Guides

Mac dictation in other languages, and in more than one

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To change the Mac dictation language, open System Settings, Keyboard, go to Dictation and click Edit next to Languages; Apple lets you add several languages and switch between them while you dictate. YapToText, the free app I built, dictates in 29 languages plus Auto-detect, chosen on its AI Models page, and it runs Whisper on your Mac for every one of them.

The two work differently. Apple says Dictation is not available in all languages or regions and that its features vary. YapToText offers the same list everywhere, but it sets one language per dictation, where Apple lets you switch while you dictate. The full list of languages is below.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

On this page: 9 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Change the language in Apple Dictation
  3. Change the language in YapToText
  4. The 29 languages YapToText lists
  5. Dictate in more than one language
  6. If the wrong language comes out
  7. What YapToText does not do with languages
  8. The short version
  9. Questions

Steps

  1. Choose Apple menu, System Settings, then click Keyboard.
  2. Go to Dictation and click Edit next to Languages.
  3. Select a language and region, or deselect one to remove it.
  4. While dictating, click the language next to the cursor or press the Globe key to switch.

Change the language in Apple Dictation

  • You: Choose Apple menu, System Settings, then Keyboard. Go to Dictation, click Edit next to Languages, and select a language and region. Deselect one to remove it.
  • macOS: Adds the language to Dictation. With more than one set up, it shows the current language next to the cursor while you dictate, as an abbreviation or a character.
  • Check: Start dictating, then click the language next to the cursor, or press the Globe key if your keyboard has one, to switch.

Apple keeps its list of Dictation languages on its macOS Feature Availability page, and its guide warns that features vary by language. Automatic commas, periods and question marks work in supported languages, and emoji by name works in some. Whether your voice is processed on the Mac or sent to Siri servers is shown under Dictation in Keyboard settings. Apple Dictation is the one to use if you switch languages while you dictate.

Change the language in YapToText

  • You: Open YapToText's AI Models page. In Your defaults, under the dictation model, open the Language picker and choose your language, or Auto-detect language.
  • YapToText: Hands that language to Whisper as a hint for every dictation from then on. Out of the box it uses your Mac's system language, not auto-detect.
  • Check: Dictate a sentence. The words come out in the language you spoke, and the Language line in that dictation's pipeline details in History shows the setting it used.
The AI Models page in YapToText: Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5) and Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct marked Included, model library below.
Figure 1. The Language picker sits under the dictation model in Your defaults, set here to English (United States). Lower down, the library marks Whisper Tiny, Base and Small (English) as English only.

The bundled model, Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5), is multilingual. Three library models are not: Whisper Tiny, Base and Small with (English) in the name hear English only, so pick a multilingual model if you dictate in anything else. For the cleanup, Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct is listed as multilingual, Clean Up is told to keep your language and not translate, and the app's catalog suggests Qwen 2.5 3B Instruct especially for non-English dictation.

A few things stay English. The app's own screens are in English only, even if you are not, and the default spoken commands are English phrases such as "question mark" or "insert comma". You can edit any command, or add trigger phrases of your own, on the Commands page; the spoken punctuation guide explains how commands work. One picker sets the language, and Auto-detect is there if you switch often.

The 29 languages YapToText lists

This is the Language picker in 1.5.3: 32 entries in 29 languages, plus Auto-detect language, in alphabetical order.

  • A to E. Arabic, Chinese (China), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US, UK, Australia).
  • F to I. Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian.
  • J to P. Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil).
  • R to V. Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Spain, Mexico), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.
  • Auto-detect language. Whisper decides the language of each dictation itself.

Auto-detect, Polish and fourteen more languages arrived in 1.5.2, from a pull request on GitHub, which is the open-source part working the way it should. OpenAI's own README says Whisper's performance varies widely depending on the language, so try yours with a few real sentences before you rely on it. Count only what the picker lists: 29 languages, plus Auto-detect.

Dictate in more than one language

YapToText sets the language when a dictation starts, and a change applies from the next dictation, so it does not switch languages in the middle of a sentence. Here are the ways to work in two or more languages, as a ladder from the least setup to the most:

  1. Auto-detect language. Choose it in the Language picker, and Whisper decides the language of each dictation. If it guesses wrong for you, set the language by hand.
  2. A language per app. Make a mode or edit one, set its language in the Recording & language card, and add your apps under Apps that use this mode. Dictation in those apps then uses that mode's language.
  3. A language per shortcut. Give that mode an Activation shortcut in its Basics card, and the shortcut starts a dictation in that mode and language from anywhere. Starting a dictation this way makes it the selected mode, which also switches Auto mode off until you choose Auto again.
YapToText's Modes page: Auto on top, then Raw Transcription, Clean Up, Note, Email, Message and Code Comment, numbered 2 to 7.
Figure 2. Every mode on the Modes page opens into its own editor, where the Recording & language card can give that mode a language of its own.

The modes guide covers the mode editor. Pick the language before you start, because it holds for the whole dictation.

The guide to dictating in two languages walks through each of these setups, and the Spanish dictation guide covers Spanish in both apps.

If the wrong language comes out

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Check the picker. The Language picker on the AI Models page sets the default. A mode with its own language overrides it.
  2. Check the app. An app listed under a mode's Apps that use this mode uses that mode's language, if the mode sets one.
  3. Check the model. A model with (English) in its name hears English only. Switch back to Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5) or another multilingual model.
  4. Try the other setting. If a fixed language gives odd results, try Auto-detect; if Auto-detect guesses wrong, fix the language by hand.
A YapToText History entry with pipeline details open: raw transcript, cleaned transcript, mode, delivery, target app and timings.
Figure 3. To see which language a dictation used, open its pipeline details in History: the Language line here reads en-US.

For Apple Dictation, the language lives in Keyboard settings, and the indicator next to the cursor or the Globe key switches it while you talk. The AI models guide covers YapToText's picker and models.

What YapToText does not do with languages

  • Switch mid-dictation. The language is fixed when you start; Apple Dictation is the one that switches as you dictate.
  • Translate your speech. Whisper types what you said in the language you said it. To translate afterward, select the text, tap the Quick Edit key and say the language, such as Spanish, or run the Translate to English AI Action. The Quick Edit guide shows how.
  • Promise more than the list. Only the 29 languages in the picker are claimed.

Everything above runs on your Mac, in every language on the list; the offline dictation page covers what that means with Wi-Fi off, and the Whisper for Mac page covers the model.

The short version

  • Apple Dictation. System Settings, Keyboard, Dictation, then Edit next to Languages; switch while you dictate, from the cursor or with the Globe key.
  • YapToText. The Language picker on the AI Models page: 29 languages plus Auto-detect, all on device.
  • Two languages a day. Auto-detect, or a mode per language tied to its apps or its own shortcut.

Apple switches as you dictate; YapToText keeps every language on your Mac. If your language misbehaves, open an issue on GitHub with the language and a sample sentence. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Sources

Questions

How do I change the dictation language on my Mac?

Open System Settings, Keyboard, go to Dictation and click Edit next to Languages, then pick a language and region. In YapToText, choose the language in the Language picker on the AI Models page.

Can Mac dictation use multiple languages?

Yes. Apple Dictation lets you set up several languages and switch while you dictate by clicking the language next to the cursor or pressing the Globe key. YapToText uses one language per dictation, or Auto-detect.

What languages does YapToText support?

29 languages plus Auto-detect: Arabic, Chinese (China), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US, UK, Australia), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Spain, Mexico), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

Does Mac dictation work in Chinese?

Yes. YapToText lists Chinese (China) in its Language picker and transcribes it on your Mac. For Apple Dictation, check Apple's macOS Feature Availability page, where Apple keeps its list of Dictation languages.

Does YapToText translate what I say?

No. It types what you said in the language you said it. To translate text afterward, select it, tap the Quick Edit key and say the language, such as Spanish, or run the Translate to English AI Action.