# Say It Back — recording + submission kit

**Space:** https://huggingface.co/spaces/Tonykip/say-it-back

## Before you hit record (speed)
1. Open the Space, let it fully load.
2. Click **2–3 featured phrases once** to warm everything (they're instant after).
3. Type one live phrase and run it once to warm the translate endpoint (~20s first time, fast after — it caches).
Then record. On camera everything will feel snappy.

## Demo video (~60–90s)
1. **The why (10s):** "Kalenjin is fading in my family — my wife understands a little but thinks in English. I built a tool so she can just say a word in English and hear how to say it in Kalenjin."
2. **Instant phrases (15s):** click **Thank you → _Kongoi_**, **Water → _Peek_**, **I love you → _achamin_** — each plays back in the Cheps voice immediately.
3. **The live moment (25s):** click the mic, say **"Good morning, how are you?"** → it transcribes → shows **_Amunee karon?_** → speaks it back in Kalenjin. That's the wow.
4. **The human close (15s):** your wife (or you) using it for real — that footage IS the Backyard-track story.

## Social post draft (edit freely)
> Kalenjin is slipping away between generations in my own family. So this weekend I built **Say It Back** 🗣️ — say a word in English, hear it spoken back in Kalenjin, in a fine-tuned Kalenjin voice.
>
> Whisper (ASR) → EN→Kalenjin translation → Cheps TTS, wired up in Gradio.
> Built for #BuildSmall (@huggingface × @Gradio). Models on @modal. 🇰🇪
>
> Try it: https://huggingface.co/spaces/Tonykip/say-it-back

## Submission checklist
- [ ] Gradio Space public + working ✅ (this Space)
- [ ] Demo video recorded
- [ ] Social post published (tag HF, Gradio, Modal)
- [ ] Submit the Space link via the hackathon form / channel
- [ ] (Optional) ask org admins to add you as writer on `build-small-hackathon` if org-hosting is required, then duplicate the Space there.