---
title: Languages and translations of script texts
summary: Field labels, option labels and the questions of steps are written in the first service language and can be translated into the others. The online admin uses a current translation word for word and translates the rest itself.
tools: [talemo_set_service_languages, talemo_update_conversation_field, talemo_set_conversation_script]
related: [conversation-fields, conversation-script, branch-script, online-admin-follows-script]
search: [multilingual bot, translate bot, English Russian Spanish]
---

# Languages and translations of script texts

The languages the business serves are set in **Service languages**. Clients see
the booking page in them, and the online admin answers clients in them. The first
language in the list is the original and the fallback: texts are written in it,
and a client sees it when there is no text in their own language.

## Which texts have translations

- the label of a conversation field and the label of each option;
- the question of each step of the script.

Rules of the script have no translations: they are read by the online admin only.
The hint of a field has none either.

## What a translation holds

A translation is the text in one service language, the original it was made from,
and who made it: a person or the assistant. When the original changes after the
translation was made, the translation is marked outdated: "The translation is out
of date: the question changed after it. Check it and save." A translation that was
not touched keeps the mark of the original it belongs to, and a new or corrected
one is made from the current original.

## How the online admin uses them

- **Question of a step.** The question is an instruction, and the online admin asks
  in the language of the client. A current translation into that language goes to
  the client word for word. When there is none, or it is outdated, the online
  admin translates the question itself from the first language. The editor says
  so: "No translation into this language — the online admin translates it itself,
  from {language}."
- **Option buttons.** A translation of the option is used word for word, otherwise
  the online admin translates the label from the first language. A label has to
  fit a button in every language (see [Conversation fields](conversation-fields.md)).
- **Field label.** The team sees the label in its own language, and the client sees
  it when the field is asked with buttons.

## Changing the service languages

- **Adding a language** leaves its translations empty. Fill them in, or ask the
  assistant to translate and check the result. The change also sends the WhatsApp
  templates in that language to Meta for review and replaces the quick questions
  in the Instagram and Messenger connections where they are turned on (see
  [Channels and connections](../conversations/channels-and-connections.md)).
- **Removing a language** deletes its translations.
- **Making another language first** moves the texts. The translation into the new
  first language becomes the original, and the old original stays as a translation
  if that language is still served. When a text has no translation into the new
  first language, the change is refused and nothing moves. The dialog counts
  what is missing: chat fields without a label, options without a label and chat
  questions without a text in that language.

The assistant always asks the person before it changes service languages. A dry
run shows which texts move, which translations go and what is sent to Meta.