Recently updated on November 21st, 2025 at 09:50 am
The world’s getting smaller every day, and Mandarin is spoken by more people than any other language.
If you want your products or services to reach them, just having audio isn’t enough. You need it in text. It makes your brand feel approachable, like you’re actually speaking their language instead of leaving them guessing.
Honestly, it’s one of those small moves that can make a big difference.
What’s Transcription?
It’s pretty simple, listen to an audio clip or watch a video, and type out exactly what’s being said. Sometimes, you might also need to add time stamps to show when each part happens, but mostly it’s about capturing the words accurately.
Why Is It Important to Transcribe Chinese Audio to Text?
Mandarin Chinese has a whopping 873 million native speakers, making it the most spoken language on the planet.
It’s the official language in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Singapore, so chances are, if you’re dealing with these regions, you’ll be hearing, or needing Mandarin a lot.
What Are the Challenges to Transcribe Chinese Audio to Text?
Challenges are just part of the game in professional transcription. With a skilled team, they become manageable, but let’s be honest, it’s not exactly a walk in the park. There are a few reasons why turning Chinese audio into text can be tough:
#1 Dialects and Accents
Chinese has hundreds of dialects, but Mandarin and Cantonese are the main ones. Trouble is, they’re not mutually understandable, so Cantonese audio can confuse a Mandarin speaker.
Throw in strong accents, local slang, or jargon, and transcribing gets even trickier.
#2 Quality of the Recording
Recording quality adds another layer of challenge. Background noise, multiple speakers, unclear audio, or fast-talking all make transcription harder than it sounds.
Can You Use Machine Transcription for Mandarin Audio?
The answer depends on a few factors, the quality of your audio, speakers accent, the machine transcription software you use.
Even with a top-notch machine transcription tool, it only works well if the audio is clear and the speakers stick to standard Mandarin. Anything else, and you might end up with a mess.
High Quality Recording + Standard Mandarin
If your audio is clean, speakers using standard Mandarin, no strong accents, and a quiet environment, like a weather report or a lecture, machine transcription usually does pretty well.
It’s a good fit for this kind of recording, but here’s the thing: you’ll still want a professional to proofread and polish the text. Even the best machines can miss small details.
Low Quality Recording + Accents/Dialect/Jargons
If your audio is messy, background noise, quiet voices, overlapping speakers, heavy accents, or lots of jargon, machine transcription will likely fail.
In situations like this, it’s best to call in a professional Mandarin transcription service. They can actually make sense of what’s being said.
When Should You Choose Human Transcription Over Machine Transcription?
Like we said earlier, if your audio is messy, strong accents, different dialects, people talking over each other, it’s a job for real humans.
Sometimes, recordings are so unclear that even a team with decades of experience can’t fully make sense of them. And forget machines, they’ll struggle even more.
Another reason people choose human transcription? Confidentiality.
💡If keeping your recordings private matters, don’t trust unknown software or random platforms, they could sell your data.
The smart move is to hire a professional service and have them sign a non-disclosure agreement.
This is especially important for sensitive stuff: family matters, legal talks, corporate meetings, or research interviews.
Transcribe Chinese Audio to Text with Chinese Copywriter
Need accurate Chinese transcription? We’ve got you. Our team handles Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Wu, and more, turning audio into clear, professionally formatted text.
We work with podcasters, students, healthcare providers, law firms, even game developers. Each month, we help people get transcripts they can actually use, for research, business, classes, or anything else.
Formats of Audio/Video We Accept
Below is the list of popular audio formats we support for translation.
Audio
AAC, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, AMR, AU, CAF, DSS, FLAC, GSD, GSM, M2V, M4A, MP2, MP3, MPGA, MTS, MUS, OGA, OGG, OGV, OGX, RM, SWF, TS, WAV, WEBM, WMA, WMV, XSPF
Video
3GP, AVI, FLV, M4V, MK3D, MOOV, MOV, MP4, MPA, MPE, MPEG, MPG, MXF, QT, VOB, WEBA
Chinese-English Transcription Style Guide by Chinese Copywriter
# Speaker Identification
- Do not use a speaker identification if there is only one speaker.
- If the speaker’s name is known, use the speaker’s full name as identification. Exceptions: If a speaker is identified by a title throughout, then use the title and last name. Examples: Professor Wang, Dr. Ma.
- For focus group recordings, identify the focus group leader as “Moderator” or “Facilitator”. Participants can be identified by name if their names are provided. Otherwise, use “Man” and “Woman” for identification. If there are several women and men, then number the speakers as “Man 1”, “Man 2”, “Woman 1”, “Woman 2”, or “Male 1”, “Male 2”, “Female 1”, and “Female 2”.
# Inaudible Speech
When there is a word or phrase in the recording you cannot hear or understand, insert [inaudible hh:mm:ss] in place of the unknown word or phrase. Replace the “hh:mm:ss” with the timestamp of where the inaudible speech begins. Example: [inaudible 01:20:15]
# Interruptions and Incomplete Sentences
Use periods plus spaces when there is a change of thought in the middle of a sentence, or the speaker doesn’t complete a sentence. Example: Female Speaker 2: I might not accept his invitation … well, maybe I’m just …
# Spelling
- Be consistent in the spelling of words throughout the transcript.
- Use Grammarly for spell check.
- Do not emphasize a word using all capital letters except to indicate screaming.
- Use client instructions, the internet, dictionaries, glossaries, style guides, etc. to verify the spelling of words, places, and technical terms.
Whether you’re a journalist, podcaster, or freelancer, Chinese Copywriter has you covered with top-notch transcription services. Just send us a message, and we’ll get you a quote right away.
Digital Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Chinese Copywriter
Having lived and worked in Europe for 6 years, Ting returned to her hometown Guangzhou with the mission to help international businesses succeed in the Chinese market. With 15 years of marketing / web design background, Ting has proven records of digital marketing successes in China. Ting has been featured on diverse mainstream medias in China, including Southern TV, Sina News, Toutiao News, GRT News, etc.