Instructions for the 'Final Four' best transcription apps for language learners 3/4 – Notta AI

 Notta Instructions:

Address	https://www.notta.ai/en
Accuracy	94%
Number of Languages	104
What you get free	120 minutes / month + 10 prompts
Android 7.0 and up, iPhone iOS 11.0 or later Apple watchOS 7.0 or later
ChatGPT requires Android 6.0 and up or iOS 16.1 or later Copilot requires Android 8.0 and up or iOS 15.0 or later

From Notta AI terms and conditions - "The Services are not intended for and should not be used by anyone under the age of 18. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you meet the foregoing eligibility requirement."

Setting the default transcription language:

Go to Home and click on the plus sign, click on the language under The current transcription language is. Choose one of the 104 languages by starting to type the language you want in the Search box at the top and then click on it when it appears below. Click on Done in the top right-hand corner to finish.
If you want to change the App language, click on the Mine icon at the bottom on the right and then on Advanced. Click on App Language and you can choose from the four languages offered at present: English (United States), Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin) or Chinese (Traditional), Click on Done in the top right-hand corner, and then the arrow in the top left-hand corner, and then Home at the bottom on then left.

Recording yourself:

Go to Home and click on the plus sign, choose Record an Audio and you can record yourself immediately. (You may need to give Notta permission to use the microphone.) You can pause the recording if necessary. When you have finished click on Stop and give the recording a name you will recognise.

Editing the transcription:

Click on Unknown Speaker and type your name at the bottom where it says Add or search for a speaker. Tick Apply to all related blocks and click on the blue tick on the right. You can click on the Edit icon at the top on the left and then you can correct any obvious errors in the transcript. Click on Save.

Exporting/Sharing/Copying your transcription:

Click on the three dots at the top on the right and choose the Copy icon

Open ChatGPT or Copilot and write your instructions (Can you correct my mistakes and mark the corrections in bold and remove the timestamps?”) at the start of the prompt and then paste in the transcript.

 

Instructions for the 'Final Four' best transcription apps for language learners 2/4 – Transkriptor

 Transkriptor Instructions:

Address	https://app.transkriptor.com
Accuracy	96%
Number of Languages	60
What you get free	90 minutes of free transcription 5 minute limit + Earn 120 minutes if you install Transkriptor and leave a review on Google Play, App store, Chrome store, TrustPilot + Earn 90 minutes for each platform you share: Twitter or Facebook +Earn 180 minutes for each review on Capterra or G2
Android 5.0 and up,     iPhone iOS 13.0 or later
ChatGPT requires Android 6.0 and up or iOS 16.1 or later Copilot requires Android 8.0 and up or iOS 15.0 or later

 According to Transkriptor's Help desk, "With the trial account, we offer you 90 minutes of free transcription, each file's transcription output is limited to 80% of the file duration, up to 7 minutes. Transcription of the files longer than 7 minutes would be limited to 5:36 minutes in the trial period.

To get round this new restriction, simply leave the recording on for 25% longer than you need

Recording yourself:

Go to Records and then click on Start Recording and record yourself. (You may need to give Trankriptor permission to use the microphone.) You can pause the recording if necessary. When you end the recording, click on Transcribe (You may need to specify that the language is English and you want the Standard service.)

A four-minute recording will be transcribed in less than two minutes.

Editing the transcription:

You can change the Spk_1 to your name if your click on the pen in the top righthand corner to Edit. It will change then all. At the same time you can correct any obvious errors in the transcript. Click on Save to save your changes.

Exporting/Sharing/Copying your transcription:

Get Full Transcript won’t work unless you upgrade.  Click on the Share icon at the bottom on the right and choose Share Text and then Only Text. On an Android phone the Copy icon is half way down on the right. On an iPhone/iPad you need to pull the page up to see it.

Open ChatGPT or Copilot and write your instructions (Can you correct my mistakes and mark them in bold?”) at the start of the prompt and then paste in the transcript.

Instructions for the 'Final Four' best transcription apps for language learners 1/4 - SoundType.ai

 SoundType AI Instructions:

Address	https://soundtype.ai/en
Accuracy	96%
Number of Languages	90
What you get free	180 minutes/month Only the first 8 minutes of transcription per audio are accessible
Android 7.0 and up, iPhone iOS 12.1 or later
ChatGPT requires Android 6.0 and up or iOS 16.1 or later Copilot requires Android 8.0 and up or iOS 15.0 or later

"By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age, or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction, if different. If you do not meet this requirement, you must not access or use the Service." From SoundType AI terms and conditions

Setting the default transcription language:

You can always select the language after recording, but if you want to set the default language you can. Click on the Settings icon at the bottom on the right and then click on Default transcription language. Choose one of the 90 languages by clicking on the language displayed and starting to write the language you want. Click on it and then on Confirm.

If you want to change the Display language, click on it, and choose from the 11 languages offered. Then click outside the white area. 

Recording yourself:

Click on the Plus icon at the bottom in the middle and then click on the microphone icon. Click on the red circle at the bottom in the middle to start recording. (You may need to give SoundType permission to use the microphone.) You can pause the recording if necessary. Click on Done to end the recording, and Select English as the language and specify the number of speakers (usually one). Give the Audio a name you will recognise and click on Save.

The transcript will be ready in a minute or two.

Editing the transcription:

You can change the Speaker 1 to your name if your click on the pen next to Speaker 1: it will change them all automatically. If you click on the icon at the bottom on the right, you can edit any part of the transcript. It’s a good idea to correct any obvious errors in the transcript. Click on Done to save your changes.

Exporting/Sharing/Copying your transcription:

Click on the Share icon at the top on the right, change Export format to Copy text and change to not include timestamps. Click on Confirm at the top on the right. This will copy your transcript to your clipboard. 

Open ChatGPT or Copilot and write your instructions (Can you correct my mistakes and mark them in bold?”) at the start of the prompt and then paste in the transcript.

 

Microsoft Copilot v. ChatGPT

ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are simply different

I find it fascinating that the two AI systems I've used most understand different things when I use the same prompts. I wanted to check that my instructions for students on how to use SoundType AI were correct, so I set up my Android phone and my iPad to simulate a student recording themselves in class and played the 10-year-old recording made by a student on my PC.

The recording was 3 minutes long and I was worried that when the screens went dark that the recordings would be interrupted, but this didn't happen.

The transcripts were ready on both systems in under 2 minutes, but I needed to correct some errors in the transcriptions. For example, Jenny's was written as Janis. Editing is very easy in SoundType AI.

I then copied each transcript and pasted them into ChatGPT and Copilot and asked at the beginning "please correct my mistakes."

Below are the two conversations with the two flavours of AI I am most familiar with.

The two transcripts were different and I’ve underlined the differences. My Android phone was more verbatim and my iPad was more practical, but less exact.

ChatGPT 3.5		Microsoft Copilot
on my Android phone		on my iPad
Please correct my mistakes. Okay, the movie is a story for two persons. One of them is Jenny. She's from New York and she works in a magazine in New York. And the other person is Rob. He works in the same magazine but he lives in London. And Jenny goes to London to meet Rob. She has a very good relationship. And then when Jenny comes back to New York, she offers to Rob a job for one month. A temporary job. And Rob goes to New York and this is an opportunity for him because they can meet better each other. I don't know if it's right this sentence. And after this month, the magazine offers a job. A permanent job Uh, yes, I did a job. And Jenny helped Rob to rent an apartment for a friend, I don't know. A... They fall in love? They fall in love. Fall in love? They fall in love. Fall in love? They fall in love. They fall in love. They fall in love. We love. We love. No, together. I don't know what is the word. They are together. We live together. No, we live together. They live alone. He lives alone. But at the finale of the movie, they go to know the Jenny's parents, to meet the Jenny's parents. They go to meet. To meet. Okay. Not to know. To meet. That's enough.		please correct my mistakes. The movie is a story for two persons. One of them is Jenny. She is from New York and she works in a magazine in New York. And the other person is Rob. He works in the same magazine but he lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob. She has a very good relationship. And when she comes back to New York, she offers to go to work for one month. Rob goes to New York and this is an opportunity for him. Because they can meet each other better. And after this month, the magazine offers him a job. Yes, a permanent job. And Jenny helps Rob to rent an apartment or a flat. And when they fall in love, they fall in love. No, together. I don't know what is the word. They are in couple. Yes. They live alone. She lives alone. But at the finale of the movie, they go to meet the Jenny's parents. They meet with the parents. They go to meet. To meet. Ok. Not alone. Yes. Yes. That's enough.
Certainly. Here's a corrected version of your text: Okay, the movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny. She's from New York and works in a magazine there. The other person is Rob. He also works in the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London to meet Rob, and they have a very good relationship. When Jenny returns to New York, she offers Rob a temporary job for one month. Rob goes to New York, and this is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers him a permanent job. Yes, I did a job. Jenny helped Rob to rent an apartment for a friend, I don't know. And... Do they fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. Fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. They fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. We love. We love. No, together. I don't know what the word is. They are together. They live together. No, we live together. They live alone. He lives alone. But at the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny's parents, not to know. To meet. Okay. Not to know. To meet. That's enough.		Here is a corrected version of your text: “The movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny, who works for a magazine in New York. The other person is Rob, who also works for the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When she returns to New York, she offers to let Rob work there for one month, which is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job, and Jenny helps him find an apartment. They fall in love and become a couple. At the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny’s parents together.” I hope this helps! B1+ on TextInspector
The two interpretations of my identical prompts were very different and this may be due to the Custom instructions I use in ChatGPT. But I wanted to get from ChatGPT something like what Copilot had produced, so I asked, “Can you make that into a coherent story for a student at B1 level on the CEFR scale?”
Certainly. Here's a simplified and coherent version for a B1 level student: The movie tells a story about two people, Jenny and Rob. Jenny is from New York and works at a magazine there, while Rob also works in the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London to meet Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When Jenny returns to New York, she offers Rob a temporary job for one month. Rob comes to New York, and during this time, they have the chance to know each other better. After the month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job. Jenny helps Rob find an apartment for a friend. Do they fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. They decide to live together. Although they initially live alone, towards the end of the movie, they visit Jenny's parents to meet them. And that's the story! B1+ on TextInspector		I’ve copied Copilot’s version here to make it easier to compare the two. Here is a corrected version of your text: “The movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny, who works for a magazine in New York. The other person is Rob, who also works for the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When she returns to New York, she offers to let Rob work there for one month, which is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job, and Jenny helps him find an apartment. They fall in love and become a couple. At the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny’s parents together.” I hope this helps! B1+ on TextInspector
Which works better? I liked the fact that ChatGPT made it easier to see the errors, and it used paragraphs, but it took an extra step to get an improved version at the student’s level. Sadly, ChatGPT also included some erroneous information. I wanted to listen to the improved version on my phone so I said (spoken) “Can you do that again?” and I was able to listen to another variation of the story but that still included the erroneous information.  So, I said (spoken) “That was great. Actually, they didn't live together. Rob lived in the flat that Jenny had helped him find, and she lived in her flat. They lived independently.”
This was the final version of the story from ChatGPT, which I was able to listen to.
Got it, thanks for clarifying. Here's the adjusted version: In the movie, we meet Jenny and Rob. Jenny, from New York, works at a magazine, and Rob, who also works at the same magazine, lives in London. Jenny travels to London to meet Rob, and they become good friends. When Jenny returns to New York, she offers Rob a temporary job for one month. Rob comes to New York, and during this time, they learn more about each other. After a month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job. Jenny helps him find an apartment for a friend. Do they fall in love? Yes, they fall in love. They decide to continue living independently. Rob lives in the flat that Jenny helped him find, and she stays in her own flat. Although they stay separate, towards the end of the movie, they visit Jenny's parents to meet them. And that's the story! B1+ on TextInspector	I’ve copied Copilot’s version here again Here is a corrected version of your text: “The movie is a story about two people. One of them is Jenny, who works for a magazine in New York. The other person is Rob, who also works for the same magazine but lives in London. Jenny goes to London and meets Rob, and they develop a good relationship. When she returns to New York, she offers to let Rob work there for one month, which is an opportunity for them to get to know each other better. After this month, the magazine offers Rob a permanent job, and Jenny helps him find an apartment. They fall in love and become a couple. At the end of the movie, they go to meet Jenny’s parents together.” I hope this helps! B1+ on TextInspector

I plan to make two videos on YouTube showing all the steps in the process of using SoundType AI using each of my devices.

 

AI can help students improve their speaking

AI can help students improve their speaking and the first step is to get an accurate transcription.

Since last June (2023) I have studied more than 70 apps and webpages trying to find the best systems to help students get accurate transcripts for the recordings they do in class.

Students should be able to:

Use an iPhone or an Android phone to:

•          Record themselves
•          Listen to the recording
•          See the transcript quickly
•          Edit the transcript
•         Copy, export or share it
•       To Copilot or ChatGPT

In this final report, I only include systems that offer the above with a free account and note what exactly they offer along with the number of languages that could be used because, although I only taught English, I know that teachers of other languages might be interested in doing the same thing with their students.

I decided to include in this post only those systems (apps or web pages) that would provide transcript accuracies of 90% and above. Students can correct obvious errors in the transcripts before asking for help from Copilot or ChatGPT, which will mean transcripts will often be very accurate records indeed of what the student said.

All four offer a reasonable length for each recording and the total length of all recordings with a free account. They all also offer transcriptions in a wide range of languages. I have put them in order of accuracy in their transcriptions.

Here are the main details I noted for the four best speech to text systems I found:

The ‘Final Four’:

Address	https://soundtype.ai/en
Accuracy	96%
Number of Languages	90
What you get free	180 minutes/month Only the first 8 minutes of transcription per audio are accessible
Android 7.0 and up, iPhone iOS 12.1 or later

 

Address	https://app.transkriptor.com
Accuracy	96%
Number of Languages	60
What you get free	90 minutes of free transcription 5 minute limit + Earn 120 minutes if you install Transkriptor and leave a review on Google Play, App store, Chrome store, TrustPilot + Earn 90 minutes for each platform you share: Twitter or Facebook +Earn 180 minutes for each review on Capterra or G2
Android 5.0 and up, iPhone iOS 13.0 or later

 

Address	https://www.notta.ai/en
Accuracy	94%
Number of Languages	104
What you get free	120 minutes / month + 10 prompts
Android 7.0 and up, iPhone iOS 11.0 or later

 

Address	https://app.fireflies.ai
Accuracy	92%
Number of Languages	69
What you get free	800 minutes storage Unlimited transcription
Android 8.0 and up, iPhone iOS 13.0 or later

Many of these systems offer to provide summaries of one sort or another as well, but in view of the very limited control students have over the level of complexity of the language used by these systems, I decided that it was better to use Copilot or ChatGPT to ask for help with their language.

1. I first asked Copilot or ChatGPT for a corrected transcript to compare with the original by displaying them both side by side in columns of a table.
2. I also asked it to provide an improved version suitable for the level of the learner. If this prompt is spoken, I could hear it read aloud, too.
3. Finally, I asked for some brief notes to be used when retelling the story and recording it again.