6.5: Bilingual Vietnamese–English Captions: How One Video Reaches Both Communities

Bilingual Vietnamese–English captions let one video reach both your Vietnamese customers and your English-speaking ones, and they let people follow along even with the sound off. You can add them with the CapCut app on your phone in about 5–10 minutes, and the app does most of the work.

A lot of people scroll video at work, on the bus, or next to a sleeping child. Their sound is off. If someone is speaking in your video and there's no text, those viewers swipe past.

Here's how to do it step by step, plus a few tips specific to Vietnamese-owned shops in Ontario.

What are captions, and how are they different from "text on screen"?

• •Text on screen is a line you type yourself for emphasis, like "This week only".
• •Captions (subtitles) are the words the person in the video is actually saying, shown sentence by sentence.

If your video is music only, on-screen text is enough. If someone speaks, add captions.

4 reasons your shop should use captions

1. Many people watch with the sound off

With captions they still understand what you're saying, and they keep watching.

2. Your shop serves two groups of customers

A nail salon or pho restaurant in Ontario usually has both Vietnamese and English-speaking customers. Speaking Vietnamese with English captions means one video serves both.

It also lets you speak the language you're most comfortable in. Natural Vietnamese sounds far better than stiff English.

3. It helps the platform understand your video

Text in a video is one of the signals platforms use to work out what it's about, and who might want to see it.

4. It's considerate

Captions help people who are hard of hearing, older viewers, and anyone learning the language.

How to add automatic captions in CapCut

CapCut is a free video editing app for your phone. It can listen to speech and type it out for you.

Button names vary slightly between app versions, but the basic steps are:

Step 1: Open your video in CapCut. Tap "New project" and select the clip.

Step 2: Find auto captions. In the bottom toolbar, tap Text → Auto captions.

Step 3: Choose the language being spoken. If you're speaking Vietnamese, pick Vietnamese. Tap generate and wait a few seconds.

Step 4: Read it back and fix mistakes. This step is not optional. The app often mishears:

• •Shop names, street names, dish names
• •Vietnamese accent marks
• •Prices and numbers

Tap any line to edit it. A typo in your own shop name looks careless.

Step 5: Style the text. Pick a readable font, white text with an outline or a soft dark background. Skip the curly fonts.

Step 6: Export. Tap export in the top corner. Save this file for posting everywhere.

An honest note: some of CapCut's advanced features, which may include automatic translation into a second language, are free or paid depending on the version and the time. If yours doesn't have it, use the manual method below.

Making captions in two languages

Option 1: Let the app translate (if available)

If your CapCut has a bilingual captions option, set the spoken language to Vietnamese and the translation to English. Then still read the translation.

Option 2: Add the second line yourself

1. •Generate Vietnamese captions as above.
2. •Add a new text line for each sentence and type the English.
3. •Drag the English line so its timing matches the Vietnamese sentence.

It takes a bit longer, but a 20-second video usually has only four or five sentences.

Unsure about your English? Ask a family member to check, or paste the sentence into a translation tool and have someone review it. Don't post a machine translation nobody has read.

6 tips for readable bilingual captions

1. •Main language large, second language smaller. Viewers need to know where to look first.
2. •Use two different colours. For example, Vietnamese in white and English in pale yellow.
3. •Keep each line short. About 5–7 words. Split long sentences across two screens.
4. •Stay away from the bottom and right edges. Those areas are covered by your account name, the description and the like and share buttons. Centre, slightly low is safe.
5. •Check Vietnamese accent marks. The wrong mark changes the meaning.
6. •Use one style for every video. People will recognize your shop at a glance.

Which language to speak, which to caption?

None of these is wrong. Try both for a few weeks and see which videos get more local viewers.

No time? The fastest option

Instagram and TikTok both have built-in automatic captions when you post. Vietnamese accuracy may not match doing it yourself, and you usually get one language only. But some captions beat none.

Quick recap

• •Captions let muted viewers follow along, and let one video serve both Vietnamese and English-speaking customers.
• •CapCut can generate captions, but you must read and correct them.
• •Main language large, second language smaller, short lines, away from the screen edges.
• •Speak the language you're most natural in and let the captions do the rest.

Next up (6.6): one video, four platforms, in 15 minutes.

Bilingual Vietnamese–English captions are included in Wizy's Video Marketing packages, and a person reviews them rather than leaving it to machine translation. Questions? Book a free 15-minute consultation.

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✍️ About the author: Do Ngoc Hoan Founder of Wizy.ca, a marketing agency for Vietnamese businesses in Ontario. I write to make marketing simple for busy shop owners — no confusing jargon. More at dongochoan.com.