The Quiet Seam
Free C1 Advanced English dictation about Work (2 min): listen to natural English audio, type what you hear and check every word instantly.
C1 (Advanced) English dictation about Work: 12 sentences, about 2 min.
Full transcript
The tailor did not look up when the bell above the shop door trembled in the wind. A customer had brought a coat with one sleeve torn cleanly from its lining. Rather than reach for the machine, she turned the garment inside out and studied the seam. Under the yellow task lamp, loose threads resembled tiny roots searching for somewhere to hold. She eased each one free with a pin, preserving the cloth that impatient hands might have cut away. Outside, a bus dragged rainwater along the curb, its windows briefly bright with passing shop lights. The customer watched the careful work and stopped checking the time on a darkened phone. What looked like damage from a distance became, under her hands, a map of stress and motion. She stitched along the old holes, letting the thread follow the coat's original path. At last, she tugged the sleeve twice, not to test the repair but to settle its shape. When the customer put it on, the seam disappeared, though the coat now remembered exactly where it had strained. The bell shivered again as they left, and the shop returned to its patient argument with wear.
Listening, trained daily.
A1–C1: Five levels, from slow, clear speech to full native speed.
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Questions? Answers.
How does daily dictation practice improve my English listening skills?
Dictation connects what you hear with how it is written. When you listen to natural English and type every word, you find your blind spots right away: weak forms, silent letters, linked words and fast contractions that slip past you when you only listen.
How does a dictation work?
Each lesson is a short English text split into sentences. Play a sentence, replay it as often as you need, type what you heard and send it. When you finish, you see your accuracy and every mistake, with a short note on why it was easy to miss.
How do I know which CEFR level to start with?
Lessons are grouped into A1 (Beginner), A2 (Elementary), B1 (Intermediate), B2 (Upper-intermediate) and C1 (Advanced). Not sure? Take the free level test: one short story of 10 sentences that gets harder from A1 to C1. It takes about 5 minutes, and if you are signed in, your level is saved to your profile.