Mac dictation in the wrong language? Check these settings

When Mac dictation writes in the wrong language, the dictation language is set to something other than what you're speaking. Open System Settings › Keyboard, scroll to Dictation, click Edit next to Languages, and make sure your language is there. Then, while dictating, look at the small language label next to the microphone icon: click it (or press the 🌐 key) to switch.

The catch is that your Mac has several language settings that look related and aren't. The keyboard layout you type with, the language Dictation listens for, and any app that rewrites or translates text are all separate. Changing one doesn't change the others.

#Fix Apple Dictation (macOS 14 and 15)

These steps follow Apple's Dictation guide, checked October 31, 2026, and are the same on Sonoma and Sequoia.

1. Choose Apple menu › System Settings › Keyboard and scroll to Dictation.
2. Click Edit next to Languages. Tick each language (and region) you dictate in, and untick the ones you don't.
3. Close the settings and start Dictation in a text field.
4. Look at the language label next to the microphone. If it's wrong, click it and choose the right one, or press the 🌐 key to cycle through your dictation languages.

If you only speak one language, remove the others. With just one language added, Dictation can't land on the wrong one.

Why the keyboard didn't fix it

Your input source (the keyboard layout in the menu bar) decides what the keys type. It doesn't decide what Dictation listens for. If you switched your keyboard to French and Dictation still writes English, that's expected: change the dictation language too.

When a language isn't available

Apple notes that Dictation isn't available in every language or region. The line under Dictation in Keyboard settings also tells you whether your speech is processed on the Mac or sent to Apple. Supported languages on Apple silicon run on the device; others need a connection.

#Test it in a way that tells you something

Short phrases make bad tests. "Okay" and "Maria" sound the same in a dozen languages, and any tool will guess. Use three normal sentences instead:

• an ordinary sentence in your language,
• one with a name you use often,
• one with a number or date.

Note which words changed, not just "good" or "bad". If one sentence fails and the others don't, it's vocabulary, not language. If everything comes out in English-shaped nonsense, it's the language setting.

For mixed-language speech, test the way you actually switch. Many people do better with one dictation per language than with switching mid-sentence. If you work in two languages every day, set up both and get used to switching with the 🌐 key before you start talking.

#Fix it in Sayburst

Sayburst's speech recognition runs on your Mac, and the language you get depends on the speech model you've picked in Settings › Models. Each model covers a fixed set of languages:

The common mistakes:

• An English-only model with another language. Parakeet v2, Whisper Small and Whisper Base only know English. Speak Polish into them and you get English guesses at what you said.
• Parakeet for a language it doesn't cover. Parakeet detects which of its own languages you're speaking, but Hindi or Japanese isn't one of them. Switch to Whisper Large v3 Turbo.
• Whisper guessing. Whisper detects the language on its own, which can go wrong on very short dictations. If you speak one language, set it explicitly in Settings › Models; our models page shows every model's languages.

With the right model, you speak and get the same language back, cleaned up. A message in Spanish with Parakeet v3:

"hola Marta te mando el presupuesto mañana por la mañana y si tienes dudas me llamas"

What Sayburst inserts:

Hola Marta, te mando el presupuesto mañana por la mañana y, si tienes dudas, me llamas.

Recognition vs rewriting

Recognition writes down what you said. Rewriting is a second step, and it's where an unexpected language can creep in if you've set up a custom mode or an external writer with instructions in another language. Sayburst Writer, the optional on-device AI, keeps your language and never translates.

To see which step is responsible, switch that app to the Raw mode for one dictation. If Raw comes out right and your usual mode doesn't, check the mode's instructions. If Raw is wrong too, it's the model or the language setting.

#Names are a separate fix

A correctly set language can still mishear a colleague's name or a product term, especially a name from another language. That's vocabulary, not language. Add the word in Settings › Dictionary and retest the same sentence. Our custom vocabulary guide explains how near-miss correction works and when to use a replacement instead.

Once it works, write down the model, language and mode you settled on. If something changes after an update or a new microphone, you'll have a baseline to compare against. If dictation doesn't start at all, see Mac dictation not working, and for how the models compare on speed and accuracy, read our Parakeet vs Whisper benchmark.

Questions people ask

Why is my Mac dictating in the wrong language?

The active dictation language isn't the one you're speaking. It's set separately from your keyboard input source: check System Settings › Keyboard › Dictation › Languages, and the language label next to the microphone while you dictate.

How do I switch dictation language on a Mac?

Add the languages under Keyboard › Dictation › Languages (click Edit). While dictating, click the language label next to the microphone icon, or press the 🌐 key, to switch.

Does changing my keyboard language change dictation?

Not necessarily. A keyboard input source and the dictation language are separate settings. Check the language in the tool that's actually listening.

Which Sayburst model should I use for Hindi, Japanese or Arabic?

A multilingual Whisper model, such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo, which covers 99 languages. Parakeet covers English and 24 European languages, and Parakeet v2, Whisper Small and Whisper Base are English-only.