PHONETICS I

TRANSCRIPTION PRACTICE HANDBOOK

WITH KEYS

Prof. Sergio Rojas

My favourite Subject1

My favourite subjects at school were sciences, especially Chemistry and Biology. I´ve

always been good with numbers, so I was good at Mathematics. I didn´t really like the

social science subjects like Sociology and History, and that´s strange because when I

went to university I did Geography.

My favourite city2.

I think it’s my favourite city in the world. It’s very big, but it has a feeling

sometimes of being really very small, because there are certain parts of the city

which have very small streets, very small shops and bars. And there are millions

and millions of things to do there either, museums, discos. The night-life is

terrific.

I worked late that day. 

I worked late that day and I didn´t arrive home until ten o´clock. I was very wet because

of the rain. Then, to my surprise, my key didn´t fit in the lock. So I looked closely at my

keys and saw that they were the wrong ones. I´d left my house keys at work. So I got

back on my motorbike and rode back to the office to collect them. I got home really tired

so I went to bed, read for half an hour, switched off the lights and went to sleep.

1
Adapted from English Pronunciation in Use. Hancock, M. (2003). Section 31. p.70. Cambridge University Press.

2
Adapted from Blueprint One Abbs, Brian; Freebairn, Ingrid (1990), Unit 10 exercise 5. Singapore. Longman ed.
Visiting a friend 3

Hostess: Come and sit down. Would you like a drink?

Guest: Oh, yes please! I'd love a gin and tonic.
Hostess: Do you like olives? Or would you prefer crisps?
Guest: Oh, just olives please. What music is this?
Hostess: Do you like it? It's Irish music?
Guest: It's great! Where did you get the CD?
Hostess: Erm - I think it was in the CD shop in the Mall. Have you been there?
Guest: Yes. I buy a lot of stuff from there. It's a good shop, isn't it?
Hostess: Yes. Hey, I've got some photos of our holiday in Ireland. Would you like to see
them?
Guest: Why not? I'd love to!

A FILM REVIEW4
a. Listen to the text. Then mark pauses.

Certainly one of my favourite films is Witness. It´s one starring Harrison Ford, where he plays
a detective who´s investigating a murder that an Amish child has witnessed, and he has to
protect the child and to do that at one point he has to go and spend some time living with the
Amish community. Now the Amish community are that religious group. .em… in America who
live a very old-fashioned lifestyle. They have no modern gadgets and no modern technology
because their religion doesn´t allow it. Now, Harrison Ford plays this very tough, hard-nosed
city cop and there are some wonderful scenes where his values and culture really clash with
this very peaceful Amish community. It´s also, it has a love story in it because he falls in love
with the boy´s mother, who´s Amish. It´s a very, very intense and passionate love story, and
it´s a thriller because it deals with police corruption, and it´s unbearably tense and the build
up towards the end is incredible. It really, really does have you on the edge of your seat.

3
from www.bbc.uk.co\learning\pronunciation. Audio bank - Short texts © BBC | British Council 2006

4
Adapted from New Headway Upper-intermediate(2005), Soars, John and Liz. OUP. Unit 12.
NEWS REPORT5 2. 
b. transcribe the text into phonemic script.

Three children who had been missing for two days have been found safe and well. The
three ten-year-olds, two boys and a girl, disappeared after school on Wednesday. Police
had issued photographs of the three, and had been searching nearby houses. They were
eventually spotted by a neighbour, who alerted the police. They said they had slept out in
a garden shed for a dare, and hadn´t realized the concern they had caused.

It´s never too late6.

My grandfather, who´s a widower, used to be a judge and when he retired the year
before last, he decided to go on a sea cruise. He enjoyed the cruise very much Indeed.
He sailed all round the world and it sounded like a great experience. Anyway, the most
interesting thing about this cruise was that he met an attractive, American widow. I think
she´s pretty rich as well. She comes from California. Well, my grandfather invited her to
have dinner with him and they got on really well with one another. And would you believe
it, my grandfather fell in love? No Kidding! He says you can find love at any age, and the
next thing we knew he´d asked her to marry him. Apparently, they were married by the
captain of the ship. It´s so romantic. The whole family´s amazed, but we´re all very
happy for him `cos he´s been rather lonely since my grandmother died. I just hope I find
love one day, like Grandpa.

5
Adapted from New Headway Upper-intermediate(2005), Soars, John and Liz. OUP. Unit 3. Tapescript 3.3. CD 1 Track 32

6
Adapted from New Headway Upper-intermediate(2005), Soars, John and Liz. OUP. Unit 12. Tapescript 12.1. CD 3 Track 35
ANSWER KEYS
My favourite Subject.







My favourite city.

/ aI TINk Its maI feIvrIt sIti In D@ w3:ld / Its veri bIg / bVt / It h9z @ fi:lIN sVmtaImz @v bi:IN rI@li veri

smO:l / bIkQz D@r @ / s3:tn pA:ts @v D@ sIti wItS h9v veri smO:l stri:ts / veri smO:l SQps / @n bA:z / @n /

D@r @ mIlj@nz @n mIlj@nz @v TINz t@ du: De@r aID@ / mju:zi:@mz / disk@Uz / D@ naItlaIf Iz t@rIfIk / Its @ sIti

D@t Its nev@ bO:rIN / Its fUl @v hIstQrIkl bIldINz / @n O:ls@U / D@r @r @ lQt @v mO:dn bIldINz @z wel / s@U

D@z @n / IkstrO:dn@ri mIkstS@ / D@r @ meni dIfr@nt weIz @v si:IN D@ sIti / @pA:t fr@m D@ metr@U / @ raId In

@ k9b / In D@ sIti / Iz kwaIt @n Ivent / @nVD@ weI @v si:IN It / Iz t@ teIk @ trIp daUn D@ rIv@ / Qn D@

bat@U mu:S / fr@m D@ b@Ut / ju k@n si: prIti wel evriTIN / evriTIN fr@m Di aIfl taU@ (tA:a) / t@ n@Utr@

dA:m /

I worked late that day



////

///

//

/////

/
Visiting a friend.

hostess 
Guest 
hostess 
Guest 
hostess 
Guest 
hostess 
Guest 
hostess 
Guest 

A film review.















NEWS REPORT
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




Notes: photograph  US 

It´s never too late


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
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





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