As students, we’ve needed a transcript at some point in our lives. And maybe this is the reason why the first thing that comes to mind when talking about transcripts is an academic transcript. However, in the translation world, there is another kind of transcript that sometimes can be a real headache for translators.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a transcript can either be:

an official document of a student’s academic records, or

a written copy of dictated or recorded material

In this post, we will be talking about the latter transcript.

There are many instances in which one could need a transcript, for example:

Legal – A lawyer may need a court activity transcript to review a case, or counsel may need the transcript of a potential client’s interview performed at a police station to build a case.

Marketing – A marketing agency may need a transcript of a focus group’s conversations or interviews in order to take their suggestions and create a successful product or campaign.

Academic – Subject interviews are the main source of study for linguists, using them to determine different linguistic phenomena.

Transcripts are treated basically as legal documents in the sense that they have to be a verbatim copy of the original and should not be modified, unless otherwise specified by the client. One of the most important things to know is that, given the oral nature of these documents, you have to make sure that the person performing the transcription can identify the speech of the speaker(s); if not, you will end up with an unsuccessful transcription.

In an upcoming post, we will discuss what to take into consideration when pricing a transcript.