Arabic speech-to-text API (العربية)

Transcribe Arabic with one request

Set language to ar and start a job. Poll GET /transcribe/{jobId} for the result, or pass a webhook_url.

curl https://app.kolwrite.com/transcribe \
  -H "x-api-key: $KOLWRITE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"audio_url": "https://example.com/interview-ar.m4a", "model": "oracle", "language": "ar", "include_diarization": true, "output_format": "json"}'

Translate Arabic audio into English in the same job (Oracle models only):

curl https://app.kolwrite.com/transcribe \
  -H "x-api-key: $KOLWRITE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"audio_url": "https://example.com/interview-ar.m4a", "model": "oracle_mini", "language": "ar", "translate_to": "en", "output_format": "srt"}'

Arabic at a glance

What to know about Arabic transcription

• One code, ar, covers Modern Standard Arabic and the spoken dialects. There is no dialect parameter, and accuracy varies between Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Iraqi and Maghrebi speech, so test recordings from the dialect you serve.
• Arabic is written right to left. Display transcripts with dir="rtl", and test SRT files in your player, since punctuation and Latin words at the end of a cue can render out of order.
• Everyday Arabic omits short-vowel diacritics (tashkeel). Normalize diacritics, hamza forms and alef variants on both sides before you search or compare text.
• North African speakers switch between Arabic and French, and Gulf and Levantine speakers often between Arabic and English. Set ar for recordings that are mostly Arabic; set the other language when it dominates.

Where teams use Arabic transcription

• Media monitoring and archiving of Arabic news, talk shows and podcasts.
• Customer-service calls in the Gulf and North Africa, with stereo channels labelled Agent and Customer.
• University lectures and Friday sermons published as Arabic subtitles.
• Research interviews translated to English with translate_to: "en".

Choosing a model

Start with oracle (US$1.44 per hour) for production Arabic audio. Use base (US$0.48) for clean, single-speaker recordings at volume, oracle_mini (US$0.96) for the cheapest translation, and oracle_pro or oracle_max for noisy or difficult audio. KolWrite does not publish a Arabic accuracy figure for this API, so test a sample of your own recordings before committing. Full comparison: models and prices.

Questions and answers