Sermon Prevod: How to Translate a Sermon Into Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian and More

What does prevod mean in a sermon context?

Prevod is the everyday word for translation in several South Slavic languages. A person typing sermon prevod into a search box usually wants one of two things: the sermon of a visiting or English-speaking preacher translated into their own language, or a sermon preached in their language translated for someone who does not speak it.

The exact word changes a little from language to language, and so does the word for the sermon itself. The table below shows the forms most people in each language recognise. It is a guide for choosing search words and caption wording, not a rulebook, and a native speaker in your own congregation has the final say.

Which of these languages does Sermon Translate support?

Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Slovak are all on the languages page as both speaker and caption languages. That means the preacher can speak in any of them and the app writes the transcript in that language, and a reader can pick any of them as the language of the captions. Sermon Translate lists 61 spoken languages and 123 caption languages in total.

So the same setup covers the common situations: an English sermon captioned in Serbian for a member who is still learning English, a Croatian sermon captioned in English for a visiting family, or a Slovenian sermon read in Bulgarian by a mixed group at a conference.

How good is church wording in these languages?

Be clear about this before you rely on it. Sermon Translate has a full built-in church vocabulary for seven languages, and Bible book names taken from a published Bible for 31. Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Slovak are not on those lists. They get general translation with the church context prompt and no glossary.

In practice that means everyday sentences and most teaching come across well, while words that carry a lot of theology, such as justification, covenant or sanctification, can come out as a plain dictionary word that a pastor in that tradition would phrase differently. Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist and Pentecostal congregations in the region do not always share the same vocabulary either, which is one more reason a single default cannot be perfect.

How do you make the prevod match your church's own words?

Use the church glossary. It lets you save names of speakers, elders, ministries, places, hymn titles and doctrinal terms, with the wording you want in each language, and it is applied to every translation. The guide on a church glossary for accurate translation explains how to build one.

1. Record a short test sermon, or use a recent one, and read the captions with a native speaker beside you.
2. Write down every word the speaker would say differently.
3. Add those words to the glossary with the wording your church prefers.
4. Record the test again and check that the changes held.
5. Ask one more person from another household to read it, since families in one church can use different words.

How do members read the translation on Sunday?

There are three simple ways, and a church can use more than one at once.

• Project the captions on a screen with the Subtitles screen, which can show up to 5 caption languages at once.
• Share the QR code: members scan it with the phone camera and read the live captions in their browser with no account and no app. QR Code Join is included in every plan.
• Give each member their own account if they want to use the app themselves.

It runs in a modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with no headsets or special hardware. It needs an internet connection and does not work offline.

What does it cost, and how many hours will you use?

Every account without a paid plan gets 1 free hour of live translation each calendar month, with no credit card, resetting on the 1st. That is enough to test a recorded sermon or one short service. Paid plans start at $19.99 a month for Basic, with 12 hours a month and 1 reading language at a time. Standard is $34 a month with 30 hours and 2 reading languages.

Remember the time rule. Each extra target language beyond what your plan includes uses another hour of plan time for every hour recorded, so a service with Serbian and Slovenian readers on a plan that includes one language uses two hours of plan time for each hour of preaching. Check the pricing page and plan your hours before you offer three or four languages.

When is a human interpreter still the better choice?

Spoken output is a phone or browser voice reading the translation, not a human interpreter's voice. Accuracy depends on audio quality, and sung lyrics caption poorly. For a funeral, a wedding blessing, a pastoral conversation about grief or a doctrinally sensitive teaching, an interpreter who knows your tradition may be worth having beside the app.

Frequently asked questions

What does sermon prevod mean?

Prevod is the word for translation in Serbian, Slovenian, Macedonian and Bulgarian, and also used in Bosnian and Croatian, where prijevod is common. Sermon prevod means a sermon translated into one of those languages.

Can Sermon Translate caption a sermon in Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian?

Yes. Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian are speaker and caption languages, so a sermon can be preached in them or read in them. They use general translation with no built-in church glossary.

Does Sermon Translate work for Slovenian, Macedonian and Bulgarian sermons?

Yes. Slovenian, Macedonian and Bulgarian are speaker and caption languages too, also with general translation and no built-in church glossary.

Do Bible verse popups work in these languages?

Sermon Translate has Bible book names taken from a published Bible for 31 languages, and these languages are not among them. Check a test sermon to see how a reference reads before relying on it.

How much does it cost to translate a sermon into Serbian or Croatian?

Each account gets 1 free hour a month. Basic is $19.99 a month for 12 hours and 1 reading language, and Standard is $34 a month for 30 hours and 2 reading languages. Extra languages use extra plan time.

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.