Spoken Numbers training: one digit a second, sudden death
Digits read aloud at one per second, heard once, then written back from memory. Standard mode runs the World Memory Championship format: three attempts of 200, 300 and 657 digits, marked until your first mistake.
- Pace
- 1 / sec
- Attempts
- 3
- Longest
- 657
- digits · record + 20%
- Scoring
- To 1st error
- World record
- 547
- digits · Guinness, 2019
Start a drill
Digits are read aloud by your browser's speech engine, one per second. If speech isn't available, they're shown one at a time instead.
The official Spoken Numbers format
A computer reads random decimal digits in English at one second per digit. Nothing may be written while the recording plays, and a competitor who reaches their limit sits quietly until it ends. Then recall begins, writing the digits in order from the start of the sequence.
| Level | Attempt 1 | Attempt 2 | Attempt 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 100 s · 5 min recall | 300 s · 15 min recall | — |
| International | 100 s · 10 min recall | 300 s · 15 min recall | Record + 20% · 20 min recall |
| World | 200 s · 10 min recall | 300 s · 15 min recall | Record + 20% · 20 min recall |
Standard mode runs the World format: 200 digits, then 300, then 657 (the 547-digit record plus 20%), with 10, 15 and 20 minutes to recall. You see each attempt's result before the next, as competitors do. Digits are spoken on a fixed one-second clock by your browser's speech engine.
How Spoken Numbers is scored
Spoken Numbers is sudden death: the digits are checked from the first one, and marking stops at the first mistake.
- 200All 200 digits correctEvery digit counts.
- 87First mistake at digit 88Only the digits before it count.
- 0First digit wrongEven with 300 correct digits after it.
- 41A gap at digit 42A missing digit stops marking just like a wrong one.
Scoring-aware strategy
- Protect the start. A slip at digit 10 wipes out everything after it, so the opening digits deserve your most secure images.
- Stop writing where your memory stops. Guessing past a gap can't add anything: marking already stopped at the gap.
- Chunk as the digits arrive. At one per second, a two- or three-digit group gives you two or three seconds to form one image. Use a Major System and place the images along a memory palace route.
- Bank a safe score early. With the best attempt counting, a careful first attempt takes the pressure off the longer ones.
The full method is in How to memorise spoken numbers.
Spoken Numbers FAQ
What is Spoken Numbers at the World Memory Championships?
Random digits are read out in English at one digit per second, and competitors memorise as many as they can by ear alone — no writing is allowed while the recording plays. Afterwards they write the digits down in order from the start.
What is the world record for spoken numbers?
Guinness World Records lists 547 digits memorised at a rate of one per second, by Ryu Song I of the DPRK at the 2019 World Memory Championships in Wuhan, China.
How is Spoken Numbers scored?
It's sudden death: the digits are marked from the start, and marking stops at the first mistake. Your score is the number of digits you recalled correctly before it. A wrong first digit scores zero even if everything after it is right.
How many attempts are there in Spoken Numbers?
At World level, three: 200 seconds, 300 seconds, and a final attempt of the world record plus 20% — 657 digits today — with 10, 15 and 20 minutes to recall. National competitions run two attempts, of 100 and 300 seconds.
Which attempt counts?
The published WMSC rulebook doesn't say how the attempts combine. This drill counts your best attempt, and each attempt is saved to your history on its own.
What happens if the recording is interrupted?
Under the rulebook, if an attempt has to be paused because of an outside distraction, it restarts from five numbers before the interruption.
How do you memorise spoken digits?
Group the digits as they arrive — usually in twos or threes — and turn each group into an image from a number system such as the Major System, placing each image on a memory palace route. At one digit per second there's time for only one quick image per group.
Keep training
Sources
- World Memory Sports Council rulebook — Spoken Numbers (attempts, timing and recall)
- World Memory Championships — Spoken Numbers (sudden-death marking)
- Guinness World Records — most spoken numbers memorised at a rate of 1 per second
Not affiliated with the World Memory Sports Council.