What each person gets
| Feature | For a person speaking Japanese | When it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Live captions | Text in Japanese appears on screen. | You understand Japanese and need help catching a word, or you’re listening in a noisy setting. |
| Translated captions | Text in your chosen language appears on screen. | You want help understanding the speaker while still hearing their voice. |
| Speech translation | You hear translated audio in your chosen language. | Looking at text while following a demonstration or watching facial expressions would be hard. |
Two people may need different help
One person may understand most of what they hear and only want captions for missed words. The other may need translated text or audio for most of the call. Ask each person what output is useful, then test what the platform lets each guest enable separately.
Look for a setting called something like “Translate to” or “Translate speech.” Seeing a captions button on your own device only proves you can open the menu. Check the language under it and ask the other person to verify what they see or hear.
Read for meaning, then check details
Machine translation can produce a fluent sentence after mishearing a word. Noise, crosstalk, names and idioms make this more likely. Wait for the translated thought before responding, then ask a short confirmation question when the detail matters.
For example, someone might say “I’ve got Friday off.” If the translation sounds unclear, ask “Are you free this Friday?” and type the date. A clear chat message is easier to refer back to than a line of scrolling captions.
Captions depend on the product and plan
Google documents translated captions and translated audio separately in Meet. Apple’s FaceTime guide describes Live Translation as on-screen captions. Check that the product name, feature name and plans in the documentation match what you’re about to use.