Cantonese vs Mandarin Sermon Translation: What Changes for Your Church
Sermon Translate can listen to a sermon preached in Mandarin or in Cantonese, and write captions in written Chinese, in Cantonese or in Fuzhounese. The choice you make depends on what your preacher speaks and what your members read.
Pick the speaker language by what the pulpit speaks
Chinese as the speaker language means Mandarin preaching. Cantonese (粵語) is its own speaker language, so a Cantonese sermon is recognized as Cantonese instead of being forced through a Mandarin model. Fuzhounese cannot be preached into the app, but it can be read.
- Mandarin sermon: choose Chinese as the speaker language
- Cantonese sermon: choose Cantonese as the speaker language
- Fuzhounese-speaking elders: choose Fuzhounese as a reading language
What works in each language today
Taken from the app's own language settings, so it matches what the app does now. Verse popups can show Bible text in English, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Farsi / Persian, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
- Chinese: can be preached in and read; Bible book names and church vocabulary built in; verse popups show Chinese Bible text.
- Cantonese: can be preached in and read; the 66 Bible book names built in; no verse popup text in this language yet.
- Fuzhounese: reading language only, the app cannot yet listen to preaching in it; the 66 Bible book names built in; no verse popup text in this language yet.
Pick the reading language by what members read
Chinese captions are written in Traditional characters. A reader who prefers Simplified characters can choose the Simplified entry under Chinese in the language picker, and the finished line is converted on that device. Cantonese captions are written in Traditional characters too, and Fuzhounese captions use colloquial Fuzhou wording in Traditional characters.
Three Chinese groups, one English sermon
In a church where Mandarin, Cantonese and Fuzhounese speakers share an English service, the Subtitles screen can show several of these at once, up to 5 caption languages. Each reading language uses plan time of its own: two reading languages during a one hour service use two hours of the plan.
Bible text for every Chinese reader
Verse popups use Chinese Bible editions for all three: 和合本 (CUV), 新標點和合本 (CUNP), the Simplified 新标点和合本 (CUNPS) or 思高聖經 (ChiSB). Cantonese and Fuzhounese readers read the Chinese Bible text, as their congregations do.
Can a Cantonese sermon be translated into English?
Yes. Choose Cantonese as the speaker language and English as the reading language.
Can a Mandarin sermon be shown as Cantonese captions?
Yes. Cantonese is also a reading language, written in Traditional characters.
Why can't the app listen to Fuzhounese?
No speech recognition engine we use supports Fuzhounese yet. Fuzhounese captions are written by an AI model instructed to use colloquial Fuzhou wording.