Somebody in your room is following along in a language nobody on stage speaks. This is the list of languages that can be, and what each one can actually do today: 200+ languages with their regional variants, 184 distinct languages. The numbers and the table below are counted from the list the product runs on, not typed by hand.
People ask "how many languages do you support" as if it were one number. It is three, and they are not the same, so the table tells you all three for every language.
The language your speaker is actually talking in. The shortest of the three lists, because catching live speech in a real room is the hard part.
Words on your guest’s phone, or on the big screen. Nearly everything on the list. If you want the widest reach, captions are how you get it.
A real voice in their ear, so they can close their eyes and listen instead of reading. Many languages, and more as good voices become available.
Most rooms use three languages or fewer. The long list matters on the one Sunday somebody walks in speaking the language you never planned for.
You will not find a flag beside a language anywhere in MulingStream. A flag says who governs a country. A language belongs to the people who speak it, wherever they live.
French is spoken in France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland and across Africa. English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Arabic and Swahili each belong to many countries, and Kurdish has no state of its own. Whichever flag we chose, most speakers would see somebody else's country.
Some people live under governments they never chose. Iran's official flag is the flag of the Islamic Republic, and many Iranians, at home and abroad, do not see themselves in it. Many hold to the Lion and Sun flag instead, which is not used officially. Putting Persian under the regime's flag would cover a people's language with the symbol of the power they live under.
A guest should recognise their language, not a government. So every language is written in itself, with the country only where it matters: Français (Canada), Español (México), فارسی (ایران). A guest from Mexico looking for Spanish finds it without wondering whether the flag of Spain means them.
Flags keep one place in MulingStream: the region selector, where a flag means a place, not a language.
Where there is something worth saying about a language, we have written it: what it does to a translation, what a church should know before putting it on a screen, and real lines from our own system. The rest are in the table below, and a language gets a page only when there is something to say that is not true of the others.
Languages nobody arranged in advance, in the words of the hosts who saw it.
“We had a great conference with between 300 and 400 participants, with several speakers on stage in German and English (New Zealand) and guests from various nations like Romania, Moldova, Albania, Iran/Persia, France, Latvia and more. Everyone was very excited to have this opportunity to follow the talks in their mother-language.”
Vineyard Speyer
“My wife was especially excited: she is born in Paraguay/South America and found her native language ‘Guarani’ (Avañeʼẽ) … ! Not spoken yet, but at least the readable translation available.”
Vineyard Speyer
“We have heard from some Dutch visitors that they were really glad they could get the translation in Dutch, because it was not something they were used to being able to get.”
Lead pastor, Åbenkirke Odense
His own words, in Danish:
Vi har hørt fra nogle hollandske besøgende, at de var rigtig glade for at kunne få oversættelsen på hollandsk, da det ikke var noget, de var vant til at kunne få.
“I am very pleased with the translation during the Sunday service. The Dutch translation was excellent.”
Pastor and Conference Superintendent, Евангелска методистка епископална църква, Варна
His own words, in Bulgarian:
Много съм доволен от превода по време на неделното богослужение. Преводът на нидерландски беше отличен.
“We have had it in use practically every Sunday, though our usage is not that large. Right now we have a young man who fled from Ukraine and comes on Sundays. His English is not that strong, so it is fantastic to be able to give him the chance to follow along in Ukrainian. Even though it is only him, we currently offer Ukrainian and English.”
Chairman, Din Frikirke, Haderslev
His own words, in Danish:
Vi har haft det i brug stort set alle søndage, men vores forbrug er ikke så stort. Vi har pt. en ung fyr som er flygtet fra Ukraine som deltager om søndagen. Hans engelsk er ikke så stærkt, så det er fantastisk at kunne give ham muligheden for at være med på ukrainsk! Selvom det kun er ham, så tilbyder vi derfor i øjeblikket ukrainsk og engelsk.
“A Russian speaking woman was overwhelmed with joy, because for this first time in the four years she has been in the church she truly understood the preaching.”
Bibel og Missionscentret
“We have had really good reviews from some French speaking users over the summer, who were impressed by the translation’s ability to even explain Danish wordplay and sayings.”
Lead pastor, Åbenkirke Odense
His own words, in Danish:
Vi har haft rigtigt gode anmeldelser fra nogle fransktalende brugere henover sommeren, som var imponeret over oversættelsens evne til endda at forklare danske ordspil og talemåder.
Everything on the screen: the translation as it happens, and the Smart Hints notes in their language. They read instead of listening, and for a lot of people that is the version they prefer anyway. A voice is added when there is a good one.
Both, depending on what you count. 200+ languages with their regional variants are in the system, and that is what a guest sees in the list on their phone. Fold the varieties into their language, so that every kind of Arabic is one row, and it is over 180 distinct languages. This page shows both numbers, and the table counts the second way, with the number of varieties under each name.
In a church room, yes. You pin the language most people will use, and anyone who needs a different one chooses it on their own phone and the room starts carrying it. In other rooms you set the languages when you open the room.
On a church pass, no: every pass carries several languages at the same time, from three to seven depending on the pass. If you pay as you go, each language a room carries uses credits while it runs, and the rate is shown before you go live.
Tell us. The list grows, and a real room asking for a language is the best reason to add it.
Open a room, share one code, and see who turns up.