Transcription Exercises for Documents in English

Our transcription program can check the text you enter to see if it’s correct. To test your work, click on the “Review Entry” button. Words with errors will be marked in red. The program will ignore punctuation, but is case sensitive. It will also show where you have forgotten a word (…) and where there ought to be a line break (¶).

When you get stuck on a transcription, the system can also give hints or show you the correct transcription for a single word. Click on the corresponding button and then hoover the cursor over the word you want to know more about.
Please note: Unfortunately, this is not possible on tablets without a cursor. However, if you connect a keyboard and trackpad, the function is usually available.


The transcription exercises follow the general guideliens for transcriptions that you can find in the Tutorial section. Exceptions to the general rules, arising from the particularities of individual scripts, are noted in the exercise where they appear.

Title Number Institution Year Language Level  Script

A homily for Septuagesima Sunday by Ælfric of Eynsham

370730 Fondation Martin Bodmer 11th century Old English 2
Insular Minuscule

Bede’s Death Song

370734 Saint Gall, Stiftsbibliothek 860 Old English 2
Carolingian Minuscule

Two Manumissions in 10th Century Bedwyn

370700 Bern, Burgerbibliothek 10th c. Old English 2
Insular Minuscule

Two Old English Legal Texts

370703 Bern, Burgerbibliothek ca. 1200 Old English 2
Insular Minuscule

The Journal of Isaak Iselin: First Contact

33010 Basle, Iselin private archive 1807 English 1