Bilingual dictation on Mac: set up two languages that just work

There are two ways to dictate in two languages on a Mac. Apple Dictation handles it for free if you add both languages and switch with the Globe key each time you change; a dictation app with a multilingual model like Sayburst's Parakeet v3 skips the switching, because the model works out which language you're speaking.

Which is better depends on how often you switch. Once a day, the free way is fine. Every few minutes, the switching gets old fast.

#Option 1: Apple Dictation with two languages

These steps follow Apple's Dictation guide, checked November 2026. The menus are the same on macOS 14 Sonoma, macOS 15 Sequoia and later.

1. Open System Settings › Keyboard and scroll to Dictation. Turn it on.
2. Click Edit next to Languages.
3. Select each language and region you speak, for example English (United States) and Spanish (Mexico). Region matters: Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Mexico) are separate entries.
4. Click into any text field and start Dictation with your shortcut.
5. To change language, click the language abbreviation next to the cursor, or press the Globe (fn) key and pick one.

Apple doesn't describe automatic language detection in that guide, so you're choosing the language each time. If you forget, you get English words spelled as Spanish, or the other way round.

#Option 2: let the model detect the language

Some speech models are trained on many languages at once and work out which one they're hearing. NVIDIA's Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3 model card says it "automatically detects the language of the audio" across its 25 European languages. Sayburst uses Parakeet v3 as its default, running on your Mac's Neural Engine.

1. Install Sayburst, grant Microphone and Accessibility, and let Parakeet v3 download.
2. Check both your languages are covered. Parakeet v3 covers English and 24 European languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Ukrainian. The full list is on our models page.
3. If one of your languages isn't there (Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and many more), switch to Whisper Large v3 Turbo, which covers 99 languages.
4. Hold fn, talk in either language, let go.

There's no per-dictation language menu to remember. Recognition happens on the Mac either way; audio is never uploaded.

#What it looks like across two languages

A bilingual afternoon, two dictations a minute apart. First, a WhatsApp message to a colleague in Madrid:

"Hola Marta, te mando el presupuesto revisado esta tarde. Si te parece bien lo firmamos el lunes"

Lands as:

Hola Marta, te mando el presupuesto revisado esta tarde. Si te parece bien, lo firmamos el lunes.

Then an English email to the client, said the way people talk:

"Hi Daniel, um, the revised budget goes to our Madrid office today, and, uh, we'll sign on Monday, I mean Tuesday, after their review"

Lands as:

Hi Daniel, the revised budget goes to our Madrid office today, and we'll sign on Tuesday, after their review.

Each one came out in its own language, with its own punctuation, and nothing was translated. In the English one the "um" and "uh" are gone and Monday became Tuesday, because you corrected yourself.

#When the wrong language comes out

Short phrases guess wrong. "Sí, vale" or "OK, done" gives any model very little to go on. Say a full sentence and detection becomes much more reliable. With Apple Dictation, check the language indicator before you start.

You mixed languages inside one sentence. "Send me el presupuesto by Friday" is hard for every tool, because models tend to commit to one language per stretch of audio. Split it, or say the borrowed word in the sentence's main language.

Your keyboard layout changed but dictation didn't. The input source in the menu bar and the dictation language are separate settings. Switching your keyboard to Spanish doesn't make Apple Dictation listen in Spanish. Our wrong language guide covers how to tell which setting is in charge.

Names come out mangled in both languages. Family names, street names and brand names are where bilingual dictation slips. In Sayburst, add them to the vocabulary once and they're spelled your way in either language.

Accented English gets worse when you're tired. That's normal. A closer microphone helps more than any setting; see dictation apps for accented English for what else helps.

Apple Dictation needs a connection for one language. On Apple silicon many languages run on the device once downloaded, but not every language does. If one of yours is slow or stops offline, it may be going to Apple's servers.

#Tips for writing in two languages by voice

• Pick the model for your less common language. If one language is outside Parakeet's 25, use Whisper for everything rather than switching models every day.
• Set writing modes by app, not by language. Message for WhatsApp and Slack, Email for Mail. The mode shapes the text the same way in Spanish and English.
• Don't expect translation. Sayburst Writer, the optional on-device AI, formats and tidies but never translates. Dictate in the language you want to send, check it, then translate separately if you need a second version.
• Keep sentences in one language. It's the single biggest accuracy win.

#When Apple Dictation is enough

If you mostly write in one language and switch occasionally, Apple Dictation with two languages added is free and perfectly good. Our roundup of bilingual dictation apps compares it with Sayburst, Wispr Flow and others if you want the wider view; for Spanish specifically, see Spanish speech to text apps.

On iPhone or Android, use the keyboard's built-in dictation; Sayburst is Mac-only. On a Mac it needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and costs $29 once with no subscription.

Questions people ask

Can Mac dictation do two languages at once?

Apple Dictation lets you add several languages and switch between them with the Globe key or the language indicator next to the cursor. You choose which one it listens for; Apple's guide doesn't describe detecting the language for you.

How do I dictate in English and Spanish on a Mac without switching?

Use a speech model that covers both and detects the language itself. Sayburst's default model, Parakeet v3, covers English, Spanish and 23 other European languages, and its maker says it detects the language of the audio automatically.

Can I switch languages in the middle of a sentence?

Don't count on it with any tool. Speech models tend to settle on one language for a stretch of audio. Dictate each language as its own sentence or message and the results are far better.

Will dictation translate what I say?

No. Dictation writes what you said in the language you said it. Sayburst's optional Writer cleans up text but never translates, so translate afterwards with a tool you trust.