Filipino to English Translation for Church: Live Captions in Both Directions

What are people looking for when they search Filipino to English for church?

Most searches fall into two groups. One group wants the English meaning of a Filipino phrase, and an ordinary dictionary or text translator does that job. The other group is a church where some members speak Filipino and others speak English, and they want everyone to follow the same sermon while it is being preached. This article is about the second group.

It is a common situation. A congregation may include caregivers, workers and spouses who speak Filipino at home and have some English, next to families whose children grew up in English speaking schools. Or two congregations share one building and preach in different languages. Live captions let each person read the sermon in the language they choose.

Is it Filipino, Tagalog or Pilipino?

In the Sermon Translate language menu the choice is called Filipino / Tagalog. For a normal church setting you can treat Filipino and Tagalog as the same choice and select that one entry. Other languages of the Philippines, such as Cebuano and Ilocano, are handled differently, and the Filipino church page explains how congregations use them.

How does a Filipino sermon become English captions?

Set the speaker language to Filipino / Tagalog and the caption language to English. As the preacher speaks, English captions appear on the shared screen or on members' phones. To go the other way, set English as the speaker language and Filipino / Tagalog as the caption language. The two directions use the same settings with the languages swapped.

The English to Filipino page describes this language pair, and the longer guide on Filipino and Tagalog church translation covers the Tagalog and English service in more detail.

Which Bible shows up in the verse popups?

When the preacher clearly names a passage or clearly quotes a well known verse, the verse can appear on screen. The feature is conservative on purpose. A loose paraphrase or a vague allusion does not trigger a popup, and no reference is invented. The edition abbreviation is shown next to each verse.

• Filipino readers see Ang Dating Biblia (1905), a Tagalog Bible in the public domain.
• English readers can choose BSB, WEB or KJV.
• Chinese readers see the Chinese Union Version (CUV).

How accurate is Filipino church vocabulary?

Church vocabulary is not equally strong in every language. Seven languages have the full built-in church vocabulary, meaning Bible book names, doctrinal terms and church titles: English, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Vietnamese and Farsi. Filipino is not one of them. It is general translation with a church context prompt.

That makes Filipino captions useful for following a sermon, but names, ministry titles and uncommon church words deserve a check before a special service. A custom glossary lets you fix the wording of the terms that matter most.

• Names of pastors, elders, deacons and guest speakers
• Names of ministries and small groups
• The name of your church and any sister church
• Phrases your church always says the same way in both languages

How do you set it up on Sunday?

1. Send a clean audio feed from the sound desk to the laptop or phone that will translate. A microphone close to the preacher helps more than any setting.
2. Choose the speaker language that matches the pulpit: Filipino / Tagalog or English.
3. Choose the caption language. For a mixed room, use Multiple mode to show several languages at once.
4. Put the captions on the projector. The Subtitles screen shows up to 5 caption languages at once, and you can change font, size, color and width. Check the text from the back row.
5. When a guest speaker uses another language, change the speaker language before they begin.

Members who prefer to read on their own phone do not need an account. Press Share with congregation, project the QR code, and visitors scan it and pick their language in the phone browser. Details are on the QR code page.

What does it cost?

Free and Basic include one reading language at a time and Standard includes two. Each language beyond what the plan includes uses another hour of plan time for every hour recorded, and there is no per-language fee. That is worth knowing if you plan to show Filipino, English and a third language together. See the pricing page for every plan.

What are the limits?

• These are live captions, not a human interpreter. Members who cannot comfortably read may still be better served by an interpreter with headsets. Listen mode reads the captions aloud with the phone's own voice, which is not a human voice.
• An internet connection is required on the translating device and on every phone reading captions. It does not work offline.
• Filipino has no built-in church glossary, so check names and titles first.
• Song lyrics are harder to recognize than speech, so expect fewer captions during worship.
• Poor sound, echo or a distant microphone lowers accuracy in any language.

Frequently asked questions

Can a church translate Filipino to English live during a sermon?

Yes. Filipino / Tagalog and English are both speaker languages and caption languages, so a Filipino sermon can show as English captions and an English sermon can show as Filipino captions.

Are Filipino and Tagalog the same choice in the app?

The language menu lists Filipino / Tagalog as one entry. Filipino is the national language of the Philippines and is built on Tagalog, so a church selects that one entry.

Which Bible do Filipino readers see in verse popups?

Ang Dating Biblia (1905), a Tagalog Bible in the public domain. English readers can choose BSB, WEB or KJV.

Does Filipino have a built-in church glossary?

No. Seven languages have the full built-in church vocabulary and Filipino is not one of them. It is general translation with church context, and a custom glossary can fix the wording of names and titles.

Do members need an account to read the captions on their phones?

No. QR Code Join is included in every plan. Members scan the code and choose their language in the phone browser.

Is there a free trial?

Every account without a paid plan gets 1 free hour of live translation each calendar month, with no credit card. 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.