Accents from the Midi to the Nord
Southern speakers in Marseille, Toulouse or Montpellier pronounce the final e that Parisians drop, so a word like une can sound like two syllables. The transcript usually handles this well, and the extra vowel does not show up in the text. Rhythm and stress differ too, but the spelling comes out standard.
In the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, Picard (ch'ti) words appear in casual talk. Alsatian speakers mix in German-based words, and Corsican speakers bring Italian-sounding names. With French selected, these words are written as the nearest French form, so check them if a quote must be exact.
Overseas departments add another layer. A recording from Martinique, Guadeloupe or Réunion may move between French and a Creole. Haitian Creole has its own option, but Antillean and Réunion Creoles do not, so keep French for the French parts and expect the Creole passages to need typing.
Regional languages and other languages in France
Several of France's regional languages have their own option in the language menu: Breton, Occitan, Basque and Catalan for the Roussillon. They have less training data than French, so treat the output as a draft. Alsatian, Corsican, Picard and Franco-Provençal have no option.
Many families in France speak Arabic at home, often Moroccan, Algerian or Tunisian dialect mixed with French. The Arabic option is trained mostly on standard Arabic, so dialect output is rough. When a conversation is mostly French with Arabic phrases, keep French. When it is mostly Arabic, pick Arabic and review closely. Portuguese, Turkish and Wolof speakers face the same choice: pick the language that fills most of the file.
If a recording changes language in long blocks, for example a family interview where a grandmother tells her story in Breton and then the family discusses it in French, cut the file with any audio editor and upload each part with its own language.
Auto-detect is in the menu, but a short clip that opens in English or Arabic can be labelled wrong. Set the language yourself for each file.
Typical recordings made in France
Upload the file as it comes off the phone or recorder, including MP4 and MOV video. You can also record in the browser or paste a YouTube or TikTok link.
Amphitheatre recordings often pick up echo from the room and chatter from nearby seats. Sitting near the front, or asking the lecturer to wear a small mic, makes a bigger difference than any setting. For CSE or council meetings, a phone in the middle of the table works if people take turns.
- Cours magistraux recorded in an amphi, turned into revision notes.
- Entretiens semi-directifs for a mémoire de master or a thèse, exported to Word for coding.
- Meetings of a CSE, an association or a conseil municipal, written up as a compte rendu.
- Local radio shows and podcasts that want French subtitles or show notes.
- Family témoignages recorded with grandparents, sometimes in Breton or Occitan.
Privacy for recordings made in France
Universities and companies in France often ask about RGPD before staff upload interviews. What we state is limited to this: files are never used to train AI models. This page makes no claim about data location or certification. If your DPO or ethics board needs those details, check before uploading personal data, and consider replacing names in the transcript before sharing it.
Correcting and saving a French transcript
Click any line to replay it and correct the text in place. Export to TXT, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT or CSV, with timestamps and speaker names on or off. Speaker labels come with paid plans or a Minute Pack. The transcript stays in the spoken language. For an English version, use the Google Translate link, or the AI prompt export with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.