The diction placement exam is required of all students in concentrations of Vocal Performance, Performance and Pedagogy (voice), Choral Conducting. One semester of graduate diction leveling is required for students not passing the diction placement exam. The exam includes the following:

Written:

IPA symbols for Italian, French and German phonemes
Transcribing English, Italian, German and French phrases into IPA
General questions about pronunciation

Details:

The Diction exam has four parts, one for each of the four major sung languages.

In each language you will be asked the following:

1) write some IPA symbols, generally for pairs of either consonants or pairs of vowels.

2) answer true or false based on your knowledge of the rules of diction for that language.

3) provide short answers

4) mark the syllabification and stress on some words or names

5) transcribe a short example in each language; provide syllabification and stress as well.

Oral Section: Read a short section in Italian, German, and French. You will not be provided IPA but will be provided the word-for-word translation. You will be graded on the style (lilt, flow), authenticity of sound (dental consonants or other types of consonants, glottal stops, vowel quality), and communication of the test's meaning.

The best way to prepare is to study old tests and quizzes and practice reading art songs and arias for accuracy of sounds. If you do not have any of these materials, Please find the Cheri Montgomery Workbooks and Phonetic Readings in the TXST library for your use. The Workbooks contain chapter review quizzes and here is a website that can assist you with the spoken sounds: https://www.stmpublishers.com/listening.html