Javanese results: an honest view
Javanese has a huge number of speakers but little training data in the speech model. Expect a rough draft that needs many corrections. Clear speech from one person close to the microphone gives the most useful text; gamelan or campursari music, crowded rooms and phone calls make it much weaker.
Upload the recording as it is: MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG, OPUS, FLAC, a voice message or a phone recording. You can also record from your microphone in the upload box. Nothing needs converting first.
The transcript opens next to a player that highlights the current line. Click a line to hear it again, correct the word in place, and your changes save automatically.
Ngoko, krama and Indonesian
Javanese changes its vocabulary with politeness level. Ngoko is used among friends and family; krama with elders and in formal settings, and krama inggil for honorifics. The same sentence can use quite different words, and the model is weaker on krama than on ngoko.
Most Javanese speakers also use Indonesian, and switching is constant. Because Indonesian has far more training data, the model may write Indonesian words where the speaker used Javanese, or slide into Indonesian for whole sentences. Choose by what dominates:
- Mostly Javanese: keep Javanese selected and fix Indonesian slips.
- Mostly Indonesian with Javanese phrases: choose Indonesian.
- Do not rely on auto-detect; it often picks Indonesian for Javanese speech.
Spelling in the transcript
The transcript uses the Latin alphabet, as most Javanese is written today. Aksara Jawa (hanacaraka) is not available as output. Spelling of vowels varies: the sound in words like lara or sega may be written with a or o depending on the writer, and é, è and the plain e are often not distinguished. Standardise these during review if you need consistent spelling.
Sundanese, spoken in West Java, is a separate language and has its own option in the list.
What people record in Javanese
Common files are pengajian and religious talks, wayang performances, interviews with elders for family history, research interviews in Central and East Java, local radio and podcasts, and voice messages from family. Javanese communities in Suriname, Malaysia and the Netherlands bring family recordings as well.
Export TXT, DOCX, PDF, CSV, SRT or VTT, with timestamps and speaker names switched on or off per export. Speaker labels are available on paid plans or with a Minute Pack.
For video files, see the Javanese video to text page.