In iMessage, if I highlight text ---> right click ---> & scroll down to "Services", the options "Convert Text to Simplified Chinese" and "Convert Text to Traditional Chinese" are available.
I have no idea why chinese is the option that comes up, but am wondering if there is a way to change this to allow me to convert text to a different language of my choice.
Is there?
Why is it defaulted to what it is?
Thank you for any assistance.
Mac mini, macOS 11.3
FWIW, if you select Messages > Services > Services Settings… > Text, you can disable the Chinese conversions but you can't set a different language. Apparently the Chinese settings are a special case that requires special handling.
FWIW, if you select Messages > Services > Services Settings… > Text, you can disable the Chinese conversions but you can't set a different language. Apparently the Chinese settings are a special case that requires special handling.
Right - my question wasn't about translating though as much as about how to "convert text" to another language. For some reason there is an option to translate to chinese. I do not understand why this option defaults to chinese and/or why there is *apparently based on dialabrain's answer* no other language option to convert text.
Those services do not translate anything, they are for converting text already in Chinese between its two written forms.
If you are in Ventura, you should be able to translate certain languages using Apple’s translate app.
Translate text on Mac - Apple Support
Select the text in Message that you want to translate, and then right-click/control-click that text and select translate. This will launch a translation panel on the left that looks like the following where you choose the supported translation language play, translate, or copy the translation.
You can already translate between multiple languages - it's just a couple of steps.
After selecting any text in Messages, a Crtrl-click should include the "Translate..." option, which brings up a popup translate window, where you can choose the source and destination languages.
Thank you - your first comment about conversion is really what I was trying to figure out. I know how to translate, but was perplexed as to why there is a convert text to chinese option while, why it would default to chinese, and why there do not seem to be any other convert language options. It seems very strange to me.
883Max wrote:
perplexed as to why there is a convert text to chinese option while, why it would default to chinese, and why there do not seem to be any other convert language options. It seems very strange to me.
It would not seem strange if you knew Chinese. Convert text has nothing to do with translating between languages. It is a special service which Apple provides so that Chinese writers can switch between two forms of their writing (simplified and traditional) which are used in different areas (simplified for the mainland, traditional for Hong Kong and Taiwan). No other language needs this kind of conversion.
I gotcha. I just did not understand exactly how "convert text" as an option differed from using translate and "Copy Translation"... And if an option to simply "convert text" (vs. going through translate and "Copy Translation") existed (which it does), why other languages would not be available/why chinese would be the default. Thank you all for the assist! I suppose you are right in that I did not grasp the "special service" concept vs. translate. I think I understand what you are explaining better now.
Services are located in these two locations:
Look there for the Services you don't want and remove them. You may not be able to remove them from the first location above.
Just to illustrate Tom's point…
Shucks. That was going to be my next screen shot. 😎
You're welcome. As I mentioned and Tom explained. Converting from one Chinese form to another is a special case which requires special handling.
+1 Well said.
convert text iMessage
