Ask the organiser one precise question

Send: “Can we join one test meeting under the same organiser and check whether I can see Japanese-to-English translated captions on my account?” Google’s translated captions help lists eligible Workspace editions and notes that some languages are rolling out. Ask your organiser to check the feature, rather than infer access from a visible CC button.

Opening a different meeting under your own account can change which settings and features the test covers. Reuse the planned organiser, guest account and device. If the call crosses organisations, make sure both people can enter before troubleshooting the captions.

Check the guest controls

  1. On a computer, join the call and open Captions and translation. Turn on captions and look for Translated captions. Check the source and output languages independently. Google’s desktop instructions show the current controls.
  2. If you join on Android, follow the Android instructions rather than guessing from the desktop labels. Check the controls on the device you’ll actually use.
  3. Have the Japanese speaker say “今日は土曜日です” and ask the guest to read back “It’s Saturday today.” Reverse the direction using “I arrived on Tuesday” and confirm that Tuesday rather than Saturday comes through.
  4. If the translated option is missing, ask the organiser to check eligibility for this meeting. If the option exists but the output is wrong, check direction and see how to diagnose the language setting.

When a guest still can’t use it

Use meeting chat for key details or pick a service both people can test. If a listener needs translated audio, check Meet Speech Translation as a separate feature with its own eligibility, settings and limits. A translated captions test does not check audio translation.

Why choose Hanashi?

Meet is useful when the organiser and guest already know each other and can run the test. If you want to meet a Japanese person around a hobby, Hanashi is designed to let you choose a host by interests and personality, with captions and translation to support the conversation.

Use the test mindset there, too: tell the other person what help you need and agree on what to type if a caption misses a word. The public sign-up is in early access.

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