Which languages does lyrik support, and how do I pick mine?

lyrik syncs lyrics in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Tagalog / Filipino, Indonesian, Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin and Zulu, and you can pick yours just below the lyrics box.

How to pick your language

1. Paste your lyrics. lyrik guesses the language as you type.
2. Look at the picker under the lyrics box:
   • 'English (sounds like)' means lyrik is fairly sure. The hint says 'Sounds like English. Not right? Pick the language.'
   • 'Language: we’ll listen' means it isn’t sure yet. The hint says 'We’ll listen for the language. You can pick it if you know.'
3. If it’s wrong, or you know better, choose your language from the list.
4. Tap the arrow (Next). Your answer shows the language, like '24 lines in Spanish'.

How lyrik decides

1. Your pick, if you chose one.
2. Otherwise, a confident guess from your lyrics.
3. Otherwise, it listens to your isolated vocal during the sync.

How good the timing is

• English and Nigerian Pidgin: the best timing. We check every word two ways.
• Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Tagalog / Filipino and Indonesian: good timing, but expect a few more amber lines to check on the Sync screen.
• Yoruba and Zulu: you’ll tap along once to sync. The hint says, for example, 'For Yoruba you’ll tap along once to sync, about 3 minutes.' If the Sync screen doesn’t open in tap mode by itself, tap More tools, then Tap along. See How do I tap along to sync my lyrics?

If your language isn’t listed

• lyrik syncs it as English, or as the listed language it sounds closest to, and doesn’t warn you.
• The words still show in your video, but the automatic timing will be rough.
• On the Sync screen, use Tap along to set when each line starts. It takes about as long as the song.
• Right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic and Hebrew, aren’t supported yet.
• Korean and Japanese: not yet. Our video fonts can’t draw Hangul, kana or kanji yet, so they aren’t in the picker and please don’t use lyrik for those songs for now.

Good to know

• Accents and special letters are kept exactly as you type them.
• If a font can’t draw a letter in your lyrics, that font is greyed out in the studio with the reason, and a font that can is used. See Why is a style or font greyed out?
• ALL CAPS and lowercase follow your language’s rules, so letters such as the Turkish dotted İ and Yoruba marks come out right.
• The language can’t be changed after upload. To change it, start a new video with the same audio file. If it’s the very same file, syncing it again can be free. See Starting another project with the same audio
• lyrik’s own screens are in English for now.

If you auto-detect your lyrics

Detecting sung words is a different task from timing supplied text. Accents, vocal effects, overlapping singers and quiet phrases can affect the result. Check the detected words in Sync even if the timing looks right. Accurate pasted lyrics are still a useful starting point. Read about auto-detecting lyrics.