Modern Standard Arabic and spoken dialects
Arabic script reads right to left and is written with an underlying consonant structure that short vowels usually leave unmarked, which is one reason Arabic speech recognition trails behind languages with a more phonetic spelling system. Our transcription engine writes the diacritics and marks it does produce rather than stripping them, so the words that depend on them are not silently flattened. Measured directly, Arabic benchmarks at 17.0% word error across 200 test clips. See the full language accuracy results for how every language on this site compares.
There is a real difference between Modern Standard Arabic, the formal register used in news broadcasts and prepared speech, and the many spoken dialects, Egyptian, Gulf, Levantine, and Maghrebi among them, that differ from each other almost as much as separate languages. Our benchmark number reflects formal, read-speech audio; dialectal conversation, especially fast or informal speech, runs measurably harder and deserves a closer proofread.
Arabic text, timestamps, and captions
The transcript stays in Arabic exactly as spoken and is never machine-translated. If you need English or another language afterward, pass the Arabic text through a translation tool of your choice, which keeps this step focused on producing an accurate transcription from the audio.
Every segment is timestamped, so captioning Arabic video is straightforward despite the right-to-left script. Export SRT or VTT to subtitle an Arabic interview or lecture, TXT for a clean transcript, and DOCX on Pro for a formatted document.
Frequently asked questions
Does the transcript preserve Arabic diacritics?
It keeps the marks the model actually produces rather than stripping them, since dropping a diacritic can change which word was said. Clear, well-articulated speech comes through most reliably.
Does FastScribe translate Arabic audio into English?
No, this is transcription, so Arabic audio comes back as Arabic text, written right to left in its own script. To get another language, run the finished Arabic transcript through a separate translation tool afterward.
Does it handle Arabic dialects as well as Modern Standard Arabic?
Formal, Modern Standard Arabic transcribes best, matching the read-speech audio our benchmark measures. Spoken dialects, especially fast or informal ones, differ enough from each other that accuracy varies more; budget a closer proofread for dialectal audio than for a news broadcast.
How accurate is Arabic transcription?
Measured directly across 200 benchmark clips of formal Arabic, error runs 17.0%, roughly one word in six, meaningfully behind most other languages we measure. Treat the automated draft as a solid starting point that still needs a careful read before you publish or quote it.