Find basic information about a talk
In search results, click the talk ID number to open the talk information modal. (In talk search results, clicking the speaker name or title also opens the modal.)
The talk information modal includes:
- Talk title (English and translation if available)
- Watch this talk on TCSE link
- Thumbnail image
- Recorded on date
- Event name (e.g. TEDWomen 2017)
- Number of elements (tokens)
- Number of segments
- Number of sentences
- Duration (min:sec)
- Words per minute with speed indicator (very slow / slow / moderate / fast / very fast)
- Readability (FK) Flesch-Kincaid score with difficulty indicator
- Vocabulary (CEFR) distribution bar (A1–C2)
- Syntax Profile: NP complexity, passive voice ratio, relative clauses ratio, subordination ratio
- Video Type (e.g. TED Stage Talk, TED-Ed Original)
- Official TED page link
- Speaker information from Wikipedia (when available): name, date of birth, sex or gender, country of citizenship, occupation, description
- Synopsis: talk description in English and translation (if available)
Vocabulary profile (CEFR)
The Vocabulary (CEFR) row shows a color-coded bar representing the distribution of vocabulary across six CEFR levels (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages):
| Level | Color | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Green | Beginner — most basic vocabulary |
| A2 | Light green | Elementary |
| B1 | Yellow | Intermediate |
| B2 | Orange | Upper intermediate |
| C1 | Red | Advanced |
| C2 | Purple | Proficiency — most sophisticated vocabulary |
The width of each colored segment is proportional to the percentage of tokens at that level. Hover over any segment to see the exact percentage, token count, and type count (e.g., "B1: 25.3% (520 tokens / 180 types)").
A talk with a wider green/light-green area uses simpler vocabulary, while a talk with more orange/red/purple uses more advanced vocabulary. This helps learners choose talks appropriate for their level and helps educators assess text difficulty.
Syntax profile
The Syntax Profile row provides four metrics that characterize the syntactic complexity of the talk:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| NP complexity | Average number of words per noun phrase chunk. Higher values indicate more complex noun phrases with more modifiers. |
| Passive voice | Percentage of clauses using passive constructions. Academic and formal talks tend to have higher passive rates. |
| Relative clauses | Percentage of clauses that are relative clauses (e.g., "the person who spoke"). Higher values indicate more complex sentence embedding. |
| Subordination | Percentage of clauses that are subordinate clauses (e.g., "because ...", "although ..."). Higher values indicate more complex sentence structures. |
These metrics, combined with the readability score and CEFR vocabulary profile, give a comprehensive picture of the linguistic complexity of a talk.