VOA · Arts & Culture
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed4:172025-03-11public domain
The Arts & Culture beat covers music, film, museums, food, and traditions from the United States and around the world. The reports are short, vivid, and full of everyday descriptive language — great for learners who want vocabulary beyond textbooks.
Hit "Start dictation practice" — all 4 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.
01American magic performer Harry Houdini died almost 100 years ago.
02But his name is still known around the world.
03Many people consider him the greatest magician and escape artist of all time.
04Houdini's real name was Eric Weiss.
05He was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1874.
06His father was a rabbi, a Jewish religious leader.
07The family moved to the United States two years later.
08Young Eric loved show business.
09At the age of nine, he called himself the Prince of the Air, as he performed on a swing high above the audience.
10But Eric always dreamed of becoming a magician.
11One of his favorite entertainers was a French magician named Jean-Eugène Robert Houdin.
12Eric took his last name, changed the pronunciation, added an I, and began calling himself Harry Houdini.
13At first, he performed many different kinds of magic.
14But in 1899, he decided to spend most of his time working on escapes.
15One of his most famous tricks was called the Chinese water torture.
16His feet were locked together, and he was lowered, upside down, into a large glass container filled with water.
17A big piece of cloth was then placed in front of the box so that people watching the show could not see how he did the trick.
18Several minutes would go by.
19Just when everyone was sure the great Houdini had drowned, the cloth would drop.
20And there stood Houdini on the stage, out of the water, and very much alive.
21Harry Houdini was also famous for escaping from handcuffs.
22He said he would give $100 to anyone who could lock him into a set of handcuffs from which he could not escape.
23During his long career, he never had to pay the money.
24Harry Houdini enjoyed a long career as a magician and escape artist.
25He wrote books and performed in movies.
26He became the most famous magician in the world.
27It all came to an end on Halloween, October 31, 1926, when Houdini died.
28A few days earlier, he had been performing in Canada, when a college student and fan asked to meet him.
29The student wanted to test Houdini's claim that he could be hit in the stomach without being hurt.
30The student suddenly hit Houdini hard several times.
31The magician did not have time to prepare himself for the hits.
32This caused Houdini's appendix to burst, releasing poisons that killed him soon after.
33Harry Houdini was 52 years old.
34I'm Katie Weaver.
35I'm Katie Weaver.
36I'm Katie Weaver.
37I'm Katie Weaver.
38I'm Katie Weaver.
39I'm Katie Weaver.
40I'm Katie Weaver.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
Practice it by ear
