What the work involves
This is a micro-task, not an ongoing engagement. You receive a short English script and a step-by-step recording guide, record yourself reading it on a phone or computer microphone, and upload the file through AfterQuery's submission page. Start to finish, most contributors finish in under fifteen minutes. Payment is a flat $50 for one accepted submission — the $30/hr band shown on this listing is an effective rate derived from typical completion time, not an hourly contract.
The recordings feed speech datasets that need genuine accent variation. That is the entire point of the screen: the platform wants English as it is actually spoken by Tamil speakers, with real vowel placement, rhythm and consonant patterns — not an actor's approximation. Faked or performed accents are rejected at review and, in practice, poison the dataset they were collected for.
What the platform screens for
- Authenticity of accent. Expect questions about where you grew up, what language you speak at home, and how long you have spoken English. These are verification questions, not small talk.
- Ability to follow written instructions unsupervised. There is no producer on the call. If the guide says record in a quiet room at arm's length in a single unedited take, that is the whole spec and nobody will correct you.
- Usable recording conditions. A working microphone and a room without fans, traffic or echo matters more than equipment quality. Phone microphones are explicitly acceptable.
Logistics
Fully remote and fully asynchronous — there is no interview call, no scheduled session, no timezone requirement. The project is described as quick-turnaround, so responsiveness after acceptance matters: contributors who submit within a day or two of receiving the script are more likely to be included in follow-up batches. Payment terms and turnaround are set by AfterQuery and stated at assignment.