MulingStream translates the meaning of what you say, in context, not word by word. That is why short test sentences and the first few minutes can feel slower. Here is why, and how to run a test that shows you what your listeners will get at the real event: a church service, a conference, a wedding, your podcast or a lecture.
Sometimes a church, a conference team, a podcaster or an event organiser tries MulingStream for the first time and says: the translation feels a bit slow. Almost always, the reason is the way the test was done. MulingStream does not translate the way most translation tools do, and a quick test with short sentences shows you the one situation it was not built for. Here is why, and how to test it so you see what your listeners will actually get at the real event: on Sunday, during the conference, at the wedding, when they follow your podcast, or in the lecture hall.
Many translation services translate word by word, or sentence by sentence, as fast as they can. That looks quick in the first seconds. But a sermon, a keynote, a speech or a lecture is not a list of separate sentences. Meaning builds up: a sentence often only makes sense with the one before it, and a word can mean different things depending on what you are talking about.
MulingStream translates in context. It listens to where your thought is going and translates the meaning, not just the words. That is what gives your listeners a translation that sounds like a person speaking, rather than a string of words in the right language.
When you say one sentence and then stop to check whether the translation has arrived, the system is also waiting: it wants to know whether your thought is finished. So it may hold on for a few extra seconds before it decides. To you, it looks slow. In fact it is thinking.
At a real event you do not speak like that. You speak in a flow, and the translation flows with you.
During the first few minutes, MulingStream is learning two things.
Your pace and the way you speak. Every speaker is different: fast or slow, long sentences or short ones, many pauses or few. The system studies your pace and your speech pattern so it can follow you dynamically. While it is still finding your rhythm, it can feel slower.
The context of what you are saying. The more it hears, the better it understands the subject, and the higher the quality of the translation. In the first minutes it simply has less to go on.
That is why judging the speed of the first few minutes does not tell you how MulingStream performs. It warms up, and then it keeps pace with you.
If you compare MulingStream with another translation service in the first minute, the other one may look faster. That is because it is not translating in context. A generic word by word translation can appear quickly because it is not waiting to understand what you mean. It is fast at the start, and the listener pays for that speed in meaning.
If you want to compare, compare fairly: same speaker, same text, several minutes, and a bilingual person judging what the listener actually understands.
1. Let your speech flow. Speak continuously, the way you will on the day: preaching, presenting, giving a speech, talking on your podcast or teaching. Do not say a sentence, stop and check, then say another.
2. Test for at least a few minutes. Give the system time to learn your pace and your subject. The first minutes are the warm up, not the result.
3. Stay on one subject. Use a real text close to what you will use MulingStream for: a passage of your sermon, a section of your keynote or conference talk, the speech you will give at the wedding, a stretch of a podcast episode, or part of a lecture. Avoid test phrases like "one, two, three, testing", "can you hear me?" or "is it translating?". They have no context, so they show you nothing about how your event will sound.
4. Ask a bilingual friend to listen. You cannot judge the translation while you are the one speaking. Ask someone who speaks both languages to listen on their phone, or to read the captions, while you speak. Afterwards, ask them: did you follow the message? Did it sound natural?
Choose a real text close to what you will say at your event, speak it continuously for a few minutes, and have a bilingual friend listen or read the captions while you do.
For churches on a church pass: a pass only counts once listeners have heard ten minutes of translation in total, so a short test like this one leaves your pass on the account. If you run a church, here is how to start MulingStream at your church without a demo.
Sign up and start with a free, generous trial. Your room is ready in about two minutes.