HeyoConversation setup
Speaking one language, reading another: set up a two-way translation
A practical Chinese-English example explains spoken language, translation language and app language, with a quick check before a two-person conversation.
Heyo · Published
Three language settings can mean three different things
The app's interface language controls labels and menus. The spoken or source language describes the speech being recorded. The target language is the language you want to read or hear. Changing the menus to English does not necessarily change either side of the translation.
Before a conversation, agree on the two languages you will actually speak. Choose those languages in the conversation settings rather than assuming that the app can identify every language from a short phrase.
Follow the speaker when choosing the direction
Suppose you speak Chinese and your friend speaks English. For your turn, the input is Chinese and the output should be English. For your friend's reply, the input is English and the output should be Chinese. The same rule applies to Chinese-Russian or any other supported pair.
Some modes manage both directions within one session; others have a fixed source and target. Check the behavior of the selected mode. A single target-language setting should not be assumed to provide automatic two-way conversation.
Use one short sentence in each direction
Try a concrete sentence such as 'Our table is booked for seven o'clock.' Check whether the recognized text matches the speaker's words, then whether the translation preserves the booking and time. Ask the other person to reply with a different short sentence and check the reverse direction.
If an English speaker's words appear as Chinese before translation, or a Russian sentence remains Russian when the target is Chinese, pause and check the source and target settings. Those symptoms alone do not identify whether the cause is a setting, recognition or translation error.
Check the text and the audio separately
Hearing a voice does not prove the translation is correct. Read the target text where possible, and confirm the key detail with the other person. If the text is correct but playback is absent, inspect the volume and selected audio output separately.
For a useful support report, note the app version, mode, selected languages and one short example of expected versus actual output. Remove private names and contact details. Heyo features depend on the installed version and selected mode; report repeated mismatches instead of treating them as normal behavior.