Voice control is also central to the new generation of smart speakers such as Google Nest/Home. By saying Hello Google, we can give them commands such as Increase the volume, Set a timer for 20 minutes or What will the weather be like in Oxelösund tomorrow?
Unfortunately, the computer has fallen behind because Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana is not available in Swedish. Now comes an interesting news: Dictation in Word.
Read your text
What the dictation function does is free you from the keyboard when you need to type text. Instead, you activate the computer’s microphone, which is required for the function to work, and start talking. Everything you say is now entered into the document.
To create a new sentence you say point and to make a line break you say new paragraph.
The result is exactly the same kind of text as when you type on the keyboard – and you can, of course, edit afterwards if something went wrong. However, the latter is easiest to do with the keyboard.
Dictation has been available in English for a long time, but recently the function was also launched in Swedish.
However, there are two problems: Dictation requires you to be a paying user of Microsoft’s Office 365, and the Swedish voice control is not yet as good as in, for example, our Android phones. At the time of writing, Microsoft also describes it as a preview version, but that may soon change.
Fortunately, the feature is also available in Google Docs, which is Google’s equivalent of Word. Here, the function is free – and it does not require a special program, you do it via the browser.
Do this in Microsoft Word…
1. GET WORD. Get the latest version of Microsoft Word at www.office.com. The dictation function works both in the Windows program and in the web version, but unfortunately only if you have a paid license and are logged in. Create a new document or open an old one.
2. CHOOSE THE RIGHT TAB. Select the tab Start and press the arrow below Dictate, which you will find far to the right. Here you see the languages you can choose. Scroll down to Swedish.
3. START TALK. Place the cursor in the correct place and click on the microphone icon. When it changes appearance and you get a beep, you can start. To exit, press the microphone again. Use whatever punctuation you want. The full list of commands you can use you will find here.
… and in Google Docs
1. OPEN. Surf to docs.google.com and sign in with your Gmail address. If you lack one, you choose Create Account and follow the instructions. Press Empty to create a new document or scroll through the list Previous documents to open an old one.
2. SWITCH TO VOICE MODE. Place the mouse cursor where you want to insert the text and make sure you have the drop-down menu in front. If it is not displayed, use the arrow on the right to bring it up. Click on the menu option Tool and choose Voice input in the list, a microphone icon appears.
3. DICTATE. Make sure it says Swedish, press the microphone and accept any warnings. When the microphone turns red, what you say is recorded, and you can use whatever punctuation marks you want. To end voice input, tap the microphone again.
Dictate with the mobile keyboard
Your mobile is better prepared for voice control than the computer, and in many apps you can “type with your voice” by pressing the microphone that is often found in the text input field.
If you want access to voice input in all apps, you can download Google’s virtual keyboard Gboard. It has a voice input button at the top right that you can use anytime.
Gboard is available to download for free in Google Play Store. Read more about how to change the keyboard in our guide here.