How to change the dictation language on a Mac, and use more than one
The short answer
To change the dictation language on a Mac, open System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation, click Edit next to Languages, and tick each language and region you speak. With more than one ticked, switch as you dictate by clicking the language shown next to the cursor, or by pressing the Globe key and choosing one. Dictation listens for one language at a time and does not change by itself, so text in the wrong language means the wrong one is selected. Flit, a local dictation app for Mac, keeps a list of the languages you speak and switches between them with one shortcut, or works out the language of each dictation by itself.
How to add a dictation language and switch to it
- Choose Apple menu → System Settings and click Keyboard in the sidebar.
- Go to Dictation. If it is off, turn it on and click Enable.
- Click Edit next to Languages, then tick each language and region you speak.
- Click into a text field and start Dictation with your shortcut.
- To change language, click the language shown next to the cursor and choose another.
- Or press the Globe key, if your keyboard has one, and choose the language.
The language you choose stays selected until you change it again. To remove one, untick it in the same list.
People who work in two languages hit the same wall: they start speaking the second one and get confident nonsense in the first. Dictation was listening for the wrong language. The table lists what goes wrong and where the fix is, and the sections after it answer the two questions Apple’s page leaves open: whether there is a shortcut, and which languages work without a connection.
Dictating in two languages: what you notice, and the fix
| What you notice | The likely cause | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nonsense words in the other language | Dictation is listening for the language you used last | Click the language next to the cursor, or press the Globe key, and choose the right one |
| Your language is not offered when you switch | It was never added | Keyboard → Dictation → Languages → Edit |
| The right language, the wrong spellings | The region is wrong, such as English (United States) for a British speaker | Tick the right region in the same list |
| The Globe key changes the keyboard layout instead | The key is set to Change Input Source | Keyboard → "Press 🌐 key to" |
| One language works without a connection and the other does not | Not every language is processed on the Mac | Read the text under Dictation in Keyboard settings, and the list below |
| No commas or periods in one of your languages | Auto-punctuation works in some languages only | Say the marks: "comma", "period" |
Dictation listens for one language at a time
Apple’s Dictation page describes two ways to change language once more than one is set up: click the language next to the cursor, or press the Globe key and choose the language you want. Both are done by hand. The page does not describe Dictation working out the language for you.
That is why a wrong selection is so visible. A recognizer set to English that hears German does not report an error. It writes the English words that sound closest, and the result reads like nonsense. When that happens, nothing is broken: switch the language and say it again.
Is there a keyboard shortcut to change the dictation language?
Not a single press. The closest thing Apple documents is the Globe key: press it while dictating, then choose the language from what appears. That is two actions, and it needs a keyboard with a Globe key.
The Dictation shortcut starts and stops Dictation. It does not change the language. Apple’s pages describe no separate shortcut for moving to the next dictation language, and people on user forums report trying to build one with automation tools for that reason.
If you change language many times a day, the practical choices are to keep the pointer near the cursor and click, or to use a dictation app that has a shortcut for it.
Dictation language and keyboard language are two settings
A Mac has two separate lists. Input sources are the keyboard layouts you type with. Dictation languages are the ones the Mac listens for. Adding a German keyboard does not add German to Dictation, and the reverse is also true.
The Globe key sits between the two, which causes confusion. If "Press 🌐 key to" is set to Change Input Source, a press changes the keyboard layout. The Globe key guide covers what each option does.
Which languages work without a connection
Apple keeps the lists on its macOS feature availability page. For macOS 27 it names 63 languages and regions for Dictation, and 48 of them for on-device Dictation, which also needs a download of speech models the first time. The rest are sent to Apple and need a connection.
For a person with two languages, the common surprise is that one of them is on the second list and the other is not. On Apple’s page for macOS 27, these are listed for Dictation and not for on-device Dictation:
- Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak and Ukrainian.
- Portuguese for Portugal. Portuguese for Brazil is on the on-device list.
- Hindi and Indonesian.
- Mandarin for Taiwan, and Shanghainese.
Which languages get automatic punctuation
Auto-punctuation adds commas, periods and question marks for you. Apple’s page for macOS 27 lists it for English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Chinese, in most of their regions.
It is not listed for Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Arabic, Turkish or Polish, among others. In those you say the marks as you go: "comma", "period", "question mark". The dictation commands guide has the full set.
Region matters as much as language
Each entry in the Languages list is a language and a region together. The region decides spellings, and it helps with accents and place names. Features follow the region too: on Apple’s list, auto-punctuation covers German for Germany and Switzerland, and does not name German for Austria.
If you use one language in two regions, such as Portuguese with colleagues in Brazil and family in Portugal, tick both and switch between them as you would between two languages.
Mixing two languages in one sentence
No setting makes Apple’s Dictation follow a sentence that changes language halfway. If you borrow a word or a name from your other language, expect to correct it by hand. For a longer passage, stop, switch the language and start again.
If Dictation does not start at all in either language, that is a different problem: the Mac dictation troubleshooting guide goes through it.
A list of your languages, and one key to switch
Flit is a separate dictation app that treats speaking several languages as the normal case. You tell it once which languages you speak, and after that you either switch with one key or let it work out the language each time.
- Add the languages you speak once, in Flit’s Settings → Models → Languages you speak.
- Set a shortcut in Settings → Keyboard that moves to the next language from any app, with one press. Flit shows which one you are on. There is also a switch in the menu bar panel.
- Or choose Auto, and Flit works out which of your languages each dictation is in. That takes a moment longer than a fixed language.
- Everything runs on the Mac in every language, with no connection. That includes Polish, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Croatian and Portuguese, with the Parakeet V3 voice model.
- The voice models write their own punctuation in the languages they cover, so there is no second list to check.
- If the voice model you chose cannot transcribe a language, Flit uses another model you have installed, tells you which, and goes back to yours when you change language.
- Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.
Good to know
- Flit also hears one language for each dictation. A sentence that changes language halfway is not handled better than it is by Apple’s Dictation.
- Which languages you get depends on the voice model you choose. Parakeet V3 covers 25 European languages, Cohere Transcribe 14 and Qwen3-ASR 30; Whisper covers the most and is the slowest.
- Flit has no region setting. For a spelling you prefer, add the word to its dictionary.
- The language shortcut does nothing while a dictation is in progress.
- Apple’s Dictation is free and already on your Mac. If it does what you need, you do not need Flit.
- Flit runs on a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and its voice model is a download of about 0.5 to 2.3 GB that you choose once.
- Flit’s spoken commands, such as "new paragraph", are in English today.
Questions people ask
How do I change the dictation language on a Mac?
Open System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation, click Edit next to Languages, and tick the language and region you want. While dictating with more than one ticked, click the language shown next to the cursor and choose another, or press the Globe key and choose the language.
Can you dictate in two languages on a Mac?
Yes. Add both under System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → Languages → Edit. Then switch as you dictate by clicking the language next to the cursor, or by pressing the Globe key and choosing one.
Is there a keyboard shortcut to switch the dictation language on a Mac?
Not a single press. Apple documents pressing the Globe key while dictating and then choosing the language. The Dictation shortcut itself only starts and stops Dictation.
Does Mac Dictation detect the language automatically?
Apple’s page describes switching by hand: clicking the language next to the cursor, or pressing the Globe key. It does not describe automatic detection.
Why does Mac Dictation type nonsense when I speak another language?
It is listening for a different language and writing the closest words it knows. Switch to the language you are speaking and say it again.
Does Mac Dictation work offline in every language?
No. For macOS 27, Apple lists 63 languages and regions for Dictation and 48 for on-device Dictation. Polish, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Hindi and Portuguese for Portugal are among those not on the on-device list. Keyboard settings says, under Dictation, how yours is processed.
Can I mix two languages in one sentence when dictating?
Not reliably. Dictation listens for one language at a time, so a word from another language is usually written as something that sounds similar. Correct it by hand, or switch language for longer passages.
Is there an app that switches dictation language automatically?
Yes. Flit is a local dictation app for Mac: add the languages you speak, choose Auto, and it works out which one each dictation is in, or switch with one shortcut. Flit is free for 7 days with every feature on, then $19 once, with no account and no subscription.