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Code switching handles conversations where speakers switch languages mid-utterance or across turns. Gladia can detect and transcribe the active language dynamically, and annotate results with the detected languages code.
For best accuracy and latency, provide a small set of expected languages. Avoid listing dozens of similar languages.

How to use code switching ?

Enable code switching in the session configuration:
{
  "encoding": "wav/pcm",
  "sample_rate": 16000,
  "bit_depth": 16,
  "channels": 1,
  "language_config": {
    "languages": ["en", "de", "fr"],
    "code_switching": true
  }
}
When enabled, transcript messages include the detected language per utterance and per word. Use the transcript message schema for details.
Do not enable code_switching with an empty languages list. When no languages are specified, the language detector evaluates every utterance against 100+ supported languages, leading to frequent misdetections - especially between similar-sounding languages.

Recommendations

  • Limit the number of languages to those you expect.
  • Combine with custom vocabulary per language for domain terms.