GoLocalise offers German transcription services for audio and video files for business and individual purposes. Our expert team of transcribers will create a text version of your video or audio file, and we can also translate and/or voice over your transcript.
We are your reliable German transcription company!
No, this isn’t a trick question and you might be surprised how many people get this wrong. In simple terms, transcription is the process of listening to audiovisual content and writing down what is heard.
Seems simple enough, so what exactly is the part that confuses people?
We used GoLocalise to voice several of our films in Vietnamese. The service was friendly and professional. Being able to attend the recording sessions gave me confidence; the sound engineer had taken a lot of time to familiarise himself with our films and scripts, and the voice talents were incredibly competent and good at adapting to any changes in the scripts as we recorded. The whole process was incredibly smooth and I felt in safe hands.
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Many people confuse transcription with translation.
If you need a text version of your audiovisual content in a language which is different to the original language of your source material then you need translation (which, by the way, we can also help you with).
If you’re simply in need of a written transcript in the same language as your original audiovisual materials, that is transcription and you’re in the right place.
A voice to text transcription method, this records all interjections, signs of emotions (coughs, sighs, chuckles, etc.), false starts and shifts in thought processes. This type of transcription is often useful if you're going to use your transcript as an aid to help during a subsequent editing process, but if you want something more like a finished product you might benefit more from a different type of transcription.
As with verbatim transcriptions, this style will capture the text as it is spoken without making any attempts to correct grammar or restructure sentences for better clarity. However, all filler words will be removed.
In this type of transcription, filler words are eliminated, false starts and self-corrected words aren't included, and grammar and mispronounced words are corrected. The resultant document will read less like conversational speech and more like a properly structured text. This style is great for publishing as an article or for any other purpose that's designed to be public-facing.
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The answer to that is that many people confuse transcription with translation. If you need a text version of your audiovisual content in a language which is different to the original language of your source material then you need translation (which, by the way, we can also help you with).
If you’re simply in need of a written transcript in the same language as your original audiovisual materials, that is a transcription service and you’re in the right place.
Let's take a podcast, for example. If you're able to make a text version of your audio content available, this enables search engines such as Google to include your content in search results much more easily. People searching online for phrases related to your subject matter will therefore be much more likely to encounter your materials during their search, thus increasing traffic to your site and increasing your potential reach overall.
Any journalist, blogger or anybody else who regularly writes articles will require some form of written quote or citation in order to support the argument or point of view that they're trying to convey with their article. When deciding what supporting arguments to use for their piece and choosing between two equally credible sources of audiovisual information – one already transcribed and ready to quote - that writer is naturally going to choose the pre-transcribed version.
Creating your audiovisual content, whether that's a podcast or a video of some kind, is often an incredibly time-consuming and expensive process. So why use it for only one purpose? You can use a transcription to repurpose your materials into a blog or social media post, to drive traffic to your website, to use as a teaser to bring people to a full-length podcast, and many more uses too.
Of course, the very best example of this would be people who are deaf or have other hearing impairments. Without a written transcript of your audio your content will simply not be accessible to this group of individuals.
Did you know that in the United Kingdom there are almost 550,000 speakers of Polish as their first language, plus approximately an additional one million speakers of various languages from India, such as Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali and Urdu? For many people, one of the toughest things as a speaker of a second language is following along with audio in that second language - especially if the content is particularly complex or colloquial in nature. For these people it's often an invaluable resource to be able to follow along with a written version of audiovisual content.
Yes, and no. GoLocalise specialises in anything audiovisual so of course if you’re in need of a full subtitling service we can absolutely help with that too, and in fact transcription is an integral part of the process when creating a same-language subtitle file.
The main difference here would be that subtitling also requires very precise technological know-how so that the resultant subtitles follow subtitling conventions and don’t prove to be distracting to the viewer.
A transcription by default won’t necessarily follow these guidelines and is better suited for other purposes, such as the ones listed above.
So, whatever your reason for transcribing your audio or video content in German, we’re happy to help.
Whether it’s to make your German podcast more accessible to people with hearing impairments, for use as a starting point for a video localisation project, or for any other reason, our experience in these fields has made us the top choice for clients all over the world who want to get more out of their audiovisual content.
Our transcriptionists specialise transcribing German content, but also other audiovisual content from many other languages, consistently ensuring high-quality results.
Leave your project to the experts at GoLocalise so that you can relax and be assured of getting top-notch results
Every single detail will be analysed, studied and looked after so that you do not need to worry.
Some would say it’s not too classy to blow our own trumpet… but we just like to point out two very important details.
We have achieved ISO 9001 Quality Management certification in recognition of our consistent performance and high standards, and ISO 14001 Environmental Management because we care about our planet!
And if you are still curious and want to know more about us, why not have a look at our studio page.
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Challenge Our Prices, Enjoy Our Quality
Don’t leave your important communication to chance. Make sure your message is clearly understood by your audience and choose GoLocalise for your next voice over project. Check out our latest case studies.
We have thousands of passionate and professional voice over artists ready to work with you. Meet some of them in our blog stories.
No matter the type of voice you are looking for, we’ll either have it in our books or find it and source it for you. We’ll organise a casting and ensure you get the perfect voice to suit your needs.
You will also benefit from having your own dedicated project manager – a single point of contact – to guide you through your project, answer any questions you may have and make things a whole lot easier.
Your project will be in the safe hands of one of our multilingual project managers. They will guide you through every step and ensure you understand the process.
Our industry has a tendency to use lots of technical jargon but your dedicated project manager will be on-hand to untangle the mess and explain all you need to know to ensure you only pay for what you need.
If you need help in choosing the right voice over talent to deliver your message then just ask your project manager.
From booking our voice over recording studios to ensuring you project is delivered on time in your chosen media, relax and let your experienced project manager take care of everything.
You will receive unparalleled attention to detail and customer focus at competitive prices. You’ll wish everything was as easy as a GoLocalise voice over agency!
Your most discerning customers will thank you for choosing our modern state-of-the-art recording studios. Every detail has been carefully thought through for your comfort, leaving you to simply focus on what matters most – the voice over session.
Your recordings will sound beautiful and crystal clear thanks to our high-end studio sound-proofing and audio equipment, i.e. ProTools HD and Neumann microphones.
Maximise your budget by reducing the need for retakes with the help of our experienced in-house sound engineers who will professionally capture and edit your audio.
And for those recordings in languages which neither you nor your client speak, we’ll bring a qualified pro to your session to add that essential ingredient.
To make you feel right at home, we provide high-speed Wi-Fi Internet and air-con is available. And last but not least, we have the biggest cookie jar you’ve ever seen, that’ll make your custom brew taste even sweeter!
Stefanie Smith
Producer at Education First
Patricia Leon-Fedorko
Account Specialist at Advanced Language
Adam Ruddick
Head of Production at Casual Films
Nicola
English UK Voice Over Talent
Philippa Strandberg-Long
Deputy Course Leader - Acting, Italia Conti
Jonathan Lapps
Account Manager at Epipheo
German (Deutsch) is a West Germanic language that derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Several German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. The languages which are most similar to German are Luxembourgish, Dutch, Afrikaans, the Frisian languages and English. German has three grammatical genders as well as three vowels with umlauts (Ä/ä, Ö/ö, and Ü/ü) in addition to the 26 standard letters of the Latin alphabet. The letter ß (a special kind of “s(s)”, called “Eszett” or “scharfes Es”, which originated as a ligature of archaic forms of the letters s and z) on the other hand, is specific to the German language.
German is the most spoken (and official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Italian province of South Tyrol (Alto Adige) and Liechtenstein; it is also an official (but not majority) language of Belgium and Luxembourg. With slightly different standardized variants (German, Austrian, and Swiss Standard German), German is a pluricentric language. German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. Due to the limited intelligibility between certain varieties and Standard German, as well as the lack of an undisputed, scientific difference between a “dialect” and a “language”, some German varieties or dialect groups (e.g. Low German/Plautdietsch) are alternatively referred to as “languages” and “dialects”.
One of the major languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide and the most widely natively spoken language in the European Union. German also is the third most taught foreign language in both the US and the EU, the second most commonly used scientific language, the third largest contributor to research and development as well as the third most used language on websites. Germany is ranked number 5 in terms of annual publication of new books, with one tenth of all books (including e-books) in the world being published in the German language.
The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon. The earliest evidence of Old High German is from scattered Elder Futhark inscriptions, especially in Alemannic, from the sixth century AD; the earliest glosses (Abrogans) date to the eighth century; and the oldest coherent texts (the Hildebrandslied, the Muspilli and the Merseburg Incantations) to the ninth century. Old Saxon, at this time, belonged to the North Sea Germanic cultural sphere, and Low Saxon was to fall under German, rather than Anglo-Frisian, influence during the existence of the Holy Roman Empire.
Because Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardization of German for several hundred years was the general wish of German writers to be understood by as many readers as possible.
When Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1522 and the Old Testament, published in parts and completed in 1534), he based his transcription primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony (sächsische Kanzleisprache), also known as Meißner-Deutsch(German from the city of Meissen). This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects, and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German, unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany, which had, at that time, already begun to lose the genitive case and the preterite tense.
Copies of Luther’s Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luther’s transcription, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language (gemeines Deutsch)—the difference in relation to “Protestant German” was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, ending the period of Early New High German.
Until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language: in urban northern Germany, the local Low Saxon or Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was markedly different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides; however, the actual pronunciation of Standard German varies from region to region.
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