Xhosa data for AI training, collected to your brief
Xhosa data from IndecalAI is collected or reviewed by a native Xhosa speaker, not pulled from an existing archive. We work with speakers across Africa, frequently alongside French, English or Arabic in the same conversation, matched to your brief and checked before delivery.
What Xhosa data can we produce?
Xhosa data from IndecalAI is speech, text, conversational and translation data collected or reviewed by a Xhosa speaker for your brief, not pulled from an existing archive.
Speakers here often move between this language and French, English or Arabic within the same conversation, so a brief should say whether to keep that mixing or avoid it.
This sits across several of our services depending on what you need: data collection for raw speech or text, conversational AI data for dialogue, and translation and localization for converting between Xhosa and another language.
Translation projects often pair this language with French, English or Arabic. See translation and localization for that scope.
Xhosa data at a glance
- Data types
- Speech, text, conversational, translation
- Services
- Data collection, Translation
- Who works on it
- Contributors from our network of 30,000+ people worldwide, matched to your brief.
- Review
- A review pass before anything is delivered.
- Your data
- NDA first, used only for the agreed scope, returned or deleted when you ask.
- First step
- A small free sample before you commit.
What to know about Xhosa before you brief it
Xhosa is one of South Africa's official languages and the home language of a large community in the Eastern Cape and in the big cities, and it is partly understood by speakers of Zulu.
The language uses click consonants that are written with the letters c, q and x, so an English-trained speech recognizer misses them unless it has been given Xhosa audio. It is tonal and has noun classes, with prefixes that change a word's shape. In cities, speakers blend in English and Afrikaans. Say whether you want the formal school standard or everyday urban speech.
Languages that sit close to Xhosa in script, family or region: Zulu data, Shona data, Swahili data, Kinyarwanda data, English data and Lingala data.
Deciding what to specify for any language? The guide to speech data collection covers the choices that apply across languages, and the one on transcription for AI and for people covers how speech becomes text.
Xhosa at a glance
- Language family
- Niger-Congo (Bantu, Nguni)
- Script
- Latin letters, left to right
- Spoken mainly in
- South Africa, mainly the Eastern Cape
- Name it in a brief
- Standard isiXhosa, Mpondo, Thembu and other regional speech
- Its own name
- isiXhosa
Four ways to request Xhosa data
Each links to the service that runs it, with its full scope and process.
Xhosa speech data
Recorded speech in Xhosa: calls, prompts and voice bot utterances, mixed with French, English or Arabic if that reflects how people actually speak it.
Xhosa text data
Written Xhosa: messages, reviews, tickets or chat logs, written or labeled by people who read it natively.
Xhosa conversational data
Scripted or spontaneous Xhosa dialogue for voice bots and support agents, reflecting how speakers here actually mix languages.
Xhosa translation
Human-verified translation between Xhosa and French, English, Arabic or another language in the same project.
What to put in a Xhosa brief
Four things worth deciding before contributors start, so the first sample already looks right.
Region or dialect
Xhosa is spoken mainly in South Africa, mainly the Eastern Cape. Worth naming in a brief: Standard isiXhosa, Mpondo, Thembu and other regional speech. Tell us the region or community you're targeting so contributors are matched to the right one.
Script or transliteration
Script for Xhosa: Latin letters, left to right. Say whether you want the native script, a transliterated version, or both, especially if your downstream system only reads one.
Data type mix
Speech, text, conversational and translation can be requested together or on their own. Tell us the mix your model needs.
Volume and timeline
A rough sense of how much data and how soon lets us staff the right number of contributors from the start.
From your brief to reviewed Xhosa data
One named contact owns the project from scoping to the last file.
Brief
You tell us the data type, the Xhosa variety or region and roughly how much you need.
NDA and scope
We sign an NDA before any data moves, then agree the scope with you.
Free sample
We produce a small sample free, so you can check it before you commit.
Production
Contributors from our network work in our own tools, to the brief you set.
Review
A review pass runs before anything is delivered.
Delivery
The data comes to you, or moves on to another service with us.
Where Xhosa data ends up
Common jobs for Xhosa data. They're examples of the work, not a client list.
Voice bots and IVR
Recorded Xhosa prompts and calls teach a voice bot to recognize how people actually speak, not just how a script reads.
Support chat and tickets
Everyday Xhosa messages, written in the domain you work in, give a chat assistant real phrasing to learn from.
Content moderation and sentiment
Labeled Xhosa posts, reviews and messages teach a model to read tone and intent correctly in this language.
Localizing a product
Translating prompts, UI copy and training data into Xhosa so a product reads like it was written for that market, not machine-translated.
Off-the-shelf Xhosa data, or built to your brief?
We hold around 35,000 hours of off-the-shelf speech, prompts and conversations already collected across our network, and roughly 500 hours of it is Xhosa: see the Xhosa speech dataset. Here's how the two paths compare.
| Topic | A typical off-the-shelf dataset | Xhosa data with us |
|---|---|---|
| Already collected? | No way to know until you've already paid for it | Yes: roughly 500 hours of Xhosa speech are already recorded, and we tell you what they cover before you buy |
| Fit to your brief | Built for whoever bought it first, not your exact region, register or use case | Collected or reviewed to the region, script and format you specify |
| Who else has it | The same files can be sold to more than one buyer | Custom collections are scoped to your engagement. For stock data, who else can license it is set in your licence |
| Checking the fit | You find out after you've already paid for it | A small free sample first, so you check it before committing to volume |
Xhosa data terms, in plain words
General definitions. They describe the field, not a claim about us.
Where Xhosa data fits
Xhosa is one of 100 languages on our languages directory. You can also browse every category on the datasets hub.
Do you support Xhosa?
Yes. Xhosa is one of 100 languages in this directory, part of our wider language coverage worldwide, including deep Indian language coverage. Tell us the regional variety you need.
Do you already have any Xhosa data collected?
Yes. Roughly 500 hours of Xhosa speech, prompts and conversations are already recorded and ready to license. The Xhosa speech dataset page has the details, and anything it doesn't cover we collect to your brief.
Can you mix regional varieties of Xhosa in one project?
Yes. Tell us the mix of regions or dialects you need and we'll match contributors from our network to that brief.
Which data types are available in Xhosa?
Speech, text, conversational data and translation to or from Xhosa. Image and video categories don't depend on language, so Xhosa speakers can also appear in those briefs on request.
Is a sample available before we commit?
Yes, a small free sample first.
Can this run alongside other languages in the same project?
Yes. Many engagements mix languages, domains and data types under one brief and one named contact, using our network of 30,000+ people across 150+ projects delivered so far.
What counts as a regional variety of Xhosa?
A version of the language tied to a place or community, which can differ in vocabulary, pronunciation, formality or script from another region's variety. Name the region in your brief if it matters for your use case.
Can you handle Xhosa in its native script?
Yes. Contributors work in the native script by default, with transliteration available if your project needs it instead.
Which variety of Xhosa should I ask for?
Ask for the one your users actually speak. Xhosa is spoken mainly in South Africa, mainly the Eastern Cape, and the forms most worth naming in a brief are Standard isiXhosa, Mpondo, Thembu and other regional speech. If you are unsure, describe your users and where they live, and your named contact will help you decide before collection starts.
How is Xhosa written, and does it matter for the data?
Xhosa data uses Latin letters, left to right. The script and its encoding affect how a model reads the data, so say in the brief which one you need and whether a romanized or transliterated version is also required.
Request Xhosa data
Pick the data type, confirm Xhosa as the language and a rough volume, and send it. We'll produce a small sample free before you commit.
- Your named contact replies within one business day.
- We sign an NDA before any data changes hands.
- We produce your free sample, then agree the full scope.
This opens your email app with the brief filled in. Nothing is sent until you press send. You can also use the contact page.