A3 audio drill: mispronunciations

Rounds 1 and 2 have 15 words each; Rounds 3, 4 and 5 have 10. Play each clip as often as you like. Column A is what the speaker said; Column B is the correct dictionary form. Not every word has an error: if nothing is wrong, write the same transcription in both boxes.

Need IPA symbols? Open the IPA keyboard in a new tab, tap a symbol, then paste it here.

Before you write a single symbol

Any c, g or s in your transcript: stop and ask, is that the SOUND or the LETTER? There is no c in the IPA (the /k/ sound is always k), /dʒ/ is never g, and a buzzing s is z.
No stressed schwa, ever. ə is by definition the weak vowel of an unstressed syllable, so a stressed one needs a full vowel: short ɪ, long ɜː or iː. Every unstressed syllable tends toward ə.
ɪ or ə? Rhyme test. If the syllable rhymes with a real word (rin ~ pin, mint ~ mint) it is a real vowel. If you can only shrug “uh”, it is ə. Unstressed and undecidable, ə is the safer answer.

⭐ Your ear is the reliable channel. Write what you heard first, then fix the symbols. Never argue yourself out of your own listening.

About this voice

The drill clips are read by a British neural voice at a slightly slowed rate; the memo’s “correct form” clips for Rounds 1 and 2 are in the earlier voice (from Round 3 on, the same voice reads them). Both are British, so the accent matches the dictionary forms you are writing. Judge the error, not the accent: you are marking which sound, syllable or stress is wrong, exactly as in the real recording. This voice keeps the short ɒ (cot, dog) and the long ɑː (cart, calm) apart, so write down whichever one you actually hear.