Language Services

Babbletype offers multilingual services specifically designed for your transcription needs. We provide direct pricing on this page for Spanish and French, and also support other major languages on a quote request basis.

For both Spanish and French, we offer three different translation and transcription choices:

• Interpreted Transcription (fastest and least expensive)
• Transcription with Translation (most accurate)
• Spanish to Spanish or French to French transcription

We also offer two levels of pricing based on your turnaround need:

• Standard: your work is delivered in 3 to 5 business days. 
• Discounted: no standard turnaround; we provide an estimated turnaround when you ask for a quote.

We also provide volume discounts based on the size of the project you are ordering. To see the price that applies to your project, start by selecting the number of audio hours that will be in your project, then select the turnaround you want. Turnaround options that are blacked out are not available.

Interpreted Transcription (Spanish/French to English or vice versa)

This is the quickest and least expensive way to get an English transcript from Spanish or French audio (or vice versa). With our Interpreted Transcription Service, your original-language audio files are directly interpreted by a professional translator from the original source language into the target language without the use of an initial single-language transcript.

In traditional translation (see below), your original-language audio file would first be transcribed from audio into written form in the original source language (for example, if you started with a recording in Spanish, this step would create a formal written transcript in Spanish). That written transcript would then be given to a professional translator, who would translate that written original language transcript into a translated transcript in the target language. The result can be of very high quality, but the process is also slow and expensive, since everything is done twice.

Our Interpreted Transcription Service works much more like the way real time verbal communications are translated. In real-time interpreting, a speaker in the source language talks, and the interpreter listens and immediately interprets the speaker’s words into the target language. The result may be slightly less accurate than traditional translation, but it is also much faster, less expensive and more efficient.

Our Interpreted Transcription Service does just that — the translator listens to the original audio file and directly interprets it into a transcription in the target language. The client receives a single product from this service: the transcript in the target language.

Transcription with Translation (Spanish/French to English or vice versa)

This is the traditional method of translating transcriptions we described above. The audio file is initially transcribed from the original audio file into a transcript in the same language, and then that source-language written transcript is traditionally translated by a professional translator. The client receives two products with each order: the source language transcript, and the translated target language transcript. This approach delivers the most accurate results, but it is slower and much more expensive as a result.

Monolingual Spanish or French Transcription

This service converts your original Spanish- or French-language audio file into a written transcript in the same language.

Variations from Our Standard English-only Terms

While you’ll receive the same level of customer service and commitment we bring to everything we do, some of the features of our English-language transcription services are not supported with our multilingual transcription and translation services.

• Production processes
  All work is performed by professional transcriptionists and translators, and each transcription and translation receives a full review from an editor expert in both languages.
• Surcharges
  There is exactly one. To support additional research time related to highly technical documents (in technical, medical or legal domains, for example), we charge an additional 10% over standard fees for such work. If this applies to you we’ll let you know before beginning work (otherwise it does not apply).
• No rush draft
  The rush draft feature of our English-language transcription services is not available for our multilingual transcription and translation services.
• Time stamping on request only
  While in our English-language services time stamping is standard, here it is an option. You need to ask us to add this at time of order.
• Volume discount applicability
  Volume discounts for our language services are offered on a per project basis only. Excluding the discount options listed on this page, our large order and monthly volume discount features do not apply to these services.
• Turnaround
  As with our English language services, turnaround is calculated and communicated from the end of the business day (EST) on which the work was received, in business days plus 12 hours. For example, a file received during the business day EST on Monday with an Standard (3-5 day) turnaround will be returned Thursday, Friday or at the latest Monday, presuming no intervening holidays (in other words, our delivery objective will be to return your files to you on the fourth business day after the order). With each quotation request, we will supply you first with an approximate or usual turnaround for the volume of work requested, and also learn from you your specific turnaround needs. We will then work with our suppliers to obtain a precise determination of how long your specific order will take, and communicate a goal completion date for your project. Note however that translation work is inherently less certain than our standard English language transcription service as to delivery dates, since two projects of equal length but on different topics of different levels of difficulty could take very different amounts of time to complete. Targeted delivery dates should therefore be taken as close approximations and will occasionally see modest delays from the target date (we mean days here, not weeks). Note also that poor quality audio files may also cause delivery delays. Our standard turnaround time do not apply to the services on this page.
• Turnaround-based discounts and approximate turnaround availability
  If a price is available on our pricing grid, you can order it. For example, you can order projects from one to 10 audio hours in length with an Standard (3-5 business day) turnaround, but you cannot order a 20 audio hour project with an Standard turnaround.

How to Order

Email us directly at transcription@babbletype.com, or call us at 888-678-7782.

* French transcription and translation services support both standard French and French Canadian.