Siri Cannot Read Messages in Chinese and Japanese Despite Proper Settings

Siri generally reads content in the system language (English in this case), and won’t automatically switch languages just based on the script.

Ask Siri to read a message specifically in Chinese or Japanese and see if it still gives the “But I cannot read” error.

So while Apple does support multiple language voices, automatic language switching for reading messages based on script isn’t perfect yet. And yes — Speak Selection and Speak Screen remain the best workarounds for getting text read out in the correct language when this happens.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content. Make sure both Speak Selection and Speak Screen are turned on. Also, under Voices, download Chinese and Japanese voices if they aren’t there yet.

The pic below may be self-explanatory (Two Pics)

Pic 1: Spoken Content Language

Pic 2: Choosing voices

pithyard wrote:

yes, I just try put the Chinese or Japanese into pages and select the text and tap speak and it work.

I have seen similar reports for Persian and Cantonese working in Pages but not in other apps. Must be a bug of some kind that needs reporting to Apple via

hhttp://www.apple.com/feedback

pithyard wrote:

I followed the steps provided to resolve the issue, but Siri still cannot read notifications that contain Chinese or Japanese text. Instead, it says, “There is a message, but I cannot read it.”

Can it read Chinese or Japanese text that you paste into the Pages app?

pithyard wrote:

siri can read the Chinese or Japanese text when it in pages, but still cannot read the Chinese or Japanese notification.

Yes, I gave you the link to ask Apple to fix that