Listen with purpose
Sentence-level playback keeps practice focused instead of drifting into passive listening.
Languages you can practise here:
- English
- Spanish
- French
Dictation training for curious ears
Build listening & spelling all at once
Dictation may be the most efficient way to improve your listening, spelling, reading, and writing — all at once. Word By Word turns that idea into a playful, completely free practice loop: listen, type what you hear, check your accuracy, save your misspelt words, and turn weak spots into your next workout.
Offline use is supported after voices are downloaded (excluding Classroom, Create, Context Drill, Subject Practice, etc.).
Support
Modern browser, 740px
Best On
Mac & iPad (with Bluetooth keyboard)
Chapter 04
The Little Rocket
Listen carefully, then type the sentence you hear.
the rocket glowed...
92%
:)
Tap play.
Hear it again.
Win the sentence.
repeat
check
Type the words you hear
The typing area turns every pass into active recall, not just recognition.
Mistakes - your next episode
My Tricky Words keeps the words you miss. Context Drill, Subject Practice, and Create turn them into the next episode.
The reason to come back
Context Drill turns mistakes into your next lesson.
Start a Context Drill in My Tricky Words. It notices the words you keep misspelling, selects your most persistent weak spots, and weaves them into a fresh, coherent story for you to practise. Your errors stop being a score on a page and become the material for your next workout.
01Dictate normally and real mistakes accumulated automatically.
02Context Drill places your trickiest words in a fresh context.
03Listen, type, repeat — tricky words cleared in a fun way!
Your tricky words
environment
necessary
opportunity
→
A new drill
The Unexpected Opportunity
Listen to a story that naturally uses the words you need most.
listen · type · improveBuilt in from day one
Dictation in English, Spanish, and French, from A1 to C2.
You pick one CEFR level, A1 to C2, for English, Spanish, or French. The library then shows what overlaps that band — 1,948 original exercises across the built-in tests and 6 levels, including Cambridge-style practice, IELTS, TOEFL, SAT, GRE, DELE, SIELE, DELF and DALF.
1,948built-in exercises
14tests covered
6levels, A1 to C2
What is inside?
Sentence-level listening, dictation-friendly transcripts, short dialogues, monologues, interviews, academic talks, articles and exam-informed reading practice.
This is your starting point.Everything here is ready to practise — Create and My Import are optional ways to add your own material later.
Important: Built-in materials are original Word By Word practice content informed by the listed levels, genres and exam formats. Word By Word is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official preparation provider for Cambridge English, IELTS, ETS, College Board, Instituto Cervantes, France Éducation international or any other exam owner. Exam names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. The library does not reproduce official questions, answer keys or test papers unless specifically identified.
Optional add-on · more at your CEFR level
Want more practice? Generate a lesson at your level.
Create uses the same CEFR level as the library. Give WBW a topic, and its AI shapes a fresh dictation episode to match your selected language, difficulty, vocabulary and sentence length.
- Choose the CEFR level and language before you generate.
- Get original, coherent listening material instead of a random text dump.
- Save generated episodes into your own books and practise them like built-in lessons.
- Use Create when you want more guided material inside the library’s progression.
Your idea
A short story about space travel
B1 · English
→
Your new episode
The First Long Journey
Original text, tuned to your level and ready to listen, type and repeat.
guided · level-matched · yoursOptional add-on · bring your own text or photos
Already have a passage or a photo? Practise it as-is.
Have an article, a class handout, a work email, a page or a photo of text you want to study? Paste it or import from a picture into My Import, save it under your own books and episodes, then listen, follow the transcript and practise it sentence by sentence.
- Up to 1,000 words per episode.
- Import from a photo — handy for handouts, screenshots and book pages.
- Edit, preview and save your own raw text.
- Organise custom books and episode titles.
- No level system. Your wording stays yours unless you tap Optimize.
You're on a computer You're on a Mac You're on a Windows PC You're on a Linux computer You're on an Android tablet
Snap the worksheet. Dictate it at the desk.
Open the app here for dictation. For the mobile version, visit this same site on your phone and open the app.
You're on a phone You're on an iPhone You're on an Android phone
Snap the worksheet. Dictate it at the desk.
Open the app on this phone for the mobile version. For dictation, visit this same site on a computer, or an iPad with a hardware keyboard, and open the app.
You're on an iPad
Snap the worksheet. Dictate it at the desk.
Open the app on this iPad for dictation. A hardware keyboard is required. For the mobile version, visit this same site on your phone and open the app.
Import on a phone
On a phone, visit this same site and open the app. You'll be running the mobile version: one photo reads a page, saves it to your account, and plays it back.
Dictation at the desk
On a computer, or an iPad with a hardware keyboard, visit this site and open the app. That is the full app: listen, type, and practise. A page imported on the phone is already a live dictation in the same account.
New · English plus a school subject
Subject Practice turns tricky words into timed questions.
Open My Tricky Words, pick Math, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, or CS, and take a 5-question countdown round. Each stem uses words you misspell. Subject difficulty follows your current learning level. This is not dictation.
01Misspellings collect themselves while you dictate.
02Pick a subject from the Subject Practice menu.
03Answer five timed A–B–C–D questions, then see your score.
Math · 12s
If the ratio is 2:3, what fraction is red?
A 2/3
B 2/5
C 3/5
D 1/2
Correct
New · teachers and students
Word By Word Classroom
A class shares dictation, a vocabulary list, and Subject Practice quizzes. Teachers invite by email, lock practice settings, set a CEFR level for generated quizzes, and follow progress, a Weakness Radar, and two leaderboards.
The teacher’s desk
- Create a class and invite by email.
- Copy Library books into My Import, then add a vocabulary list and Subject Practice quizzes.
- Lock speed, repetitions, and writing interval.
- Set a CEFR level for generated class quizzes.
- Read attempts, a mistake heatmap, and the Weakness Radar.
- See dictation and Subject Practice rankings.
The student’s desk
- Join from an email invitation.
- Practise shared dictation with the class settings locked.
- Study the class vocabulary list and take Subject Practice quizzes.
- Submit for the ranking. Seeing the correction sheet is a teacher option.
Strongly recommended
Start in the app, then keep it close.
Before you start
What to know today.
Does it work on phones or Android?
On a phone, one photo reads a page, saves it to your account and plays it back. Dictation of that page stays on a computer or an iPad with a hardware keyboard, in the same account.
Do I need to install anything from an app store?
No. Open the web app in Safari, then save it to your Home Screen or Dock for the recommended experience.
What's the best way to use Word By Word on iPad?
A hardware keyboard is required on iPad — Bluetooth or Smart Keyboard. The on-screen keyboard is too cramped for dictation.
What is Subject Practice?
In My Tricky Words, Subject Practice is a 5-question timed round in Math, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, or CS. Stems use words you misspell. Difficulty follows your current learning level. It is not dictation.
Can I practise with my own text?
Yes. Use Create for a level-matched episode generated from a topic, or My Import for text you want to keep as written. Paste it or import from a picture, create books and episodes, use up to 1,000 words per episode, and practise against the text you brought in. After a photo import, Optimize can trim extras and standardize punctuation for speech.
Can I run a class with my students?
Yes. In the app, open Classes. Create a class, invite students by email, copy Library books into My Import, add a vocabulary list and Subject Practice quizzes, and review their dictation attempts. Students practise those episodes with the class settings locked. You choose whether they see the correction sheet.
Ready when you are