VOA · As It Is
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed2:422025-02-12public domain
As It Is is VOA Learning English's daily news magazine. Each report covers a current story in clear, learner-speed English with a controlled vocabulary — the closest thing to real news broadcasts that intermediate learners can fully digest, and ideal raw material for dictation.
Hit "Start dictation practice" — all 3 minutes are already sliced into sentences, so practice starts immediately. No wait.
Learner-speed news English: clear delivery, everyday vocabulary, natural sentence rhythm.
Switch to Dictation mode, type each sentence, and get a word-by-word diff with your accuracy score.
01George Washington was the first President of the United States.
02He served from 1789 to 1797.
03He was a famous general who led the American colonists to freedom from British rule, and he presided over the convention that created the U.S.
04Constitution.
05He wanted to retire from public service and return home.
06But the country's founders wanted him to move to New York and serve as the American President.
07Washington accepted the job as his duty.
08Washington was sworn in as President in 1789.
09He had to invent the job of being President for all future Presidents.
10He established a group of advisors called the Cabinet, as well as the nation's official money.
11He appointed a six-member Supreme Court.
12And he created the Department of Foreign Affairs, now called the State Department.
13He hoped to act in such a way that future Presidents could continue to build on what he began.
14From the beginning, George Washington was careful to establish a good working relationship with Congress.
15By his actions, he confirmed the separation of powers of the three branches of the government, as described in the Constitution.
16Historian Joseph Ellis says one of the best things about George Washington was his ability to give up power.
17At the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington returned his sword.
18And, at the end of his second term, President Washington simply returned home.
19Like many plantation owners, Washington was a slaveholder.
20By the end of his life, Washington opposed slavery.
21He left a will ordering his survivors to free his slaves after his wife's death.
22Three years after he finished his second term as President, Washington fell ill.
23On December 14, 1799, he died in his bed, surrounded by his wife, enslaved maids, and friends.
24He was 67.
25I'm Jill Robbins.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
Practice it by ear
