Japanese Transcription & Pitch Annotation Specialist

About this role

Role Overview

Volga Partners is seeking Japanese language specialists to support a specialized speech evaluation and annotation project. This role is ideal for individuals with strong transcription skills and a deep understanding of natural Japanese pronunciation, mora structure, and pitch.
You will review Japanese audio, validate and correct transcripts and Katakana pronunciation, and assign H/L pitch values at the mora level based on actual speech. The work focuses on evaluation of existing audio recordings, not one-time participation or recording.
This is a remote, freelance, project-based opportunity expected to run for approximately one month, with an engagement of around 15 hours per week.

Responsibilities

• Review Japanese audio and verify transcript accuracy.

• Correct transcription errors (omissions, additions, repetitions, and pronunciation differences).

• Review mixed Kanji/Kana transcription for accuracy, punctuation, pauses, and bunsetsu boundaries.

• Validate Katakana pronunciation lines to match actual spoken audio.

• Apply project-specific pronunciation rules (particles, long vowels, double consonants, syllabic nasals, and contracted sounds).

• Assign H/L pitch values to each mora, aligned with the pronunciation line.

• Represent audible vowel lengthening with additional mora and pitch values.

• Flag unclear audio for review rather than making unsupported assumptions.

• Maintain consistent annotation quality and follow calibration feedback.

Key Skills and Requirements
Language Proficiency

• Fluent or highly proficient Japanese ability.

• Strong transcription knowledge and accuracy.

• Ability to transcribe spoken Japanese using Kanji/Kana.

• Ability to prepare or validate Katakana phonetic transcription.

• Strong understanding of mora structure and pitch perception.

• Ability to identify pauses, sentence endings, emotional speech, vowel lengthening, and pronunciation differences.

• Attention to detail and consistent annotation judgment.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Experience in Japanese speech transcription or QA.

• Audio or linguistic annotation projects.

• ASR transcription or speech data QA.

• Japanese linguistics, phonetics, phonology, or prosody.

• Speech technology or voice data projects.

• Japanese language teaching.

• Voice acting or narration with strong pitch perception.

Work Structure

• Type: Freelance / Project-Based

• Duration: Approximately 1 month

• Commitment: ~15 hours per week (total workload ~15 hours)

• Recruitment Target: 15 resources

Compensation

• Rate: $18–$20 USD/hour

• Payment: Processed through Deel

• All project hours and assignments must be approved in advance and are based on project needs; contractors should not independently add or work unapproved hours.

Qualification Assessment

• Candidates will complete a short qualification assessment covering:

• Japanese transcription accuracy

• Katakana pronunciation validation

• Mora identification and pronunciation rules

• H/L pitch perception

• Mora-to-pitch alignment accuracy
Note: Strong performance on the practical audio portion is required before moving into production work.