Frequently asked questions

Some of my unscripted API calls do not return an EPS score, some do not even return a transcript. Why is that?

Consider the audio length to have more than 20s, to have results with the metrics.

The pronunciation level is mapped to a US/UK native and that is not the goal of our product.

We correspond to the global standards (CEFT, IELTS, TOEFL) where we don’t penalise someone for speaking in their native accent but on the clarity of speech. For some users, There might be slight variation if the accent is too thick, but it would not differ by more than a few points keeping them in the same band.

In the unscripted API, the grammar and vocabulary metrics didn't return a result. Why is that?

Those metrics have a minimum threshold. If you want to have this results in the unscripted API despite this minimum threshold, you just have to add the flag -F force_grammar_vocab=True. Keep in mind, that this results won't be as accurate as if they passed the minimum threshold.

How do we calculate the Overall score?

The overall score is a combination of the five metrics - pronunciation, intonation, fluency, grammar and vocabulary. Sometimes, if we don’t provide vocabulary or grammar scores because the recording was short, we can still provide an overall score based on the other available metrics.

How do we calculate the pronunciation score?

The pronunciation score is based on how accurately you pronounce the English sounds in each word that was recognized by ELSA in your recording. The number and severity of the highlighted mispronunciations will contribute to the pronunciation score.

How do we calculate the fluency score?

The Fluency score is a combination of your performance in Pace, Pausing and Hesitations. Keeping a good Pace, Pausing only in natural places and reducing the amount of filler words and repetitions will contribute to a good Fluency score.