For many people out there, speaking just one language isn’t enough. More than half the world’s population speaks two or more languages—and now Google can keep up. With the Google Search app on Android, you can speak in multiple languages and Google will understand you no matter which one you choose. So you can fire off a search for nearby restaurants in English, then dictate a text to your friend in French.

You can use voice search in more than 50 languages and dialects already, but previously you had to change your settings if you wanted to switch languages. Now, you can just make a small, one-time change to your settings, and then you can switch back and forth easily. Google will automatically detect which language you’re using. (For now, you need to stick to one language per sentence though.) You can select up to five languages total—enough to satisfy all but the most advanced polyglots. Whether you get a spoken response from Google depends on the language you use and your query (and you’ll see more languages and features added over time).


Give it a try on your Android device—make sure you have the latest Google Search App (version 3.6) from the Play Store. Then, open Google Settings from your device’s apps menu, tap Search & Now -> Voice -> Languages, and select your languages.

Posted by David Eustis, Software Engineer, Android