New to CastingWords

Discussion in 'CastingWords' started by PhobicTurk, Apr 24, 2012.

  1. PhobicTurk

    PhobicTurk User

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2012
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    0
    I've been trying to teach myself transcription since the John Gaddy HITs dried up.

    I had done a CastingWords HIT back in 2010 but just got a so-so 7 grade on the one I did so I got discouraged and didn't want to try them again. I started in the beginning of this month doing Imfuna and Redwood HITs, and then did a few for SpeechInk.

    In this thread:

    http://mturkforum.com/showthread.php?2066-Need-Help-with-audio-Transcription

    Zinni suggested giving ClariTrans a try, which I've had a lot of luck with too. So yesterday I decided to jump into CastingWords. I sorted by lowest pay because I figured those would be the easiest to get started with. It took me FOREVER because I kept going over the style guide like 20 times before I submitted it, but this morning I got the following in my CW profile:

    Reward: $0.38 Score: 8.00
    Bonus: $0.57 Agree with graders on Transcription

    xxx
    Grade: 8
    Comments: Minor error 'is produced' should be 'it's produced'. Good transcription otherwise.

    xxx
    Grade: 9
    Comments: Excellent transcript

    commas missing (avg rwrd+bns: $0.76) [03:46 mmss]'



    I'm pretty happy about this!
     
  2. riazthemturkhelper

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2012
    Messages:
    1,640
    Likes Received:
    0
    Congrats Phobicturk and happy that you earned good
     
  3. kayk111

    kayk111 User

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2012
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0
    Good job PhobicTurk, I too am trying to teach myself transcription, I have done some Redwood (did not like them) and some Claritrans (love them). I am doing great with Claritrans but would like something a that pays a little more, but looking at CastingWords guide I am afraid to try them. I think I will try speechInk first. Good job, and good luck.
     
  4. PhobicTurk

    PhobicTurk User

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2012
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    0
    I really enjoyed the SpeechInk HITs and found them pretty interesting too, but I ran into an odd batch with an approver I think. I didn't get bad grades, but they were lower than what I felt they should be. I always had the style guide open, and went over my transcripts before submitting, but I felt there were some arbitrary corrections, especially in regards to um, ah, and run on sentences. I still do them but as I get better I'm going to do more CW and less for others.

    I actually really liked the Redwood HITs but the pay is just so low. I think they were awesome though for teaching me how to transcribe, gaining speed, and giving me confidence.
     
  5. yourfavoritewife

    yourfavoritewife Active Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2012
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hi.

    I went to school for medical transcription about five years ago, but it has been a few years since I worked for a transcription company. I recently began doing HITS for Casting Words. I do like them. I tried a few different companies when I first started out at MTurk, and then I decided to stick with one for a while and really try to learn the style guide... So, that is what I'm doing.

    I really like that you can go directly to their site to see your feedback and as well as the final version of the transcript. Plus, the HIT descriptions are a little more accurate there.

    Great job so far and good luck with CastingWords!
     
  6. PhobicTurk

    PhobicTurk User

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2012
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    0
    Thanks, I've been really happy with them.

    The first batch I did, I really went out of my way to sort through and pick crystal clear recordings that were very simple. I picked ones that either had an author reading from their work, or a single speaker with no other interruptions.

    Once I got my confidence up, I started to wade out into some of the other more challenging transcriptions that weren't as straight forward. I did get two 7's, but I really learned from the edits. I wrote to them once to ask them a question about a correction, and I got a really polite and friendly response in less than 12 hours.

    Some of the things I still struggle with in CW HITs are where to break sentences when a speaker talks using run-ons, as well as the best way to clean up stumbling sentences.

    I still just do one HIT at a time and wait for my feedback before taking another one, but each day I'm getting a little more confident.
     
  7. yourfavoritewife

    yourfavoritewife Active Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2012
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    It's good to know that they are reliable with feedback.

    I, too, am selective about what jobs I'll do. One time, I got really luck and snagged The Times promo. It was just a little job, but wow! A professional voice actor is a dream to transcribe!

    For the past few days, I've been on the opposite end of styling and doing HITS for ClariTrans. Kind of obsessively, actually! They are very small, but if you get a good batch, you can really bang them out.

    Have a good weekend!
     
  8. riazthemturkhelper

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2012
    Messages:
    1,640
    Likes Received:
    0
    Wishing you two(YFW and PhobicTurk) a great earnings from the great requesters.
     
  9. zinni

    zinni User

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2012
    Messages:
    70
    Likes Received:
    0
    I hear you on the breaking up of long sentences. Sometimes it seems like these things just go on and on and on, and if you stuck to strict grammar you'd end up having some long old thing that goes on for three or four lines all by itself. Sometimes I just end up breaking them up before a "because" or an "and" or something even though it doesn't look right.

    Glad to hear you're doing well with the transcripts! Keep up the good work!
     
  10. PhobicTurk

    PhobicTurk User

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2012
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    0
    How do you CastingWords veterans handle interviews with teens or young adults, who use the "I'm like, he was like, she was like" etc. repeatedly?

    I just returned a HIT because I really wasn't sure how to handle it. An interviewee was really going on and on with the like's, and I wasn't sure if I should change them to "I said" or "I thought".

    This isn't the actual text, but it's just an example:

    So I was like, so how do you do transcription anyway, and she was like well you could start with Claritrans. And I was like really impressed with how generous she was giving me that lead. And then she was like, go to CastingWords but be careful on which ones you choose. And I was like yeah I do that.

    Would you change the I'm like, she was like to things like, "I thought", "She said", etc.?

    I hated to return a HIT after working on it for a while, but I'm just back climbing into steady 8's territory and didn't want another 7 grade :)
     
  11. Shaman

    Shaman Member

    Joined:
    May 25, 2012
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    I'm not a veteran yet, but I've been getting mostly 9's lately. Here's how I would do it:

    I was like, "How do you do transcription, anyway?" And she was like, "Well, you could start with Claritrans." I was really impressed with how generous she was, giving me that lead. Then she was like, "Go to CastingWords, but be careful on which ones you choose," and I was like, "Yeah, I do that."

    I removed the filler words So and And from the beginning of sentences, and one 'teen' Like. I usually keep the likes if they precede quotations. I think it's best to keep them than to replace them with words that the speaker didn't say.

    This isn't always straightforward though, and many times I'm unsure on what to do. When that happens, I just follow my instincts and pray that the grader is in a good mood. :D

    Hope this helps.
     
  12. PhobicTurk

    PhobicTurk User

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2012
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    0
    Yes, thank you!
     
  13. hapless

    hapless Guest

    I'm new to CW. I started a few days ago.

    I'm not sure what to think of the grading system. It looks pretty stupid to me. For example, on one of my best, near-perfect short transcripts, a grader simply added one paragraph break and one comma (scolding me for these "bad" mistakes), and cut my score from 9 to 7. LOL
     
  14. nobody

    nobody User

    Joined:
    May 23, 2012
    Messages:
    317
    Likes Received:
    0
    hapless, try emailing CW. Give them the CW ID number as well as the mturk HIT ID number (you can find these on your page of CW's website), and ask them to take a look at it. If it was a CW editor that did that, they might not change it because they have the final say. If it wasn't one of theirs, they might look into it. It doesn't hurt to ask.

    This has happened to me quite a few times, and when I finally emailed them, they fixed my scores. Good luck!
     
    #14 nobody, Jun 13, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 13, 2012
  15. melissa71642

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    0
    Graders can't make edits and you'll never see the editor's notes because for some reason, we don't get that lucky LOL. Most likely what happened is since you are very new, your work went into improve a transcript, because all new people's work makes a stop there. Somebody who obviously knows the system decided to give a 7 simply because it would make them get a bigger bonus for improving it to a 9. You need to email them and let them know because if it's happening to you, it's happening to others and it's clear that some cheating the system went on. If they only took out a comma and broke one paragraph, your work was already a nine :)
     
  16. PhobicTurk

    PhobicTurk User

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2012
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    0
    That's interesting. I didn't know that.

    How long do you have to work for CW before your work bypasses "Improve a Transcript" and goes straight to the graders?

    I don't like to have any more than one or two max HITs in Pending Approval status before I take a new one because I always like to compare my work. But it takes so bloody long before they get approved, I feel like I've been stuck in purgatory forever.
     
  17. pwt

    pwt User

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2012
    Messages:
    191
    Likes Received:
    0
    Has anyone who does CW regularly noticed a lack of HITS lately? Like the last 3-4 days? Today has been great and I was so desperate to get work in that I pounded out about $16 worth of CW HITS this afternoon. Yesterday in the late evening and night, there were at times no HITS at all. I'd never seen that before.

    There seem to be plenty right now, about 122 regular audio HITS and no express or difficult, but even that's unusual. There are always difficult audio HITS because nobody wants to do them. When all the normal HITS ran out yesterday the difficult jobs were wiped out too. I was starting to think that some organized group of people decided to concentrate on CW and was getting all the work. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Or even that CW was going through a slow period and just didn't have enough work to satisfy demand for their HITS.

    I was really starting to worry last night. I just bought a new laptop in late April and was in the process of paying for it entirely via CastingWords. I'd only made two monthly payments on it when I went to look for HITS a day or two ago and there weren't many good ones. Yesterday there weren't any at all when there are almost always two hundred or more including things like grading.

    Anyone else notice this? I broke down and did some of the very few surveys I have qualifications for last night. I don't mind them but there are so few I can do. I was looking at having to go from 2-3 hours of CW HITS per day to 6+ of Oscar Smith and whatever else I could find all the sudden. Very stressful.

    One of the things I transcribed today had a woman talking about her daugther's son who had a genetic disease where most kids die before age 3, and he was age 5 and very sick. Talk about depressing. I really didn't need to hear that with some of the things going on in my life lately but....I needed the money. Ugh.
     
  18. melissa71642

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    0
    According to the emails I've been passing back and forth with them, they're expecting work to pick back up when summer semester gets in full swing. However, with so many people trying to work these now, it's going to be tough getting anything, and yes, there are some cheaters in the mix again, which means until their work gets graded and they get their qual taken away, those are not in our pool to work on. When they dequal them, they are slowly getting the hits added back into the queue to be transcribed. I've been working with them for 5 years now, and there are lean times, and summer is usually one of them, but it'll pick back up :) You may want to look into some other transcription companies on Mturk to supplement until they pick back up. I do some of Speechink's business call ones and they're easy. The pay isn't all that great, but it's something and right now, every penny counts.

    I had some with that lady, too, and yes, very depressing, but somebody's got to do them. Most of her audio was more about her work though. You probably got the tail end, because I got the very last one and it had quite a bit about her grandson in there.
     
  19. melissa71642

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    0
    That I don't know because that was implemented well after I got my PPT built up to over 100. It's probably only enough that they know you know what you are doing and then, they'll put you in regular grading.
     
  20. pwt

    pwt User

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2012
    Messages:
    191
    Likes Received:
    0
    That's good to know. Thank you very much for sharing.

    I ended up getting 5 five them, all but the last were full 8 minute HITS. Lots about farming and her family life. I liked that. The final one I got was ~4 minutes long and probably half of it was them eating and talking to a waiter. I really hope I don't get a bad grade on that one. I transcribed everything the three women said to each other but left out the ~30 second chat with the waiter as [talking to waiter] or something like that.

    Got a 9 on the very first one I did, that was a nice surprise. $4.11 for ~40 minutes of work is OK in my book.

    I don't know why it was marked as difficult audio. All I had to do was run the MP3s through a program to amplify the audio by about 30db and I could heard everything perfectly. I'm not complaining though. My last three days doing CW HITS were $3.84, $0.00 because there were no HITS, and today around $16 hopefully.

    Quick question, do you use a foot pedal? Express Scribe? I'm really curious if the pedal helps.

    That's not to me, but gosh...I've bee stuck at 93 since like 2007. It was around 92-94 in 2007 and I quit doing mTurk until last fall. But since last fall I went from 94 to 93 and I swear my PPT hasn't budged since. I guess 105 HITS with mostly 8s and some 9s sprinkled in there isn't enough to make it go up or down. I've been tempted to ask several times if there's an error and I'm stuck somehow. You'd think it'd move up or down, even just a little. but 93 since last October?

    Tough crowd.
     
    #20 pwt, Jun 13, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 13, 2012

Share This Page