How to follow a conversation that switches between languages

Plenty of conversations do not stay in one language. A grandmother switches to Spanish for the punchline, a cousin answers in English, and a deaf or hard of hearing person at the table loses the thread twice. Captions can fix that, but only if they cope with the switch. This guide shows how to set up live captions for a conversation in two languages, using English and Spanish as the example, and what to do when the captions pick the wrong language.

How common are conversations in more than one language?

In the US, 21.7% of people aged 5 and older did not speak only English at home in 2018-2022, because 78.3% did¹. Spanish was the most spoken of those other languages: 61.1% of people who spoke a language other than English at home spoke Spanish¹. The same US Census Bureau release says 61.0% of Spanish speakers spoke English "very well"¹.

Read together, those numbers describe a large group of homes, classrooms and workplaces where English and Spanish sit side by side, and where roughly 4 in 10 Spanish speakers rate their English below "very well"¹. For a deaf or hard of hearing person in a US family like that, a single-language caption setting is a poor fit. (The 21.7% is our subtraction from the 78.3% the Census Bureau reports.)

Is switching languages a sign of weak language skills?

No. The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Code-switching defines code-switching as the ability of bilinguals to alternate between their two languages³. It adds that code-switching is "not indicative either of the bilingual's inability to separate his languages or of a lack of proficiency"³.

For captions this means the switch is normal speech, not an error to be smoothed over. A tool that works for a bilingual family has to show the Spanish as Spanish and the English as English.

What does it take to caption a conversation in two languages?

Captioning a mixed English and Spanish conversation takes three things: an app that handles more than one language, a way to tell it which languages to expect, and a way to correct it afterwards. The table compares what two tools state on their own pages, as of October 2026.

The Captio AI cells for languages, language hints, flags and re-writing come from the app's own fact sheet and the App Store release notes, which say of version 1.1.3: "Every speaker tag shows the language as a flag. Tap it in a recording to set the right language."⁵ Apple's own accessibility page says Live Captions on iPhone, iPad and Mac "can even capture and caption live, in-person speech through the microphone in your device", but it does not list the languages, and says some features "may not be available in all regions or all languages"⁴. Check Apple's availability page for your language before relying on it.

Google Live Transcribe is the better fit if you are on Android and need two languages at once with a quick tap between them, and it can run several downloaded languages offline on supported devices². Captio AI is the better fit if you want a flag on each speaker tag and a way to fix the language of a saved recording.

How do you set up captions for a family dinner in English and Spanish?

For a family dinner in English and Spanish, put the phone on the table, add both languages to Language hints, and start Live Captions. A language hint tells Captio AI which language to expect, so it starts tuned in from the first word.

1. Add English and Spanish to Language hints.
2. Turn on Separate Speakers so each person gets a tag.
3. Put the phone flat on the table, within reach of everyone who talks. A phone in a pocket hears muffled speech.
4. Start Live Captions. On iPhone from version 1.1.3, each speaker tag also shows the flag of the language being spoken, so you can see when a cousin moves from English to Spanish.
5. Afterwards, give the speakers names. See how to see who is talking in live captions for how names and tags work.

This works for group settings of any size. If the family speaks Spanish, the Spanish page lists the dialects Captio AI covers, and group settings in Spanish answers questions specific to a Spanish-speaking table.

How do you follow everyday conversations when people mix languages?

In everyday conversations, such as a shop counter, a neighbour at the door or a work break, the same setup applies with one change: you do not know in advance which language the other person will use. Add every language you meet on a normal week to Language hints, and keep Live Captions one tap away. A widget on the iPhone Home Screen starts Live Captions or translation without opening the app first. See live captions for everyday conversations for more situations.

If you also need the other person's words in your own language, switch on Live Translator. It shows the translation next to the original captions. Captio AI's App Store listing describes a two-way mode in which "each person sees the other side in their own language"⁵.

What about travelling to a country where you do not speak the language?

When travelling, the other person usually speaks one language and you read another. Live Translator covers 60+ languages⁵ and translates speech into the language you pick, shown beside the original captions. For a trip, there are three things to do before you leave:

• Add the language you expect to Language hints.
• Check your connection plan. Live captions and live translation need internet; without it the app records and transcribes when the phone reconnects.
• Know the free limit: the free plan gives 100 free credits a day, as of October 2026.

See live captions for travelling and, for a Spanish-speaking country, travelling in Spanish.

What do you do when the captions use the wrong language?

If Captio AI writes a recording in the wrong language, tap the language flag on the speaker tag in the saved recording, choose the right language and write the recording again. This is available on iPhone from version 1.1.3⁵. Do this when a conversation started in a language you did not expect.

Two follow-up habits help. First, add the corrected language to your Language hints so the next session starts in it. Second, use Words and names to add names, places and specialist terms that appear in both languages, such as a relative's name or a medical term. When an uncertain word is underlined, long-press it to correct it everywhere in the recording.

Which tool should you use for which situation?

No captioning app replaces a sign language interpreter or a human captioner when you have a legal right to one. For people who sign, or for a medical or legal setting, ask the organisation what access it provides. This is information, not legal advice.