Last updated 1 year ago.
How to Use Arabic on Google Home
Google Home is now entering the abyss of learning Arabic. And the little device with the flashing lights is actually doing quite well. Let’s see how it works.
Google Home now enters the realm of Arabic language interaction, with this small device proving surprisingly capable.
Google Assistant currently supports Egyptian Arabic and Saudi Arabic (in beta), a feature now available in more regions, including Europe and the US. Let’s explore how it functions and sounds.
Update: Google has announced in December 2019 that Googles Assistant supports now 15 more Arabic countries besides Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
I couldn’t figure it out what is the idea behind Egyptian and Saudi Arabic because my Google device speaks a version of Standard Arabic and definitely not a dialect.
It would be also a miracle if Google understood the probably fastest spoken dialect in the world – Egyptian Arabic. This will take some more time, I guess. However, my Google Home did understand the question “izayyak?” which was pretty cool.
But let’s see how it sounds.
This is the answer if you ask Google: “What time is it”? (ุงูุณูุงุนุฉ ูู ุ)
How do you tell Google Home to speak Arabic?
It is easy. Open the Google Home app on your phone. Go to account – settings (general) – assistant (you see it at the top) – languages.
You can then choose two languages:
I have only tried Egyptian Arabic. To be honest, it is still pretty limited compared to English or German. Why?
- I have asked my Google Home many questions, which were also transcribed correctly on the display (in Arabic!) – but there was no answer.
- I can only guess, but since Google is using sources like Wikipedia, it may simply don’t have enough sources.
- Furthermore, I have no idea how Google deals with the issue that in Arabic vowels are not written. How does Google know how to pronounce a word correctly? I have already noticed some mistakes – but who doesn’t make mistakes…
Another example of Google Home’s ability to speak Arabic:
At the end of 2018, Google announced that Google Home can understand and speak 30 languages – which covers roughly 95 percent of Android users.
Google Assistant automatically detects your language each time you speak and respond in kind. If youโre multilingual, you’ll no longer have to pick only a single language to use with the Assistant.
And finally, the ultimate test: Can Google tell you a joke in Arabic? YES!
Wanna cite this article?
Driรner, G. (2019, June 22). How to Use Arabic on Google Home. Arabic for Nerds. https://arabic-for-nerds.com/tools/google-home-arabic/
Published: June 22, 2019
Please check the citation before use, especially if your style guide has local requirements.
Publication ISSN: 3055-1730
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Does the google home mini speak arabic now?
How frustrated I feel about this thing. We are entering the year 2023, and the Arabic language is still not supported by the Digital Assistant. Anyway, today I bought the device, version 2, Google Home Mini, and I entered the settings, and the Arabic language option did not appear. United also did not appear to me to move forward in a language that is not our language ๐คทโโ๏ธ
I am sorry to hear that! My Google device is actually pretty old, but it was no problem to switch the language. How many languages does your Google Assistant offer? Would be interesting to see why Arabic is blocked in your case.
All languages โโof the world, even Hindi, are supported, and Chinese and Korean are supported, but Arabic is not
How to achieve that please? My country is set to DZ actually in Google home app
Maybe you could try and choose Egypt or Saudi-Arabia as a country.
I bought a Google nest last week and was surprised that it doesnโt support Arabic even if I tick it in my Google home account settings, I am not sure if it is because of my country Algeria but it is just weird!
I bought a week ago Google home hub and Google mini but unfortunately there was no Arabic support and that was very bad because my Android phone use the Google Assistant in Arabic normally so I thought that I could buy the devices and it could speek Arabic but unfortunately no
Hmm… It should work (there is a beta mode). Have you checked your settings? (languages). The Arabic support is not really good which is, of course, related to the dialects, but still fun to explore.
I canโt find the arabic language
Does Google Home Mini speak Arabic now?
Yes, it is the same technology