SpeechBee

Guide

Translate while you dictate on a Mac

You think fastest in your own language, but the email has to go out in English, or the Slack thread is in German. Translating by hand means writing it twice. Here is how to speak in one language and have the text land in another, and what each way costs you in steps and privacy.

By the SpeechBee team, who make SpeechBee. Checked on 15 October 2026

On this page
  1. The free ways
  2. Translate as you dictate with SpeechBee
  3. Translation and writing modes together
  4. Tips for better translations
  5. Questions
  6. Keep reading
  7. Sources

The free ways

Google Translate in a browser. Open translate.google.com, choose the two languages, click the microphone and speak. Copy the translation and paste it where you need it. It is free and handles many languages, but you leave the app you were in, and your words go to Google.

Dictate, then translate in macOS. Dictate in your own language with Apple Dictation, select the text, Control-click it and choose Translate. macOS shows the translation and lets you copy or replace it. It works in most apps, at the cost of a few extra steps every time.

Both are fine for the odd message. For a working day in a second language, the extra steps add up.

Translate as you dictate with SpeechBee

Voice to text
New message

Hi Maya, I'll send the revised proposal tomorrow morning.

SpeechBee's listening indicator on Mac
Hold your key, talk, let go. The text lands at the cursor.
Text to speech
Article

Most people read faster than they speak. SpeechBee reads the sentence you selected out loud, while you keep working.

SpeechBee's Read Aloud player on Mac
Select text, press your reading key, listen.

SpeechBee puts the translation step between your voice and the cursor:

  1. Open SpeechBee's Settings, then Text Cleanup, and pick a language under Translate To. You can also switch it from the menu bar.
  2. Download the language pair when SpeechBee asks. The pack comes from Apple and is managed by macOS.
  3. Click into any app, hold your dictation key, and talk in your own language.
  4. Let go. The text lands at the cursor in the language you picked.

Turn Translate To off and you are back to normal dictation.

What happens on your Mac

SpeechBee transcribes your speech on the device, removes the filler words, then hands the text to Apple's on-device translation. It only uses language packs already installed, so dictating never triggers a download and nothing goes to a cloud translator. Once a pair is installed, it works offline.

The 20 languages

Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. You can speak in any language SpeechBee dictates; the target has to be one of these.

When it does not translate

SpeechBee always pastes something. If it cannot translate, you get the text as you spoke it and a short note saying why:

  • Your Mac runs an older macOS. Translation needs macOS 26.
  • The language pair is not downloaded yet. Download it in Settings, Text Cleanup.
  • You already spoke the target language. Nothing to translate, so the text is left as is.
  • The dictation is very long. Over about 8,000 characters, it pastes untranslated. Split long passages into a few dictations.

Translation and writing modes together

If you also use a writing mode, such as Email or Formal, SpeechBee shapes the text first and translates it last. Say a rough version in Spanish and get a tidy English email body. Writing modes need Apple Intelligence on macOS 26 or your own AI service; see AI dictation on a Mac.

Tips for better translations

  • Speak in full sentences. Translation works on meaning, and half sentences come out as half sentences.
  • Add names to your dictionary. SpeechBee fixes them before translating, so a client's name is not translated into a word.
  • Read before you send. Machine translation is good, not perfect, and tone is the first thing to slip. Select the text and have SpeechBee read it aloud if you want to hear it.

Speak your language, send theirs. Free for 7 days.

Voice to text and Read Aloud on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. After the week, $9 a month, $79 a year, or $99 once. Every plan has every feature.

Download for MacGet it for iPhone & iPad

Questions

Can I dictate in one language and type in another on a Mac?

Yes. Apple Dictation types in the language you speak, so you would translate afterwards. SpeechBee can translate as you dictate: pick a target language under Translate To, speak in yours, and the translated text appears in any app. It needs macOS 26.

Does translation while dictating work offline?

In SpeechBee, yes, once the language pair is downloaded. Both transcription and translation run on your Mac. Google Translate in a browser needs a connection.

Which languages can SpeechBee translate into?

20: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.

Is my speech sent to a translation service?

Not in SpeechBee. It transcribes on your Mac and uses Apple's on-device translation with packs already installed. Browser translators send your text to their servers.

Keep reading

Sources