Transcription Practice Passages

Passage (1) It is possible to transcribe phonetically any utterance, in any language, in several different ways all of them using the alphabet and conventions of the IPA. The same thing is possible with most other international phonetic alphabets. A transcription which is made by using letters of the simplest possible shapes, and in the simplest possible number, is called a simple phonemic transcription. t z psbl t trnskrab fnetkli eni trns n eni lgwd n sevrl dfrnt wez :l v m ju:z i lfbet nd knvennz v i a pi e. sem z psbl w mst ntnnl fnetk lfbets. trn skrpn wt z med ba ju:z letz v smplst psbl eps n n smplst psbl nmb z k:ld smpl fnimk trnskrpn. Passage (2) Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station. pli:z k:l stel :sk t br i:z z w frm st: sks spu:nz v fre sn pi:z fav k slbz v blu: ti:z n mebi snk f r br bb wi :ls ni:d sm:l plstk snek n bg t frg f kdz i kn sku:p i:z z nt ri: red bgz n wi wl g mi:t wenzde t tren sten Passage (3) It is still just possible that in some remote corner of the globe, perhaps in the jungles of Brazil or the mountains of New Guinea, there is a community of humans as yet unknown to civilized man. t z dst psbl t n sm rmt k:nr v glb phps n dglz v brzl : mantnz v nju: gni er z kmju:nti v hju:mnz z jet nnn tu svlazd mn. Passage (4) The most obvious characteristic of classroom talk is that there is so much of it. Whatever else he does, the teacher will be talking for most of his working day. mst bvis krktrstk v kl:sru:m t:k z t r z s mt v t. wtevr els h dz ti:t wl bi t:k f mst v hz w:k de.

Verse Passages
1 A Days by Philip Larkin What are days for? Days are where we live. They come, they wake us Time and time over. They are to be happy in: Where can we live buy days? Ah, solving that question Brings the priest and the doctor In their long coats Running over the fields. 1 B wt dez f: dez we wi lv e km e wek s tam n tam v e (j) t bi hpi (j) n we kn wi lv bt dez : slv k kwestn brz pri:st n dkt n e l kts rn v fi:ldz 2 A From a Shakespeare Sonnet Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date 2 B l a kmpe i: tu smz de a (w) :t m: lvli (j) n m: temprt rf wndz du: ek d:l bdz v me n smz li:s h :l tu: :t det

3 A From The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat; They took some honey and plenty of money Wrapped up in a five-pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above And sang to a small guitar. "O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are." 3 B i al n pskt went t si: n bju:tfl pi:gri:n bt e tk sm hni n plenti v mni rpt p n fav pand nt i al lukt p t st:z bv n s tu sm:l gt: lvli psi psi ma lv wt bju:tfl psi ju : ju : ju : wt bju:tfl psi ju : 4 A From Break, Break, Break by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Break, break, break, On thy cold grey stones, O Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. 4 B brek brek brek n a kld gre stnz si: nd a wd t ma t kd t :ts t raz n mi:

Prose Passages
1 A From John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat A great many people saw the Pirate every day, and some laughed at him, and some pitied him; but no one knew him very well, and no one interfered with him. He was a huge, broad man, with a tremendous black and bushy beard. He wore jeans and a blue shirt, and he had no hat. In town he wore shoes. 1 B grep meni pi:pl s: part evri de n sm l:ft t m n sm ptd m bt nwn nju: hm veri wel n nwn ntfd w m. hi wz hju:d br:d mn w trmends blk m pi bd. hi w: di:nz n blu: :t n hi hd n ht. n tan hi w: u:z. 2 A From Fathi Ghanem's short story Dunya! Cairo! A big throbbing heart. Large avenues, fine streets, dark narrow alleys. And in them the strangely assorted crowd which we call 'the public': businessmen and beggars, elegant ladies and ragged girls selling lottery tickets, foreigners from London and New York, and rustics from Sahragt and Shandawil; policeman and pickpockets, healthy children with glowing cheeks and pale ones with stony eyes; dustmen and lovers. They are all wrapped up in their private affairs; their secrets deeply buried in their hearts Strangers all, their hearts are filled with a medley of emotions love, envy, gratitude, hatred, anger, happiness, understanding, or fear: the common stock of the human heart. 2 B kar bg rb h:t l:d vnju:z fan stri:ts d:k nr (w)lz nd n m strendli (j) s:td krad wt wi k:l pblk. bznsmen m begz elgnt ledz n rgd g:lz sel ltri tkts frnz frm lndn n nju: j:k nd rstks frm shragt n ndwl pli:smn m pkpkts heli tldrn w gl ti:ks m pel wnz w stni (j) az dsmen n lvz. e (j) r :l rpt p n e pravt fez e si:krts di:pli berd n e h:ts strendz :l e h:ts fld w medli (j) v mnz lv envi grttu:d hetrd g hpns ndstnd f kmn stk v hju:mn h:t