Spanish
Live Spanish translation for your services
Spanish is often the first language an English-speaking church is asked for. With live translation, Spanish-speaking members and visitors can follow the same sermon at the same time, on their own phones, without a separate service or an interpreter at the front.
PewTranslate works in both directions: an English sermon for Spanish listeners, or a Spanish sermon for English listeners.
Which Spanish should listeners pick?
The language list offers two Spanish options. Both are understood across the Spanish-speaking world; they differ mostly in vocabulary and in how a speaker addresses a group.
| Option | Best for | Noticeable difference |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish (Latin America) | People from Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and most US Hispanic communities | Addresses a group as "ustedes" |
| Spanish (Spain) | People from Spain | Often uses "vosotros" when addressing a group informally |
If you are unsure, point your congregation to Spanish (Latin America), and let anyone from Spain switch. Each phone remembers its own choice.
When the preacher speaks Spanish
In the console the operator can choose Spanish as the speaker language, with variants for Spain, Latin America and the United States. This suits a Spanish-language congregation whose teenagers are more comfortable in English, or a guest preacher from a sister church.
For bilingual services where the preacher switches between English and Spanish, choose Multi Language mode so both languages are recognised.
Check these in a test run
- Bible books and references, for example whether John comes out as Juan and Acts as Hechos.
- Names of people in your church and your church's own name.
- Words your congregation uses in a particular way, such as hermano and hermana as forms of address.
- The voice: most phones include Spanish voices, but the accent depends on the phone's settings.
A bilingual member can read along during a short test stream and flag anything that sounds wrong. The full transcript of the test stays in History for review.
Frequently asked questions
Can English and Spanish speakers sit together?
Yes. Everyone hears the preacher in the room; Spanish speakers follow on their phones, with earphones if they want the voice.
Do we pay extra for two kinds of Spanish?
Each selected language is billed separately, so if some listeners pick Spanish (Latin America) and others Spanish (Spain), both are billed. Recommending one variant keeps it to one.
Keep reading
- Sermon Translation in 106 LanguagesEvery language PewTranslate offers: 106 listener languages and regional variants, and 82 languages the preacher can speak.
- Welcoming Visitors Who Speak Other LanguagesHow churches can welcome people who speak other languages: announcing translation, greeters, signage, follow-up with transcripts, and learning who is in the room.
- Pricing: $5 per Hour per LanguagePewTranslate costs $5 per hour for each language someone is listening to, billed by the minute of speech. New accounts get $20 of credit, about 4 hours of one language.
- Portuguese Sermon Translation: Brazil and PortugalLive Portuguese sermon translation for Brazilian and European Portuguese speakers: choosing the variant, Portuguese-speaking preachers, and testing with PewTranslate.