3 Ways to Translate Conversations in Real Time With Google Assistant
Google Translate is not the only app that can help you converse with someone speaking a different language. Here’s how to translate real-time conversations with the Google Assistant.
Google Assistant is a handy way to ask questions, get information, and perform tasks via your Android phone or iPhone. But one new skill Assistant now offers is especially useful, and that’s real-time translation. Using Google Assistant’s new Interpreter mode, you can carry on a conversation with someone else, each of you speaking a different language. After you ask Google to help you with a specific language, the Assistant automatically translates your words so you can maintain a back-and-forth conversation with the other person.
Google Assistant is built into Android, so there’s nothing special you need to do to use it. On an iPhone, you’ll need to download and install the Google Assistant app from Apple’s App Store. The Assistant’s Interpreter mode works with 44 different languages, including English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Beyond your mobile phone or tablet, Interpreter mode is accessible on Google Home speakers, certain smart speakers with built-in Google Assistant, and certain smart clocks.
Translating Conversations
To get started, launch Google Assistant on your device and tell Google the language you want to use. You can phrase your command in a variety of ways, such as:
- “Hey Google, be my Spanish interpreter.”
- “Hey Google, help me speak French.”
- “Hey Google, interpret from English to Russian.”
- “Hey Google, Japanese interpreter.”
- “Hey Google, turn on interpreter mode.”
If you tell Google to turn on interpreter mode, the assistant will detect your own language and then ask you which language you wish to use for the interpreting.
After the feature kicks off, tap the microphone icon and say something in your own language. Google displays and speaks the interpretation in the other language.
You can then hand the device to the person you wish to converse with, and when they speak in their language, Google will interpret it. The app will then display and speak their phrase in your set language. Continue this way to carry on a back-and-forth conversation with the other person.
Manual Translation
By default, the Assistant automatically detects the language being spoken and translates it into your preferred language. That should work smoothly most of the time, but if the feature stumbles, you can switch to manual.
Tap the entry for Manual at the bottom of the screen. Now you can tap the microphone icon for your own language when you speak and tap the icon for the other language when the other person wants to speak.
Alternatively, after one person starts speaking, the Assistant will also try to automatically switch to the other language.
Keyboard Translation
A third option is to use your keyboard to translate between languages. This may be useful if both you and the other person are viewing your phone or tablet, or you need a translation for something other than a real-time conversation.
Before you can use this option, you may need to install the keyboard for some languages. To do this on an Android phone, go to Settings and locate the option for keyboards or languages. The menu should have an option that allows you to add new languages, then select the language you need from the list.
On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards. Tap Add New Keyboard, select the language, then tap Done.
To access the keyboard feature, tap Keyboard at the bottom, then tap the blue keyboard icon to select your language. Type your message and the translation will appear underneath.
You can then tap the speaker icon to hear the translation read aloud or use the copy icon to paste the translation elsewhere.
Tap the green keyboard icon to set the language for another person, then hit the necessary icon for your keyboard to switch to their language. The other person can then type a response using the new keyboard.
When you’re finished with interpreter mode, tap the X button in the upper right or just say “Stop.”
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
