Swahili Transcription Services

GoLocalise offers transcription services for audio and video files in over 100 languages as well as English.

100% Precise and Human Generated Swahili Transcription Services!

GoLocalise offers Swahili 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 Swahili transcription company!

What Is Transcription?

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.

Josie Gallo

Content Co-ordinator at Medical Aid Films

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Understanding The Difference Between Transcription and Translation

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.

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What Do Our Swahili Audio and Video Transcription Services Include?

Verbatim Transcriptions

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.

Word-for-word 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.

Grammatically correct transcriptions

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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What Are the Benefits of Transcribing Your Swahili Audio or Video Content with GoLocalise?

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.

It makes your audiovisual content more easily discoverable

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.

The likelihood of your content being quoted in other publications will increase

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.

And There are Many More Reasons

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.

Making Your Content accessible to a Wider Range of People

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.

Connecting With You People Who Speak Other Languages

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.

Can I Use a Transcription As Subtitles?

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.

Tap Into Our High Quality Swahili Transcription Services Now!

So, whatever your reason for transcribing your audio or video content in Swahili, we’re happy to help.

Whether it’s to make your Swahili 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 Swahili content, but also other audiovisual content from many other languages, consistently ensuring high-quality 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.

Why Choose Us?

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Reach your target market

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.

Meet your dedicated project manager

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!

Perfect voice over recording studios

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!

What our happy customers say

GoLocalise are a joy to work with. Nothing is too much trouble for them and we always appreciate their good advice, flexibility, fairness and professionalism. I would highly recommend them for any project.

Stefanie Smith

Producer at Education First

It was a pleasure to work with David and the team at GoLocalise. David gave me lots of help and advice, guiding me through my first subtitling project. He really knows his stuff! The experience was completely pain-free. I would not hesitate to recommend GoLocalise – outstanding work at a good price.

Kerry Gillies

Director at Synergy Language Services

Friendly and professional – made everything easy for our whole co-hort of third year acting students to record their voice demos. Thank you for great service!

Philippa Strandberg-Long

Deputy Course Leader - Acting, Italia Conti

We’ve worked with the GoLocalise team on countless video projects and have always had the same consistent, great experience. Not only are they responsive and quick on turnaround, I can always trust the VO will be done right – they are always 100% clear with communication and ensure their talent is prepared to record by asking necessary questions upfront before recording. Highly recommended and will definitely work with them on future projects.

Jonathan Lapps

Account Manager at Epipheo

We have used GoLocalise on a regular basis for projects in a number of languages. The service we receive is great. The team is always friendly and professional. The voiceovers we receive are of a very high quality and the turnaround is extremely quick. We are very happy to recommend GoLocalise to other businesses.

Jo Samuel

Animator at Pixel Circus

Golocalise are our supplier of choice for all our subtitling and transcription needs. After years of hassle trying to do it all in-house we have found their service to be a revelation in terms of speed, flexibility and costs. Their team is extremely responsive and can always turnaround requests, in any language, within our short deadlines. We can confidently rely on them to provide any deliverables without ever worrying about the accuracy of the subtitling.

Adam Ruddick

Head of Production at Casual Films

A Brief History Of Swahili

Swahili, also known as Kiswahili, is a Bantu language and the first language of the Swahili people. It is a lingua franca of the African Great Lakes region and other parts of Southeast Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The closely related Comorian language, spoken in the Comoros Islands, is sometimes considered a dialect.

Although only around five to fifteen million people speak Swahili as their first language, it is used as a lingua franca in much of Southeast Africa. Estimates of the total number of Swahili speakers vary widely, from 60 million to over 150 million. Swahili serves as a national of four nations: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its dialects are used as official languages in Comoros – Shikomor and Mayotte – Shimaore. It is also one of the official languages of the African Union and East African Community.

A significant fraction of Swahili vocabulary is derived from Arabic through contact with Arabic-speaking Muslim inhabitants of the Swahili Coast. It has also incorporated German, Portuguese, English, Hindustani and French words into its vocabulary through contact with empire builders, traders and slavers during the past five centuries.

Swahili is traditionally regarded as being the language of coastal areas of Tanzania and Kenya, formalised after independence by presidents of the African Great Lakes region. It was first spoken by natives of the coastal mainland and spread as a fisherman’s language to the various islands surrounding the Swahili Coast. Traders from these islands had extensive contact with the coastal peoples from at least the 2nd century A.D. and Swahili began to spread along the Swahili Coast from at least the 6th century. There is also cultural evidence of early Zaramo people settlement on Zanzibar from Dar-es-salaam in present-day Tanzania. The African population of the island holds the tradition that it is descended from these early settlers.

Clove farmers from Oman and the Persian Gulf farmed the Zanzibar Archipelago, slowly spreading Islam and adding a few words to Swahili language and building forts and castles in major trading and cultural centres as far as Sofala (Mozambique) and Kilwa (Tanzania) to the south, Mombasa and Lamu in Kenya, the Comoros Islands and northern Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, and Barawa to the north in southern Somalia. Demand for cloves soon established permanent trade routes, and Swahili-speaking merchants settled in stops along the new trade routes. For the most part, this process started the development of the modern Swahili language. However, the spread was hampered during the European colonial era and did not occur west of Lake Malawi, in what was then called the Belgian Congo, and is now Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thus making it a secondary rather than a primary language in that region.

The earliest known documents written in Swahili are letters written in Kilwa in 1711 A.D. in the Arabic script. They were sent to the Portuguese of Mozambique and their local allies. The original letters are now preserved in the Historical Archives of Goa, India. Another ancient written document is an epic poem in the Arabic script titled Utendi wa Tambuka (The History of Tambuka); it is dated 1728. However, the Latin script later became standard under the influence of European colonial powers.