Transcription and Translation

Transcription and translation of audio and video files, in a whole host of file formats, is something we are getting asked for more and more.

Transcription and translation of audio and video files in a whole host of file formats is something we are getting asked for more and more.

In a nutshell, transcription and translation involves our professional translators watching or listening to your recording and writing down the speech involved, in the same language as is being spoken. They then translate that text into the target language you require.

Probably the most common type of transcription and translation we seem to come across is for legal translation, when someone will be interviewed in their native language but the court will require this in another language. However, it’s becoming more common for transcription and translation to be required for video clips and radio interviews.

Translation charges

Clearly you don’t know how many words are used in your audio or video until they have been transcribed (it’s a chicken and egg thing), but we normally estimate that in English a recorded interview of 1 hour between 2 people would generate around 6000 spoken words, and a dictated piece of audio would generate between 8,000 and 10,000 spoken words.

These figures are based on English, but other languages such as German use longer words and so probably have less words per hour. Japanese, however, generally uses shorter words and therefore the spoken word count is likely to be higher.

What type of files can we transcribe?

We can use pretty much any type of file such as a tape, CD, DVD, video cassette, MP3, mpeg or wav. If you have used something we’ve not listed, drop us an email we’re bound to be able to help you.

For a full quote for transcription and translation send us a e-mail at:
or see how you can contact us.