International wedding: bringing two families together across languages

To bring two families together when they don’t share a language, lean on four tools: one group where everyone writes and reads in their own language, polls to decide things together, subtitled video calls before the wedding, and Face to face mode on the day itself. Piou does all of this with translation that happens on each person’s phone. One big exception: speeches and official documents need a human translator.

One group for both families

Ryan grew up in Ohio; Yi-ting grew up in Taichung. His parents speak only English, hers speak Mandarin and read traditional Chinese, and the couple talks in a mix of English and Mandarin. The wedding is in Taichung. In a Piou group called “Ryan and Yi-ting’s wedding,” everyone writes in their own language:

• Ryan’s mother writes in English, and Yi-ting’s parents read in Chinese: “We’ve booked our flights. We land in Taipei on October 2.”
• Yi-ting’s father replies in Chinese, and Ryan’s mother reads his answer in English, with “Translated” and “Show original” under each message.

For everyone to read the others in their own language, each person needs Premium. Translation is personal, and without Premium you see messages in their original language. Messaging itself is free for everyone. The couple can gift Premium to both sets of parents with “Gift Piou to someone,” one subscription per person.

Pin the essentials in the group: date, venue addresses, schedule, hotel. Nobody has to dig for them, and everyone reads them in their own language.

Deciding together with translated polls

For members with Premium, group polls are translated, question and answers included. Useful for:

• picking a date: “Saturday, October 9, or Saturday, October 16?”
• dietary needs: “Vegetarian, seafood allergy or no restrictions?”
• travel: “Who’s arriving the day before?”

Many Taiwanese families choose wedding dates with care, sometimes with the help of the traditional almanac, so ask before you put dates to a vote. Write dates with the month spelled out rather than in numbers, and give the time in both time zones when the families live on two continents.

Video calls before the big day

Before the wedding, a group video call lets the families meet, with up to 8 participants. With Translated subtitles (a Premium feature), each phone transcribes its owner’s voice and sends the text straight to the other participants’ devices, where it’s translated; nothing is processed on our servers.

• Take turns, and speak close to your own phone.
• Keep sentences short and give people time to read.
• Start with introductions: names, who’s related to whom, who does what on the day.
• Pick a time that works in both time zones and post it in the group.

Speech recognition depends on what each phone supports for each language, so do a short test call a few days ahead.

On the day: Face to face mode

At the wedding, the two mothers finally meet in person. Face to face mode lets them have a real conversation with one phone set between them: it detects who’s speaking, shows the translation and reads it aloud. Once the languages are downloaded, it works without a signal, which helps in a venue with poor reception.

For logistics, sharing your live location for a set time helps guests from abroad find the venue. And Status updates (photo, video or text), visible to your contacts for 24 hours, let you share the day with people who couldn’t come; with Premium, status text is translated.

Speeches, official papers and traditions: a job for people

A speech is built from humor, emotion, memories and wordplay, exactly what machine translation handles worst. Write speeches in advance, have them translated by a person, and plan for an interpreter or a bilingual version, printed or on a screen. Face to face mode is made for conversations between two people, not for addressing a room.

The same goes for official papers: certificates, forms, registration documents. Piou doesn’t translate documents, and these often call for a professional translation. For marriage formalities, check with the relevant government offices, embassy or consulate.

Each family has its own customs, too. In Taiwan, an engagement ceremony, wedding cakes sent to relatives and red envelopes at the banquet are common; in the US, traditions vary from family to family. The simplest approach is to ask in the group what matters to each side.

What translation gets wrong

• Forms of address. Chinese has precise words for each in-law, aunt and uncle; they often come out flattened or literal in English, and your messages may sound blunt in Chinese.
• Names. A venue’s name, or a Chinese given name, can be translated literally; check with “Show original.”
• Humor and sarcasm, best avoided in important messages.
• Messages that mix two languages, which translation handles poorly.

On Android, traditional Chinese is produced by translating into Chinese and then converting the script on the phone (OpenCC), so word choices may not always match Taiwanese usage. If your partner’s family speaks Cantonese at home, note that spoken Cantonese isn’t one of Piou’s 20 languages. Piou runs on iPhone (iOS 18 or later), Android (8.0 or later) and as a web app.

Premium starts with a 7-day free trial: a card is required, nothing is charged for 7 days, and the subscription then starts automatically at the price shown unless you cancel before the trial ends. In the US, it’s $5.99 a month or $47.99 a year; in Taiwan, NT$180 a month or NT$1,390 a year. The exact price for your country is shown before you subscribe, in local currency.

Chat between English and Traditional Chinese with Piou