable cognitive load.
English articles (a, an, the) signal how speakers view noun reference—as specific or general, known or new, countable or uncountable. "The" marks definite, identifiable referents shared between speaker and listener. "A/an" introduces new, non-specific countable singulars, with "an" before vowel sounds. Zero article (no article) appears with plurals and uncountables used generically. Article usage follows complex patterns: geographical names, institutions, and abstract concepts each have conventions that often puzzle learners whose languages lack articles. Context determines choice: "I saw a movie" (any movie) versus "I saw the movie" (the specific one we discussed). Mastering articles requires attention to the information status of nouns in discourse—what listeners already know versus what you're introducing.
Treat Arc 1 as a dictation sprint: listen once for meaning, listen again for detail, then type exactly what you hear before checking. This Foundation set has 5 exercises, so you can practice short focused bursts without losing attention. Prioritize word boundaries, contractions, and punctuation cues while typing, then review mistakes by replaying only the lines you missed. Core terms in this arc include shop, engineer, record, sound, music, which makes the page useful for both listening precision and spelling control.
Dictation forces attention to function words, articles, and prepositions — the small words that native speakers reduce but that carry essential grammatical information. This Discovery & Exploration lesson gives you topic-specific rehearsal rather than isolated sentence practice. Key vocabulary in this arc includes shop, engineer, record, sound, music, so repeated retrieval improves both precision and retention. The dominant sentence profile is declarative, so focus on consistent stress placement and boundary control. You will process about 26 words across 5 exercises and 5 sentences, enough volume to consolidate the target pattern. A full pass takes roughly 1 minute at natural speed, which fits focused daily reps. As transcription accuracy improves, you build faster decoding of reduced forms and clearer punctuation mapping.
Foundation level • Discovery & Exploration • 5 dictation prompts
This page is intentionally dedicated to type what you hear for "The Hidden Voice" Arc 1, so learners can train dictation accuracy and spelling detail in one focused session rather than a mixed-mode screen.
Discovery & Exploration content at the Foundation level gives you 5 short exercises to practice spelling, grammar, and listening accuracy with vocabulary such as shop, engineer, record, sound.
Practical answers about what this lesson trains, how it differs from nearby arcs, and when to use this mode.
You will practice dictation accuracy and spelling detail through 5 exercises in the discovery & exploration category. Core terms include shop, engineer, record, sound.
This is the first available arc in the sequence, so it establishes the baseline vocabulary and pacing before later arcs increase complexity.
Type What You Hear is optimized for dictation accuracy and spelling detail. Use this mode when you want focused repetitions on typing each phrase exactly as you hear it.
This arc contains 26 total words across 5 exercises and 5 sentences. That is about 1 minute of reading time.
Target vocabulary includes shop, engineer, record, sound, music. The arc contains 8 unique words, so repeat tricky terms across multiple passes to lock in both form and meaning.
At natural speaking speed, one complete pass takes about 1 minute. This makes it ideal for a quick daily practice session, and you can repeat the arc multiple times for deeper reinforcement.
Continue practicing with arcs from the same category and story sequence.
Yes — Arc 1 is designed for the Foundation tier. If you find the exercises too challenging, try a lower tier arc in the same category. If they feel easy, move up to the next tier for a greater challenge.
Yes. You can try this same arc in read aloud mode for pronunciation clarity, repeat audio mode for listening and rhythm, or type what you hear mode for dictation precision. The vocabulary (shop, engineer, record, sound) stays the same across modes, so switching modes reinforces the same content through different skills.