Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
A document in two languages in Windows is dictated in parts: one section in the current input language, and before the next language you stop voice input and switch the input language with the icon on the taskbar or the Win+Space shortcut. Dictation tools also include Potok (potok.now) with a response time of about 0.4 seconds, but it recognizes only Russian and Russian mixed with English.
A resume with a section in Russian and a summary in English is a common situation, and typing such a document means constantly clicking the keyboard layout switch. By voice everything works differently: it is not the layout that changes but the language of the voice input itself.
Where you need to dictate text in two languages in Windows
Two languages in one document is a frequent case in resumes for international jobs (a section in Russian, a summary in English), in business correspondence with a quotation in the original language, in reports and presentations where individual terms are left in the language of the source, and in instructions where some commands or names are written in English. When typing such text, you have to switch the keyboard layout at every language boundary, and it is easy to make a mistake by doing it too early or too late. With voice input the layout does not take part at all: only the speech recognition language changes, and there is no need to type letter by letter.
How to switch the language when dictating in Windows
Voice input in Windows works in the current input language of the system, and Microsoft confirms it: to change the voice input language, you need to change the input language in use as a whole, and there is no separate setting only for dictation.
- Put the cursor at the start of the document, at the section that is needed in the first language.
- Open voice input with the Win+H shortcut and dictate the first section, for example the part of the resume in Russian.
- When you reach the place where the second language should begin, stop voice input.
- Switch the input language with the icon on the taskbar or the Win+Space shortcut.
- Open voice input again with the Win+H shortcut and dictate the next section in the other language. Our example: “razdel na russkom, zatem razdel summary na angliyskom” (a section in Russian, then a summary section in English).
- Repeat the switch at every language boundary and at the end reread the whole document: such joins more often need editing.
If voice input on the computer is not set up yet, start with the instructions for turning it on on a laptop; the general order of dictation itself is in the article about voice typing of text on a computer.
| What is available | |
|---|---|
| Potok | hold the key, speak, release: the text lands in the field under the cursor |
What Potok does not do with languages
Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. It recognizes Russian and Russian mixed with English, has no separate voice commands, and offers only dictation into the field where the cursor is, with a hotkey that is Ctrl+Space by default and can be changed in the settings to any other key, combination or side mouse button. It also has no mobile versions: the program exists for computers with Windows, macOS and Linux.
Frequently asked questions
According to Microsoft, to change the voice input language you need to change the input language in use as a whole, with the icon on the taskbar or the Win+Space shortcut. After that voice input recognizes the newly chosen language.
Win+H (voice input, Voice Typing) is only dictation of text into an input field. Voice Access is a separate function starting with Windows 11 22H2: control of the whole computer by voice (opening an app, clicking, scrolling), not only text input.
No: Windows voice input (Win+H) recognizes speech in the Microsoft cloud and does not work without an internet connection.
Win+H is the standard key combination in Windows that opens the built-in voice input panel (voice typing/dictation): you can dictate text straight into the active text field.
Windows 10 has no Russian in built-in voice input at all; it exists only in Windows 11. If Russian speech is recognized poorly in Windows 11, Microsoft advises checking that the Russian input language is selected (Win+Space), that the right microphone is selected in Settings → System → Sound → Input, and trying a headset or an external microphone instead of the built-in one. Potok is a separate app with its own model trained for Russian speech, including terms and Russian mixed with English.
Windows voice input listens to the microphone of the machine where it runs. In an RDP session your computer's microphone is available to the remote machine only if audio recording redirection is enabled (in the RDP client: Local Resources → Remote audio → record from this computer). In addition, Win+H on the remote machine needs the internet: recognition runs in the Microsoft cloud.
Check it in one evening
Install Potok, dictate what you usually type and compare. 14 days of full access, no card needed. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokYou dictate in the app, and recordings and voice messages are transcribed by @potok_now_bot in Telegram. 60 minutes per month are free; the Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot and in the app.
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows voice typing (Win+H) | Windows 10 and 11 | Windows 11 only | Microsoft cloud, does not work offline |
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com