Cantonese Church Translation App: How to Caption a Sermon Preached in Cantonese, or Into Cantonese

Who needs live translation in a Cantonese-speaking church?

A Cantonese congregation usually has several kinds of listener in the same pews. Older members who think and pray in Cantonese, a spouse or friend who speaks Mandarin, and children and grandchildren who grew up in English and follow a Cantonese sermon only in part. Visitors add a fourth group.

Separate services solve some of this, but they split families. Live captions let the preacher keep speaking Cantonese while each person reads in the language they know best. The same idea works in the other direction, when a guest preaches in English and the Cantonese-speaking members read along.

Can the preacher speak Cantonese, and can members read it?

Yes to both. In Sermon Translate, Cantonese (粵語) is a speaker language and a caption language. That is different from Fuzhounese, which can only be read. The table shows how the Chinese-related languages work.

Sermon Translate offers 123 languages in total. 61 of them can be spoken from the pulpit and all 123 can be read as captions. The full list is on the languages page.

How do you translate a Cantonese sermon into English?

1. Open Sermon Translate in a browser on a phone, tablet or computer and choose Cantonese as the speaker language.
2. Choose English as the caption language. Up to 5 caption languages can show together, so Mandarin can sit beside English.
3. Feed the sound from the pulpit microphone or the sound desk into the device, and show the captions on the sanctuary screen or on members' phones.
4. Watch the first few minutes with an English reader beside you and note any names or terms that come out wrong.

The Chinese to English page describes this direction for services preached in Mandarin or Cantonese. When the preacher clearly names a Bible passage, a verse popup can appear in the English version the church has chosen.

How do you translate an English sermon into Cantonese?

Set English as the speaker language and Cantonese as a caption language. Cantonese readers see Traditional characters, and Mandarin readers can choose Mandarin captions on their own phones at the same time. The English to Chinese page explains the setup.

Chinese live captions are always written in Traditional characters. If an engine slips in a Simplified character, it is converted before the line reaches the screen. Live captions in Simplified characters are not available today, so a church whose members read only Simplified should test before committing.

How do you keep names and church terms consistent?

Names are the usual weak spot in any speech tool. The same Cantonese sound can be written with many characters, and a caption that changes the spelling of an elder's name every week is distracting. The church glossary lets you set the exact wording for names of speakers, elders, ministries, places, hymn titles and doctrinal terms, and it is applied to every translation.

When the sermon is in English, Chinese Bible names follow the Chinese Union Version (和合本), such as 挪亞 for Noah and 以撒 for Isaac, and terms like 神, 禱告 and 洗禮 stay consistent. Custom vocabulary is part of the Standard plan.

Can visitors read along without an account?

Yes. QR Code Join is included in every plan: the host shows a QR code, and people who scan it read the live captions in their own language on their own phone, with no account. Those readers do not use extra translation hours. The QR code page has the details.

Members who use the app on their own device need their own account, and device allowances do not include church-wide access. The QR code is the simple route for visitors and for anyone who only wants to read.

What does it cost, and where does it fall short?

Cost is counted by the hours of audio translated, not by the number of languages, and every extra caption language uses more of those hours, so plan the hours around how many languages you show at once. The pricing page lists every plan.

• It needs internet and does not work offline.
• The output is text. Listen mode can read captions aloud in a phone voice, which is not a human interpreter's voice, so members who cannot read comfortably may still need a person.
• Speed: captions appear about half a second after words are spoken, and the translation follows within a few seconds, usually two to three. This was measured from recorded sessions in September 2026.
• Accuracy depends on audio quality, clear speech and unusual vocabulary. Sung hymns produce fewer captions than speech.

What should you try first?

Use the free monthly hour with a recording from a recent Sunday. Show the captions in English and in Mandarin, and ask one reader from each group what they think. If you also serve Mandarin or Fuzhounese speakers, the Chinese church page summarizes the whole setup.

Frequently asked questions

Can a sermon preached in Cantonese be translated live?

Yes. Cantonese (粵語) can be chosen as the speaker language, and the captions can be read in English, Mandarin or any other supported caption language.

Are Cantonese captions written in Traditional or Simplified characters?

Traditional. Chinese live captions are written in Traditional characters, and a Simplified character from an engine is converted before it is shown.

Can an English sermon be shown in Cantonese?

Yes. Cantonese is a caption language, so Cantonese-speaking members can read an English sermon in Traditional characters on a screen or on their own phones.

Do Cantonese-speaking visitors need an account?

No. With QR Code Join, which is included in every plan, a visitor scans the host's QR code and reads the captions in their browser without an account.

How much does Cantonese sermon translation cost?

Basic is $19.99 a month for 12 hours and Standard is $34 a month for 30 hours. Every account also gets 1 free hour each month. There is no free unlimited plan.

Try Sermon Translate at your next service

Start with 1 free hour every month, no credit card needed. Plans start at $19.99 a month.