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GLOW transcription accuracy

Chop

ChopSuper Member!

Japan

Hi, I’m looking at the transcription of GLOW (the lesson) and found some places that are different from what’s really said, which is kind of confusing for us no native speakers… Could you please confirm below? Thanks!
Marni: Yeah, this group of women got together and ….... and so, they thought, “Hey, let’s do this with women.” And so, they did.
—> so, they’d thought, “Hey, ...”

04:12 AM Oct 31 2017 |

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Teacher AmySuper Member!

United States

Hi, 



There are a couple reasons we at Ebaby! might slightly change some transcriptions to help learners.



For example, English speakers have some non-grammatical speaking patterns that are very common. If we see one of these (often using a be-verb), we try to adjust to more grammatical patterns. For example: There is many people. -> There are many people.



Also, we do not include every “rhetorical marker.” These are the small phrases or sounds that speakers use a lot but have no specific meaning. For example: “like,” “you know,” “hmmm,” etc.



I transcribed GLOW, and I heard your example as a “false start” rather than a past perfect form. In other words:


You heard: “… so, they’d thought …”


I heard: “so, they… wh… thought…” 


Based on my hearing, I decided to remove the extra sounds. 



Grammatically, I also agree with my choice, but it is subtle. Basically, Marni is telling a story in the past tense. All of the actions she describes happened in a general past. Using past perfect would suggest some contrast (such as: They’d thought about doing it, but then they changed their minds). There is no major contrast in Marni’s story, so it makes sense to simply keep it all in the past tense.  



I hope this helps!



Best, 



Amy

09:52 PM Oct 31 2017 |

Chop

ChopSuper Member!

Japan

Hi Amy,
Thank you for your quick reply! Now the sentence makes total sense! Wow, I’m so happy Ebaby has a teacher like you!
About the change of transcriptions like “there is many people” to “there is many people,” I’d prefer it if you leave the original transcription as is and put a small note at the end of the transcription, like “*grammatically, “are” should be used here.l or something like that. We non-native speakers sometimes have trouble catching what’s being said especially when it’s fast, so that way would be very helpful.
Anyway, that’s another story. Your answer was super clear and easy to understand. Thank you so much!
Chop

10:56 AM Nov 01 2017 |