Dictation

The following videos last about  1 minute each. Write down the words you hear. There will be one listening task for each week. Please note the deadline for each video.

Video 10: Taylor Swift speech

Dictation of Video 10 must be finished by December 12. Upload the photo of you dictation.

And so, I say to you. When you start to compare yourself to other people, please change the channel in your mind to something else. Because, I think that, when it comes to how we see ourselves, other people are really mean, but we are really mean to ourselves. And so it’s easy to get confused. And when you do get confused, uh, and you start feeling like you are not special, or you are not different, or you have nothing important to say, we all feel like that sometimes. But I want you to do right now, if there is one thing you remember from tonight, remember what I am about to say. You need to look into the mirror in the morning, and not tell yourself that you are not special or you are not good enough, you are not pretty or you are not awesome. I’m gonna tell you right now the things you actually are not, okay? There are the things you really are not. You are not the opinion somebody who doesn’t know you.

Video 11: Emma Watson speech

Dictation of Video 11 must be finished by December 19. Upload the photo of you dictation.

I was appointed as Goodwill UN ambassador for UN women six months ago. and the more I’ve spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with men-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic, and social equality of sexes. I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago. When I was 8, I was confused being called bossy. Because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for our parents. But the boys were not. 

Video 12: Anne Hathaway speech

Dictation of Video 12 must be finished by December 26. Upload the photo of you dictation.

When I was a very young person, I began my career as an actress. Whenever my mother wasn’t free to drive me into Manhattan for auditions, I would take the train from suburban New Jersey and meet my father, who would have left his desk at the law office where he worked, and we would meet under the Upper Platform Arrival and Departure sign in Penn Station. We would then get on the subway together, and when surfaced, he would ask me --- which way is north? I wasn’t very good at finding north at the beginning, but I auditioned fair amount and so my Dad kept asking me --- which way is north? Over time, I got better at finding it. I was struck by that memory yesterday while boarding the plane to come here. Not just by how far my life has come since them but, by how meaningful that seemingly small lesson has been. When I was still a child, my father developed my sense of direction and now, as an adult I trust my ability to navigate space. My father helped give me the confidence to guide myself through the world.