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# System prepended metadata

title: Guidelines for short audio transcriptions

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# Guidelines for short audio transcriptions in Bengali (Bangla)

Welcome and thank you for your willingness to help with the task of transcribing short audio files!

Please, read these guidelines carefully before starting the work. If you have any additional questions, do not hesitate to ask Liza.

The following examples are for English. But the rules apply to any language you work with. 

## What should you do

The task consists of two main parts:
1. To listen to audio fragments and transcribe them into text. 
2. To leave a note whether there is background noise on the audio or not. 

There are specific requirements for both steps that are described in more detail below in this instruction. 


## About the Google sheets file

You'll be provided with a link to the Google sheets where you can find the following columns: `file`, `text`, and `noisy_background`. 
- `file` contains the audio file name; 
- `text` here you need to write down the speech that you hear on the audio file;
- `noisy_background` If there's any background noise (music, sounds of nature, clapping, laughing, sound effects, etc.), please select the option `'yes'`. If the background is silent and you can hear only speech, then choose the `'no'` option.


## About transcription

Your task is to write down the text in the `text` column that you hear on the audio by the following rules (they ALL are very **important**!)

1. If the speaker says not in the Bengali language but   in a different one, even if you know this language, please write down in `'text'` column *'different language'* (in English) and DO NOT transcribe the text. We need only the Bengali speech.

2. Write down ONLY what you hear. For example, if the speaker says *'I go went to the hospital'*, despite it's grammatically incorrect, write down it as is: *'I go went to the hospital'*. The main idea is to write down what we hear, even if it's mispronounced or incorrect from the linguistic point of view. 
Another example: if you hear that the speaker says *"I'm gonna"*, you do not need to change this to a formal version *"I'm going"*. You need to write it down as it is -- *"I'm gonna"*.

3. Please, write down ANY numbers that the speaker says as words, not numbers (even if it’s a part of brand name). For instance, ‘8’ should be written down as ‘eight’, ‘Iphone 11’ as ‘Iphone eleven’, ‘store45’ as ‘store forty-five’ and so on.
Large numbers, eg. 2023, should be written down the same way as the speaker pronounces them. If the speaker says ‘twenty twenty-three’, then you should transcribe in this way. If the speaker says ‘two thousand and twenty-three’, then in this way.

4. Sometimes the audio files may end in mid-sentence. In this case, you need to write down only what you hear. 
For example, the speaker says: *'I liked these cookies. Honestly, I like the swee'*
Logically, we understand that the speaker probably says *'sweets'*. However, in this case, we have to write down what we hear only: *'I liked these cookies. Honestly, I like the swee.'*

5. If you cannot understand some sentences/words at all, please do not guess. Instead, just write down *'inaudible'* (in English) in the relevant `'text'` cell.

6. Please do not forget about the punctuation. Use the punctuation signs according to the rules of punctuation in the Bengali language.

## Rules for `'noisy_background'` column

- `'yes'`. If there's any background noise (music, sounds of nature, clapping, laughing, sound effects, 'white noise', etc.)
- `'no'`. If the background is perfectly silent and you can hear only speech.


## Examples

Here are a few examples: 

 

<audio controls="controls" src="https://robotvera.ru/media/en_mrbeast_c8VcUnz3nVc_5299229.0_5311149.0.b765c7f9-7cf.short.mp3">
</audio>

Transcribed text: 
`but at the same time, you’re limited by personality like.` 

Noisy background: `no`

-- 

<audio controls="controls" src="https://robotvera.ru/media/en_mrbeast_c8VcUnz3nVc_1199230.0_1211070.0.77ac9f27-a87.short.mp3">
</audio>

Transcribed text: 
`you have to be, you have to work on multiple videos at a time, because most of our videos take months to produce.`

Noisy background: `no`

--

<audio controls="controls" src="https://robotvera.ru/media/en_demo_OxGsU8oIWjY_330000_362000.2d8287ab-35b.short.mp3">
</audio>

Transcribed text: 
`this is mind blowing enough, but what's even crazier?`

Noisy background: `yes`

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If you need more examples of have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact to Liza on Upwork. 

Thank you and take care! 
