Doctors and Schools Abroad: Face to Face Mode, Subtitles and Limits

Abroad, Piou helps you understand a doctor, a teacher or a clerk with two Piou Premium features: Face to face mode when you’re in the same room, and translated subtitles during a video call with someone who also uses Piou. What it can’t do is call regular phone numbers, so you can’t reach a clinic’s front desk or a school office through the app. And for a diagnosis, a treatment or an official procedure, a professional interpreter is still the standard.

First, what Piou doesn’t do

• No calls to regular numbers. Piou calls only connect Piou users, over the internet. To book an appointment or reach a front desk, use your regular phone line.
• No document translation. Piou doesn’t translate PDFs, photos or documents, so a prescription, a medical report or a letter from school won’t be translated.
• No human interpreter. For serious news, consent before a procedure, an important appointment at a government office or a dispute, ask for a professional interpreter.
• No emergency calls. In an emergency, call the local number, such as 112 in the European Union. Memorize how to say, in the local language, “I speak English and I need an interpreter.”

At the doctor’s: Face to face mode

This is the simplest and most reliable option. Put the phone on the desk between you and the doctor. Each of you speaks your own language; the app detects who is speaking, shows the translation and reads it aloud. One phone is enough, so the doctor doesn’t need to install anything. The mode works offline once the languages are downloaded, which helps in hospitals with poor reception.

Here’s how it sounds with a family doctor in Munich:

• You say: “My son has had a fever since Monday, and his throat hurts.”
• The phone reads aloud in German: “Mein Sohn hat seit Montag Fieber und Halsschmerzen.”
• The doctor replies: “Trinkt er genug? Hat er einen Ausschlag?”
• You read and hear: “Is he drinking enough? Does he have a rash?”

To get the most out of it:

• download both languages at home before the appointment, ideally over Wi-Fi;
• test the mode the day before with a friend, since speech recognition depends on what your phone supports for each language;
• prepare three or four sentences: since when, where it hurts, current medication, allergies;
• speak in short sentences and wait for the translation to finish before you go on;
• ask for numbers to be confirmed: dose, times per day, length of treatment.

At school: meetings in person, messages from a distance

For a parent-teacher meeting, use the same method: Face to face mode on one phone. Prepare your questions (settling in, homework, language support) and recap the key answers at the end.

From a distance, it depends on the teacher. If they’re happy to use Piou, you can message each other, each in your own language, or meet on a video call with translated subtitles. Some schools have their own communication tools; respect them, and keep Piou for what the teacher agrees to. A simple message comes through well:

• You write: “Hello Ms. Martin, Leo will miss school on Thursday morning for a doctor’s appointment. He’ll be back at 11 a.m.”
• Ms. Martin reads: “Bonjour Madame Martin, Leo sera absent jeudi matin pour un rendez-vous chez le médecin. Il sera de retour à 11 h.”

Letters home and report cards, often on paper or as PDFs, aren’t translated by Piou. Ask a bilingual parent for help, or ask the school for a simplified version.

How translated subtitles work

During a Piou audio or video call, each phone transcribes its owner’s voice and sends the text straight to the other device, which translates it on that phone. None of this is processed on our servers. What the other person says appears live, in your language.

Three conditions apply:

• both people use Piou, since Piou doesn’t call regular numbers;
• translated subtitles are part of Piou Premium, and translation is personal: the simplest setup is for both of you to have Premium, so each of you reads the other in your own language;
• speech recognition depends on the device and the language, so make a test call before an important appointment.

For a smooth call, pick a quiet spot, use earphones if you can, and take turns speaking. Names, acronyms and numbers are the most fragile: spell them out or type them in the chat.

Government offices: a person for anything official

Town hall, health insurance, residence permits, taxes: forms and decisions have consequences. At the counter, Face to face mode helps you find your way (“Where do I hand in this form?”, “Which documents should I bring?”). But have documents translated by a professional translator, and rely on the country’s official government websites for the rules. If an interpreter is offered, say yes.

Get your phone ready before the appointment

1. Install Piou on iPhone (iOS 18 or later), on Android (8.0 or later) or use the web app at app.piou.chat.
2. Set your language in Settings → Language & translation, then download the language packs you need, ideally over Wi-Fi.
3. Test Face to face mode and a call with a friend.
4. Start the 7-day free trial: a card is required, nothing is charged for 7 days, then the subscription starts at the displayed price unless you cancel before the trial ends. Put the end date in your calendar if you don’t plan to continue.

Messaging and calls stay free; only translation is paid. Piou Premium costs €4.90 a month or €39 a year in the euro zone, or ¥800 a month or ¥6,300 a year in Japan, for example. The exact price for your country is shown before you subscribe.