I’m trilingual (EN FR NL).
I only use English and French to dictate text.
10 days it worked mostly fine.
Sometimes I had to repeat a long phrase before he knew what language I spoke, but it worked well most of the time.
Then he starred to write down Dutch. I NEVER SPOKE Dutch to enter text. I had to repeat more and more often and today, it only writes (or tries to write) English, while today I only spoke French!!! I tried 15x in the 3 apps I use : Keep, SMS & WhatsApp.
** 80% of my communications — and this weekend: 100% — are in French **
I tried it in every possible app (¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡at least 15 times!!! in each app), it don’t work anymore.
Then I disabled English in the main Settings [Settings>System>”Languages and input”] keeping only French, so, after a reboot, everything was in French: menu’s, apps, the date, etc. BUT still… it was writing English!!! 
I tried this 2x (inclusive the reboot). Now the main Language settings are restored to what I need (EN & FR), as they don’t influence this major bug.
(…)
In any case, as it could do it well before, during more than a week without having to change the main Settings>, why not today anymore?
And: is there a way that this module (VOICE-TO-TEXT) can be “cured”, so at least it knows French again.
These kind of inconsistencies drive me crazy
VOICE-TO-TEXT is vital to me [Note1], and one of the reason I opted for a smartphone (and being ethic and ecological, I only wanted a Fairphone).
[Note1] I’m disabled and having to tapping on that minuscule keyboard isn’t really feasible for me
IMPORTANT NOTE: the globe left of the space bar (when the keyboard is shown) does’t change anything on VOICE-TO-TEXT.
This was so since the very beginning (2nd of January ’24).
Its only use if for spelling suggestions.
Tapping on the globe changes from FR • EN • NL into NL • EN • FR into EN • FR • NL into ES • FR • NL and back to the first.
Don’t ask me why ES is put instead of EN on the last one.
Who can help me? And I f i need to contact Android-Google, is it possible via mail? I couldn’t find a decent mail-address.
Note2: On desktop I can easily write mails and that’s also how I communicate via this Site.
As a quick workaround a keyboard with a USB-C cable/adapter or USB-C wireless dongle connected to the phone should work … or a Bluetooth keyboard.
If available, of course … and feasible (mobility will suffer a bit).
Incredible: after all those very exhausting tests spread out over a whole day, I entered an alarm and to give it name IT UNDERSTOOD FRENCH!!! So not all is lost.
I tried in another app and again: FRENCH was understood!!!
Why is it so inconsistent?
How to avoid such an inconsistencies?
Thank you dear @AnotherElk: It might indeed be a workaround if I’m home and need it quickly. But…
a) At home I use my desktop computer (like now).
b) I tend to find the origin, the cause of the problem ( a bit unlike most people when having a headache they take an aspirin, while I’m trying to fond the why). Please don’t misinterpret me. I adore every solution, even if it’s temporarily and as in this case, quite unsolvable until…
I found the reason by accident!!!
When leaving home, I disabled internet for a very specific reason. As WhatsApp worked (except the voice-to-text) and believing it needed internet I was sure Internet was on.
I learned this from @yvmuell, But, don’t ask me why nor how WhatsApp worked, internet was down. Next, today, knowing internet was down when using WhatsApp outside and trying the VOICE-TO-FRENCH without success during millennia (OK, maybe I exagerate a little), I made a note in tvoice-to-French with worked, then disabled internet, then saw that indeed whatever I did, it kept trying to write English, and when re-enabling internet, I could indeed again use the Voice-to French option.
So a TRIPLE DISCOVERY:
1. WhatsApp does NOT need internet (who can tell me what it uses? Because even my prepaid phone balance [FR SOLDE] didn’t lowered)
2. VOICE-TO-TEXT needs internet if not in English.
3. Addendum: the languages which are recognised by VOICE-TO-TEXT are found in “Gboard>Settings>Languages” (and thus not in “Settings>System>Languages and input>Languages”) and there indeed are listed (on my FP of course): FR, NL, EN(UK), EN (US) & ES,
which explains why on the right of the globe I always got a choice of 3 out of those 4:
EN FR NL or FR EN NL or NL EN FR or ES FR NL
How can I inform this site so others may benefit from this triple discovery?
It most certainly does. You might be able to enter messages while there’s no internet connection, but they will only be sent later once internet returns.
If you could confirm that in the timeframe you thought internet was off anybody really received a WhatsApp message from you, then some form of internet was on (Wi-Fi, mobile network, internet of another device via tethering).
I don’t have a Fairphone 5 and I don’t use Fairphone OS or speech-to-text.
Perhaps anybody else can pitch in and say whether it would be possible to install additional speech-to-text languages to the phone so they can be used without an internet connection.
Which site?
So, according to @yvmuell’s screenshots (Thanks!) it looks like this works as designed and you could simply download French as an offline language to use it without the internet.
@AnotherElk & @yvmuell: I was very clear! If you reread my first description: I used (French and English) it a lot. I had 3 languages set up: EN FR and NL.
I disabled NL (in Settings>System>Languages) because I don’t need it so much, but even then it still works, even with Dutch VOICE, it gives with proper Dutch output.
So it works since ±18 days. It was only when I shut off internet that it only recognises and typed English , whatever language spoken.
And it is solved. I made this clear too. Where wasn’t I clear?
I just asked how i can inform more people about the 3 discoveries:
So a TRIPLE DISCOVERY:
1. WhatsApp does NOT need internet (who can tell me what it uses? Because even my prepaid phone balance [FR SOLDE] didn’t lowered)
2. VOICE-TO-TEXT needs internet if not in English.
3. Addendum: the languages which are recognised by VOICE-TO-TEXT are found in “Gboard>Settings>Languages” (and thus not in “Settings>System>Languages and input>Languages”) and there indeed are listed (on my FP of course): FR, NL, EN(UK), EN (US) & ES,
which explains why on the right of the globe I always got a choice of 3 out of those 4:
EN FR NL or FR EN NL or NL EN FR or ES FR NL.
That discovery is just wrong as explained above.
Also this is not true in general, as not everyone has EN setup/ in use.
WhatsApp can only use the Internet or the neighbourhood radio or something in between, but in the end everything goes via the so-called Internet. FACT!
However, your contract will tell you what is counted towards your available volume. For reasons of net neutrality, it is never welcomed that certain services are favoured… but it still happens. So, WA may not be counted as usage in your contract.
Perhaps your phone was using the WiFi during whatsapp.
Are your 3 preferred languages set up as offline languages?
Via social media.
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