Interpreter mode: How to translate conversations with Google Assistant

Google Assistant has a huge variety of convenient features to help out with your day-to-day life but one you may not have tried before is Interpreter mode.

Google first unveiled Google Assistant’s Interpreter mode at CES 2019. The feature has since rolled out to Android and iOS phones, as well as the lineup of Google Assistant devices and smart displays. 

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What is Interpreter mode?

With Interpreter mode, you can ask Google Assistant to translate your conversation with someone who doesn’t speak your language. With any compatible Google Assistant device, the feature enables you to have a back-and-forth conversation with someone speaking a foreign language, all just using your voice.

Languages available

The languages supported by Google Assistant vary depending on the device you are using:

On mobile phones and tablets, 48 languages are supported

Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cambodian (also called Khmer), Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Filipino (Tagalog), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Spanish, Sudanese, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese.

On speakers, smart displays and smart clocks, 32 languages are supported

Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino (Tagalog), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.

Which devices support Interpreter mode?

The following Google Assistant devices will let you use the Interpreter mode:

Android and iOS devicesAll Google Home speakersSome speakers with Google Assistant built-inAll Smart DisplaysSmart clocks

How does Interpreter mode work?

Just ask Google Assistant to help you conduct a conversation in a language. For instance, you can say, “Hey Google, be my Spanish interpreter” to start Interpreter mode and get real-time spoken (or, on smart displays, written translation) to aid the conversation. Interpreter mode is already on your phone; there’s no app download required.

It also features different ways to communicate. For instance, you can type using a keyboard, or manually select what language to speak and then hold an audible conversation. After each translation, Google Assistant may serve up smart replies, so you can quickly respond without speaking.

Start translating a conversation

Say “Hey Google…”Say a command, like:”…be my Italian interpreter””…interpret from Polish to Dutch””…Chinese interpreter””…turn on interpreter mode”If you haven’t identified languages, choose which languages you want to use.When you hear the tone, start speaking in either language. You don’t have to alternate between languages for interpreter mode to work.

On a smart display, you’ll both see and hear the translated conversation.

Stop translating a conversation

To stop using Interpreter mode, say a command like “Stop”, “Quit”, or “Exit”.On a smart display, you can also swipe from left to right to stop Interpreter mode.

Want to know more?

Check out Google’s help hub for more instructions.