We provide five types of English Chinese transcription services of audio and video recordings:
- Monolingual transcription service
- Translation service of third-party transcripts
- One-step bilingual transcription service
- Two-step bilingual transcription service
- Interpretation service of audio recordings
We work in both directions: Chinese to English, and English to Chinese.
The most frequently requested are the one-step and two-step bilingual transcription services.
1. Monolingual transcription service
This is to convert the voice recordings into texts in the same language. The service providers are not required to be bilingual.
2. Translation service of third-party transcripts
If clients already have transcripts in the source language, we can provide translation of the existing transcripts into the target language.
Please kind note that we can only certify work that is done exclusively by us as a whole. Therefore, for translation services of third-party transcripts, we can only certify our translations in comparison to the transcripts provided to us, not to the original recordings.
3. One-step bilingual English Chinese transcription services
If clients only need transcripts in the target language, we can handle the transcription in one step. The translator listens to the source language and types in the target language.
4. Two-step bilingual English Chinese transcription services
When clients need transcripts in both the source and the target languages, we will present the bilingual texts side by side in the transcripts. This would involve a two-step process: first transcribing, and then translating.
5. Interpretation service of audio recordings
Occasionally, clients may have large volumes of recordings for which they do not need written transcripts, neither do they need the work to be certified. Under such circumstances, we can provide interpretation service of the audio recordings which may significantly reduce the costs for clients.
Audio recordings are deprived of all visual cues and often have no context, which poses a greater challenge for interpreting audio recordings than interpreting in-person. Interpretation service of audio recordings is a quick and less expensive approach for clients to get the gist of the recorded conversations rather than a thorough and accurate translation. As a result, we do not provide any certification for the interpretation service of audio recordings.
Final product comparison: Alternative transcription services
| Type | Source (Provided by Client) | Product -Transcripts (in Source) | Product - Transcripts (in Target) | Product - Recordings (in Target) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monolingual Transcription* | Recordings | Yes | - | - |
| Translation of 3rd-Party Transcripts | Transcripts in source language | - | Yes | - |
| One-step Bilingual Transcription* | Recordings | - | Yes | - |
| Two-step Bilingual Transcription* | Recordings | Yes | Yes | - |
| Interpretation of Recordings | Recordings | - | - | Yes |
* For a sample of the final products, see Sample Transcripts.
Cost comparison: Alternative transcription services
| Category | Non-certified (USD) | Certified (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Timestamp + Target Language Transcript | $55/per minute of recording | N/A |
| Timestamp + Source Language Transcript + Target Language Transcript | $65/per minute of recording | $80/per minute of recording |
| Interpretation of Recordings | $30/per minute of recording | N/A |
How to mitigate costs for transcription services
Generally speaking, bilingual transcription services are significantly more expensive than translation or interpretation services alone.
If you can get by with transcripts only in the target language, choosing the one-step process helps you mitigate the cost of two-step transcription services.
If written transcripts can be forgone altogether, you may reduce even more costs by having the recordings interpreted instead.
Please note that because interpretation is instantaneous, interpretation of audio recordings is less accurate than written transcripts. As a result, we do not certify the interpretations of audio recordings.
Our credentials
Transcription is a hybrid of interpretation and translation — the linguists need to have excellent listening comprehension skills, familiarity with various accents in the source language, a strong command of colloquialism in both the source and the target languages, as well as a keen attention to detail.
Our linguists for transcription services are both court certified (for interpretation) and ATA certified (for translation).
For an attorney’s perspective on legal transcription, read Recordings, Transcripts, and Translations as Evidence by Professor Clifford Fishman.