Kannada audio to text: what to expect
Kannada has much less training data in the speech model than Hindi or English. Clear speech from one or two people gives a usable draft that needs a careful read. Long words built from several parts, names, numbers and fast conversational speech are where corrections pile up. Noise, music and overlapping voices lower quality quickly.
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.
Kannada script in the transcript
The transcript is written in Kannada script. A few things to look for while reviewing:
- Vowel signs and conjunct consonants (ottakshara) are the characters most likely to be wrong.
- The difference between short and long vowels, and between ಳ and ಲ, may not match the speaker.
- English words may appear in Latin letters or written out in Kannada script.
- Kannada and Telugu scripts look alike; if the output appears in Telugu, the language setting was wrong.
Dialects and Kanglish
Bengaluru Kannada, Mysuru Kannada, the north Karnataka speech of Dharwad and Hubballi, and coastal Kannada around Mangaluru all differ in vocabulary and pronunciation. The model is closest to standard, media-style Kannada, so strong regional speech needs more correction.
City speech mixes in English constantly, sometimes called Kanglish, and many speakers also switch to Hindi, Tamil or Telugu. Keep Kannada selected when most of the recording is Kannada. A mostly English meeting with Kannada phrases should be transcribed with English. Tulu and Konkani, also spoken in coastal Karnataka, are not in the language list.
Who transcribes Kannada
Typical uploads are university and coaching-class lectures, YouTube-style talks, interviews for research and journalism, Harikatha and religious discourses, podcasts and family voice messages. Kannadigas working in the Gulf, the US and the UK send voice notes home that families want to keep as text. Students also transcribe recorded viva and interview practice sessions to review their own answers.
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 Kannada video to text page.