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The Most Spoken Languages: On the Internet and in Real Life

Even in a globalized world, language barriers have the potential to exclude people from access to information and participation in the global conversation. After all, what good is the world wide web if you speak a language whose footprint barely extends beyond the borders of your own country?

Thankfully, there’s English, the internet’s lingua franca, connecting people from all over the world. According to estimates from W3Techs , more than half of all websites use English as their content language. And while English is in fact the best bet if you want to maximize your potential audience online, its global footprint is not as large as one might think.

According to estimates from Ethnologue , a research center for language intelligence, roughly 1.46 billion people speak English around the world, of which roughly 380 million are native speakers. That makes English the most spoken language worldwide when including non-native speakers, ahead of Mandarin Chinese, which is spoken by roughly 1.14 billion people worldwide, including 940 million native speakers. The 1.46 billion people who speak English still make up less than 20 percent of the world population, meaning that roughly 4 in 5 people in the world are unable to understand 50 percent of all websites, at least without a translation tool.

As the following chart shows, some widely-spoken languages, such as Chinese, Hindi and Arabic, are underrepresented on the internet, while others such as English, German and Russian have a larger footprint online than they have in the real world.

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This chart compares the share of websites using selected languages to the estimated share of internet users speaking those languages.

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Home > Blog > Multilingual > Most Used Languages on the Internet (Which to Add to Your Site?)

Most Used Languages on the Internet (Which to Add to Your Site?)

Knowing the most used languages on the Internet and most commonly spoken languages in the world is important information when deciding what to translate your website into. It can give you pointers about which languages it makes sense to adopt and which not.

After all, there are many benefits to making your site multilingual. It can lead to more traffic, increased sales, better conversions, and higher consumer trust. However, which languages should you convert your website into to achieve that? What languages would allow you to effectively reach the most people?

To help answer these questions, in this post, we will examine the top spoken languages in the world and on the Internet (as you will see, these are not always the same). You’ll learn what languages have the most native speakers and how that reflects on their use in online content.

However, choosing a language for your website translation depends on more than just raw numbers. For that reason, we will also discuss factors you should additionally consider when adding new languages to your site. Finally, we’ll recommend a way to implement the localization of your website in the easiest way.

What Are the Most Spoken Languages in the World and Online?

To start off, let’s examine what languages have the most native speakers in the world. After that, we will examine how that relates to the most used languages on the Internet.

The Top 10 Spoken Languages in the World

Here are the most commonly spoken languages in the world. The list below is based on information from Wikipedia , which pulled its data from Ethnologue .

• Globally, Mandarin Chinese is the most used language with 939 million native speakers . Not a big surprise seeing as China is the second most populous country in the world and Mandarin its official language.
• In second place comes Spanish , with 485 million. This, too, is not surprising. There is a multitude of countries that claim it as their native tongue, especially in South America.
• English goes for third place. That’s especially thanks to the USA, which provide more than 300 of the 380 million native speakers .
• In fourth place is Hindi , one of the most spoken languages in India ( 345 million people speak it ). India is actually the country with the most inhabitants, however, because it’s broken down into several different languages, none of them claim the top spot.
• Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language in the world. Here, too, we have South America to thank. Brazil provides some 200 of the overall 236 million native Portuguese speakers .
• On rank six is another language from the Indian subcontinent, Bengali . 234 million people speak it, mostly in Bangladesh, where it’s the main language, and the Eastern part of India.
• Number seven is Russian , which has 147 million speakers . As the biggest country in the world and a corresponding population, it’s natural that it breaks into the top ten.
• Our number eight is Japanese with 123 million native speakers . Though relatively small, Japan is a densely inhabited country, which is why it places high up in the world’s most spoken languages.
• Yue Chinese including Cantonese comes ninth. It’s a group of Chinese dialects mostly spoken in the South of China. However, mind you, there are still 86.1 million people claiming it as their native tongue.
• Finally, at number ten is Vietnamese with 85 million speakers . Fun fact, Vietnamese is also spoken in a small region of Southern China.

Places 11-20

Who are the runner-ups? Let’s go over them real quick:

• Turkish ( 84 million speaker s)
• Wu Chinese (e.g. Shanghainese, 83.4 million )
• Marathi (spoken mostly in the Maharashtra region of India, 83.2 million )
• Telugu ( 83 million speakers , another Indian language native to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana)
• Korean ( 81.7 million speakers )
• French ( 80.8 million )
• Tamil (spoken in the Indian state Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and others by 78.6 million people )
• Egyptian Arabic ( 77.4 million )
• Standard German (there are 75.3 million of us)
• Urdu ( 70.6 million speakers , mostly in Pakistan and India)

Contrast That With the Most Dominant Languages in Online Content

So, from the above it seems like if you want to reach the biggest possible audience, you simply translate your site to Chinese , English, and Spanish, right? Job done.

However, it’s not as simple as that.

For one because, as we will see below, there are some languages that we haven’t even covered yet. In addition, just because a lot of people speak a particular language, that doesn’t mean it makes sense to offer it on your website. Finally, the language distribution on the Internet is not the same as in the real world. In fact, it’s very different. Check out the share of languages in online content according to W3Techs below.

As you can see, English is absolutely dominating with almost 54% of all online content. In comparison, in worldwide languages, its share is really only about 5%. Next up are Spanish and Russian with only about 5% each. In the real world, they make up 6% and 2% of the world’s most spoken languages respectively.

German, which didn’t even crack the top ten earlier can be found in fourth place. In addition, Germany’s country-specific domain ending is the fifth most common in the world .

On the other hand, Chinese, which, as we remember, is the language with the most native speakers, is only on rank 13 with a 1.4 % share of online content.

Curious, isn’t it?

Most Commonly Used Languages on Popular Websites

Yet, the trend towards English as the dominant language for online content continues when you look at individual popular websites. A good example of that is YouTube, or the “second most popular search engine in the world”. An analysis of the 250 most popular YouTube channels showed that 66% are in English, 15% in Spanish, 7% in Portuguese, 5% in Hindi, and 2% in Korean.

It’s not clear from when these numbers are and YouTube doesn’t publish official numbers for this but it’s an interesting snapshot. Plus, Alan Spicer comes to similar conclusions.

Another example is Wikipedia. They have a breakdown of daily traffic for the different language versions of their site.

Here, too, English is the front runner, interestingly followed by Japanese, then Spanish, then German. As you can see, language preference also changes according to content type, however, English is always in the lead.

So, Does Everyone on the Web Simply Speak English?

If you are perplexed about the difference in language distribution online and in real life, we’ll get into the reasons for it further below. However, one decisive factor is also where you get your data from.

For example, the information from W3Techs above is based on the top 10 million websites worldwide, which likely skew heavily towards English. Things look a bit different if you take the numbers from InternetWorldStats , which estimate total global Internet users by language in 2020.

Here, too, English reigns supreme. Yet, it is much more closely followed by Chinese, then Spanish, and Arabic, which we hadn’t even discussed yet. Besides that, it’s surprising to see Indonesian/Malaysian in the mix as well as French and German in the top ten Internet languages.

The reason why Arabic didn’t appear earlier is that it consists of many dialects, which can be very different from one another. That’s why other sources don’t count it as one language. At the same time, written Arabic does not vary in the same way. Therefore, in (written) online content, you can count it as one.

You will also notice that the English-speaking world population is given as more than 1.5 billion even though we just learned that there are only around 380 million native speakers. It seems that there are a lot of other people who use English as their primary online language.

Finally, what’s interesting to note is that different languages still have different amounts of people to add to the pool of Internet users. For example, while Japanese speakers are at almost 100% Internet penetration, their Chinese counterparts still have literally hundreds of millions of people to add to their ranks.

That means, in the long run, Chinese could actually be the dominant language of the web, at least by the number of speakers. To catch up in terms of available content, it still has a ways to go. We have to keep in mind though that these numbers are three years old, so things are probably a bit different now.

What Does This All Mean for Your Website?

The question is, what do we learn from the above? First of all, English is clearly the dominant language of the Internet. That’s not a big surprise since it’s what the web was originally built on and, therefore, has had a head start. Plus, it’s the world’s universal language. There are loads of non-English native speakers who are nevertheless consuming and producing content in that language (such as me).

That also means that, if your website is currently in another language, English is a good choice for you to translate it into. Doing so will give you the most bang for your buck. It allows you to target a large and diverse audience, not just native speakers.

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Another main takeaway is that real-world popularity does not translate to the online audience. German is a globally relatively small language but has a comparatively large presence online. This is something to be aware of when deciding what to translate your website into.

One of the main reasons for that is likely Internet access, which differs between language groups. This can be both due to simply a lack of technical infrastructure or because there are other obstacles in place. For example, YouTube is blocked in China. Therefore, you will have a hard time finding channels from the mainland on the platform. Depending on what your website is about, this could be relevant.

Finally, there are still a number of emerging language markets. Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, and French will all be adding users to the Internet in the coming years. This means, if you are an early adopter, it can give you an edge business. You may be able to establish yourself before others jump on the same language trend and also possibly break into a less saturated market.

How to Pick Which Languages to Translate Your Website Into

That leaves the question, should you simply choose languages to add to your website due to the sheer number of people who speak them? Of course not. The decision tree for that is more complex. Let’s discuss other important factors to consider.

Clarify Your Target Group

The first step when considering making changes to your website is always to go back to your target group. Who exactly are you trying to attract and talk to with your site? In the end, it doesn’t matter if the languages you offer are the most used on the Internet if your target audience doesn’t speak them.

For example, when doing business in Iceland, your visitors couldn’t care less if your website is in Chinese, even if it’s statistically the most spoken language in the world. On the other hand, as a hospitality business near any tourist hotspot in Europe, Mandarin can be a good choice since the Chinese are world champions in traveling .

On the other hand, if you are a local coffee shop operating in a city that has a lot of expats (like Berlin), adding English to your website can be a good idea to attract more customers.

Simply put, just like your website content, you need to align your website translation with your intended target group. It depends on more than simply the number of speakers you can reach. If you add a language to your site, you should have a good reason for it.

Examine the Markets You Are Operating In

In addition to your target group, the market that your business operates in can already provide some guidelines for the choice of language on your site.

If you offer your services globally, going for the most spoken languages in the world in descending order can actually be a way to go. This allows you to cover the most ground and bring in additional traffic. On the other hand, if your market is strictly local, this approach doesn’t make sense.

What’s more, the location of your business can actually dictate your website languages. There are several countries in the world where you need to offer more than one language out of the box. For example, in Spain, besides Spanish, you would be well advised to also provide your website in Catalan, Galician, and/or Basque.

A website operating in Switzerland needs three languages: French, Italian, and German.

However, it’s not just something for when your locality forces more than one language upon you. It can also be a conscious decision in order to start exploring and serving new buyers.

Translating your site into the languages of neighboring countries can be a good way to attract business from there. First of all, doing so will allow your site to show up for relevant search queries in those languages. Secondly, it’s a big factor in purchase decisions. For many people, the ability to get information in their mother tongue is an important trust factor.

Check Your Analytics and Traffic

Another consideration for translating your website is visitor language. A language might be one of the most used in the world or even on the Internet, but is it what your audience speaks?

To answer that question, you’d do well to turn to your website analytics. In Google Analytics and other such solutions, you can see a map of where your visitors are from and also the language settings of their browsers.

This can greatly help you make decisions about what language it makes sense to offer on your site. If you don’t offer their language currently but people from that country still visit your site, just imagine how many would come if you communicated in their mother tongue.

Other sources for this kind of information can be keywords in webmaster tools, support inquiries, or messages on social media.

Do a Competitor Analysis

Another way to get ideas about which of the world’s most spoken languages is probably a good idea to have on your site is to look at your competition. Check the web presence of your closest competitors and see what languages they include. Oftentimes, they are there for a good reason. Your competitors might know something you don’t.

Sure, you still need to make your own decisions, however, checking on others can give you an inkling about what languages could help you get more visitors, sales, and conversions. It allows you to capitalize on other people’s success and research.

Consider Design and Cost Limitations

Finally, when looking at the most common languages on the Internet and deciding whether to add one or more to your site, you need to consider your site design and the cost involved.

Why is the design important?

Because not all design is easy to convert to every language. For example, some languages are more verbose, meaning they need more or longer words to say the same thing as others. On the other hand, character-based languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tend to need a lot less space as they can express more information in a condensed way.

In addition, some languages go from right to left instead of the other way around. Arabic is one such example, and Hebrew is another. Either can mess up your layout because of different space requirements and you need to find a solution for that.

If you want to offer a language that’s very different from your original, you might need a whole different website design and layout. Are you prepared to create that? Does that make sense for the amount of extra traffic that this language will likely bring in?

Finally, some languages are cheaper to translate into than others. Spanish and English have a large pool of capable translators, other, less popular, or more complicated languages not so much. These are all important considerations.

Use TranslatePress to Translate Your Website Into Common Languages

Looking at the most spoken languages is a good start to start thinking about what to add to your WordPress website. However, once you have made a decision, it’s just as important that you have a good tool to implement them. At this point, we want to humbly suggest TranslatePress as that tool, and here is why.

Easy-to-Use Interface

In TranslatePress, most of the translation work happens in the same easy interface. It contains a preview of your site on the right while you do all the translating on the left.

Use the preview to navigate to the page you want to convert to another language. Then, choose any of the strings on it either via the drop-down menu, left and right arrows, or directly from the page.

This will open up a new text box on the left where you can add the translation. When done, simply save it and from now on the translated text will appear on your website.

Possibility to Translate Images

In addition to the above, TranslatePress also allows you to localize your images. This is especially important when you use text in your visuals. However, it can also make sense to use a whole other image for another region, especially to better represent the ethnicity of different regions.

Either way, in TranslatePress you can also select an image for translation from the interface and then provide an alternative on the left. It will appear automatically in the same way as your translated text.

Automatic Translation Options

In addition, TranslatePress offers automatic translations via Google Translate and DeepL (note that you need a license for the second option). Simply switch it on under Settings → TranslatePress → Automatic Translation , then acquire and paste an API key, save, and that’s mostly it.

With automatic translation enabled, when working in the translation interface and choosing a string, you will automatically find the equivalent there.

This is perfect for translating your website more quickly and also for any translation that doesn’t have to be perfect. Automatic translation is not as accurate as manual translation but can still be enough in a pinch.

Multilingual SEO

Finally, TranslatePress comes with a multlingual SEO pack (available in the premium version). This allows you to translate your page links, SEO titles, meta descriptions, ALT tags, and other important SEO markers.

It also creates multilingual sitemaps to submit to search engines and works with most popular WordPress SEO plugins. All of this help you to actually show up for search requests in your translated languages.

What Popular Internet Languages Will You Translate Your Site Into?

Knowing which languages are most spoken in the world and online is a good starting point when considering what to translate your website into. After all, when you add a language to your site that a lot of people speak, you can potentially reach hundreds of millions of additional visitors.

However, language popularity is just one factor to consider. As we have seen above, a lot more goes into what additional languages make sense on your site. Just because some are part of the top spoken languages in the world, it doesn’t mean they make sense for your particular Internet business or website. Use the guidelines above to come to a decision for yourself, then add TranslatePress to make it a reality.

What’s your process for choosing languages to translate your site into? Tell us in the comments below!

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Content-Language

The Content-Language representation header is used to describe the language(s) intended for the audience , so users can differentiate it according to their own preferred language.

For example, if " Content-Language: de-DE " is set, it says that the document is intended for German language speakers (however, it doesn't indicate the document is written in German. For example, it might be written in English as part of a language course for German speakers. If you want to indicate which language the document is written in, use the lang attribute instead).

If no Content-Language is specified, the default is that the content is intended for all language audiences. Multiple language tags are also possible, as well as applying the Content-Language header to various media types and not only to textual documents.

Multiple language tags are separated by a comma. Each language tag is a sequence of one or more case-insensitive subtags, each separated by a hyphen character (" - ", %x2D ). In most cases, a language tag consists of a primary language subtag that identifies a broad family of related languages (e.g., " en " = English) and is optionally followed by a series of subtags that refine or narrow that language's range (e.g., " en-CA " = the variety of English as communicated in Canada).

Note: Language tags are formally defined in BCP 47 , which rely on the ISO 639 standard (quite often the ISO 639-1 code list ) for language codes to be used.

Indicating the language a document is written in

The global lang attribute is used on HTML elements to indicate the language of an entire HTML document or parts of it.

Do not use this meta element like this for stating a document language:

Indicating a target audience for a resource

The Content-Language header is used to specify the page's intended audience and can indicate that this is more than one language.

Specifications

Browser compatibility.

BCD tables only load in the browser with JavaScript enabled. Enable JavaScript to view data.

• Accept-Language
• HTTP headers, meta elements and language information
• HTML lang attribute

Introduction to Web Accessibility

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Document and Content Language

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The Importance of Identifying Language

Screen readers can "speak" various languages—as long the content language is identified. If the screen reader does not support or cannot speak the defined language, the user might be informed of the content language, even if that content cannot be properly read.

Defining the document language also supports automated translation of content using tools like Google Translate.

For Level A conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) the document language must be programmatically defined. For Level AA WCAG conformance the language of parts of a page in a language different than the rest of the page must also be identified. This tells the screen reader to switch to that language (if it is able).

Specifying the "language of parts" of the page is only necessary for other-language content that is not generally understood in the document's primary language. "Los Angeles" and "piñata", for example, are Spanish words that are understood by English readers, so it would not be necessary to identify these as being Spanish on an English web page.

Properly defining the content language also allows the browser to properly display quotation marks for various languages when using the <q> element. The following examples are defined as German and French. The browser has generated the localized quotation marks appropriate to the language.

Mein Computer spricht Deutsch.

Mon ordinateur parle français.

Additionally, if the language is specified the browser can present:

• The appropriate characters for non-Latin text
• Localized date and time inputs (such as using MM/DD/YYYY vs. DD/MM/YYYY or 24-hour time vs. AM/PM time)
• Numbers with appropriate comma or period thousands separators
• Proper-language spellchecking for inputs

The lang attribute

The lang attribute is used to identify the language of the web page. This attribute must always be added to the <html> tag. It is given a value that identifies the natural language of the page. Adding <html lang="en"> , for example, would specify that the page is in English.

Similarly, the lang attribute can be added to other HTML elements within a page to indicate their natural language. <p lang="ja"> , for example, would indicate Japanese as the language for the paragraph.

Do not use the lang attribute to specify the language of content that is being linked or navigated to. If a link on an English web page to a Spanish translation presents text of "Spanish", the lang attribute is not used because "Spanish" is an English word. If the link instead presents text of " Español ", then lang="es" should be defined on the link.

When text in one language is read with the pronunciation rules of another, the results can make the content inaccessible. Below is a passage of text in English. The audio recording is a screen reader pronouncing this text as if it had lang="cs" (Czech).

Most people today can hardly conceive of life without the Internet. Some have argued that no other single invention has been more revolutionary since Gutenberg’s printing press in the 1400s. Now, at the click of a mouse, the world can be “at your fingertips”—that is, if you can use a mouse... and see the screen... and hear the audio—in other words, if you don't have a disability of any kind.

Identifying the document language is also important for Acrobat PDF files. The document language can be specified in Acrobat Professional or other PDF editing software.

Choosing Appropriate Language Tags

Over 8,000 language codes, defined by international specifications, encompass the worlds various languages, dialects, regions, etc. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) maintains a curated registry of possible and valid values . The W3C provides an excellent guide for choosing a language tag . You can also search for valid lang attribute values using this language subtag lookup tool . Be sure to read the guidance below to ensure the lang value used has the greatest accessibility support.

Primary language

The primary language is the major language of the web content. Two-character codes are available for nearly all primary languages. lang="en" is English, lang="de" is German, lang="zh" is Chinese, and lang="ar" is Arabic, for example.

Keep the lang attribute value as short as is appropriate. If the two-character primary language code is sufficient to identify the content language, use it.

Many primary languages have different sub-languages or dialects. English has different variants for Great Britain, Australia, and India, for example. Chinese has Mandarin and Cantonese and numerous other dialects, some of which are not mutually intelligible. Despite this, specifying the primary language in a web page is typically sufficient.

In short, the language for the vast majority of web page content can be properly identified with the appropriate two-character primary language code. In some very rare cases a three-character code might be used for a very uncommon primary language, but only if a two-character code does not exist . Even though some ISO standards may define three-character codes for some primary languages (such as "spa" for Spanish), these are not found in the IANA registry and support for these in screen readers is very poor.

Extended languages

Sub-languages or extended languages are available for seven primary languages: Arabic ( ar ), Chinese ( zh ), Malay ( ms ), Swahili ( sw ), Uzbek ( uz ), Konkani ( kok ), and sign languages ( sgn ). Cantonese and Mandarin, for example, are extended languages of Chinese. It's possible to specify these extended languages using extensions to the primary language, such as lang="zh-yue" for Cantonese vs. lang="zh-cmn" for Mandarin, or via three-character language identifiers such as lang="yue" for Cantonese and lang="cmn" for Mandarin.

Support for extended languages is very poor in screen readers. It is strongly recommended to use either the primary language alone (see above) or, if necessary, an appropriate region subtag (see below).

Script subtags

Content can sometimes be presented using a script or characters that are different from the primary script for a language. For example, 汉语 are the simplified Chinese characters for the word "Chinese". Written in Latin characters this is "Hànyǔ". The word "Hànyǔ" could be identified as Chinese written in Latin script with lang="zh-Latn" . Script subtags are always 4 characters added after the primary language and a hyphen.

However, screen reader support for script subtags is poor, and they are very rarely needed. The script identifier is often ignored causing the screen reader to apply the primary language, which typically fails entirely. <p lang="zh-Latn">Hànyǔ</p> on an English page, for example, would likely be considered Chinese due to the "zh" primary language, but the Latin characters are not Chinese characters so the content would likely be unreadable (the screen reader is expecting Chinese characters, not Latin characters). Omitting the lang attribute altogether would cause the Latin characters to be properly read in the page's defined language, English in this case.

In short, script subtags should typically be avoided.

Region subtags

If it becomes necessary to differentiate content in various dialects or sub-languages—such as a page that is highlighting differences between Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Mexico—or if the written content aligns with a dialect that has distinct regional differences, then a region subtag can be used. For example, lang="es-ES" identifies Peninsular Spanish as typically spoken or read in Spain as opposed to lang="es-MX" which identifies Spanish as spoken or read in Mexico.

If a screen reader supports the regional differences—such as having language voices installed for both Peninsular and Mexican Spanish—then the screen reader may switch to the appropriate dialect.

However, region subtags are typically ignored , especially if the screen reader's default language matches the primary language specified. This is because it is presumed the user will prefer and better understand their default dialect over a different dialect of that same language. The numerous screen reader users in Great Britain, for example, will typically hear Great Britain English on U.S. web sites, even if the page has lang="en-US" specified and the user has the US English language voice installed.

Only use region subtags when it is necessary to differentiate content in different dialects that may not be mutually intelligible. A web site that provides content in both Mandarin and Cantonese (one of which may not be understood by speakers of the other) would typically differentiate them using lang="zh-CN" and lang="zh-HK" respectively. Region subtags are much more reliably supported than extended language codes. Because the various dialects of English are mutually intelligible, and because the screen reader user will define their preferred dialect, using lang="en" is typically sufficient even for a site that provides U.K., India, Australian, U.S., or other English-language versions.

There are other variations for the lang attribute value that are permissible, but the rules above apply to the vast majority of web page content.

• Keep the language identifier as short as possible. In most cases a two-character language identifier is sufficient and optimal.
• Three-character language identifiers, extended language subtags, and script subtags should typically be avoided (or, at a minimum, well tested in screen readers).
• Region sub-tags can be used in some cases where it is vital to differentiate dialects.

Screen Reader Support

Two-character lang attribute values are usually adequate for screen reader support. Support for three-character and extended, script, and region subtags varies based on the browser and screen reader in use, and the language voices that are supported and installed. When in doubt, test. Support for inline language changes, such as for a <span> or <img> element is also varied. When possible it is best to define the lang attribute on a block level element, such as a <p> , <blockquote> , or similar.

To read the content in the defined language, the screen reader must support that language. All modern screen readers have support for numerous languages. In some screen reader the user must manually install or configure language voices or "language packs".

If a screen reader encounters a lang attribute which specifies a language for which a matching language voice is not installed or supported, it will usually identify the language of the content. The screen reader might pronounce "Spanish", for example, for content with lang="es" if a Spanish language voice is not enabled or installed.

Screen readers will typically attempt to read content that is pronounceable, even if the defined language is not supported. Polish content, for example, is written in Latin characters, so will read by the screen reader with an English default voice (though it will be read without proper pronunciation, inflections, etc.—perhaps sounding like a beginner Polish class). Chinese characters, on the other hand, are not directly pronounceable in English, so the screen reader would not read them, though it may announce "Chinese" to inform the user that Chinese language content is present.

• Google Search Central
• Español – América Latina
• Português – Brasil
• Tiếng Việt
• Documentation
• Search Central

Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites

If your site offers different content to users in different languages, countries, or regions, you can optimize Google Search results for your site.

What's the difference between multilingual and multi-regional?

• A multilingual website is any website that offers content in more than one language. For example, a Canadian business with English and French versions of its site. Google Search tries to find pages that match the language of the searcher.
• A multi-regional website is one that explicitly targets users in different countries. For example, a product manufacturer that ships to both Canada and the United States. Google Search tries to find the right locale page for the searcher.

Some sites are both multi-regional and multilingual: for example, a site might have different versions for the USA and for Canada, and both French and English versions of the Canadian content.

Managing multilingual versions of your site

If you have identical content in multiple languages on your site, here are some tips for helping users (and Google Search) find the right page:

Use different URLs for different language versions

Google recommends using different URLs for each language version of a page rather than using cookies or browser settings to adjust the content language on the page.

If you use different URLs for different languages, use hreflang annotations to help Google search results link to the correct language version of a page.

If you prefer to dynamically change content or reroute the user based on language settings, be aware that Google might not find and crawl all your variations . This is because the Googlebot crawler usually originates from the USA. In addition, the crawler sends HTTP requests without setting Accept-Language in the request header.

Tell Google about your different language versions

Google supports several different methods for labeling language or region variants of a page , including hreflang annotations and sitemaps. Mark your pages appropriately.

Make sure the page language is obvious

Google uses the visible content of your page to determine its language. We don't use any code-level language information such as lang attributes, or the URL. You can help Google determine the language correctly by using a single language for content and navigation on each page, and by avoiding side-by-side translations.

Translating only the boilerplate text of your pages while keeping the bulk of your content in a single language (as often happens on pages featuring user-generated content) can create a bad user experience if the same content appears multiple times in search results with various boilerplate languages.

Use robots.txt to block search engines from crawling automatically translated pages on your site. Automated translations don't always make sense and could be viewed as spam. More importantly, a poor or artificial-sounding translation can harm your site's perception.

Let the user switch the page language

If you have multiple versions of a page:

• Avoid automatically redirecting users from one language version of a site to a different language version of a site. For example, don't redirect based on what you think the user's language may be. These redirections could prevent users (and search engines) from viewing all the versions of your site.
• Consider adding hyperlinks to other language versions of a page . That way users can click to choose a different language version of the page.

Use language-specific URLs

It's fine to use localized words in the URL, or to use an Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) . However, be sure to use UTF-8 encoding in the URL (in fact, we recommend using UTF-8 wherever possible) and remember to escape the URLs properly when linking to them.

Targeting site content to a specific country (geotargeting)

You can target your website or parts of it to users in a single specific country that speaks a specific language. This can improve your page rankings in the target country, but at the expense of results in other locales or languages.

To geotarget your site on Google:

• Page or site level: Use locale-specific URLs for your site or page .
• Page level: Use hreflang or sitemaps to tell Google which pages apply to which locations or languages.

Remember that geotargeting isn't an exact science, so it's important to consider users who land on the "wrong" version of your site. One way to do this could be to show links on all pages for users to select their region and/or language of choice.

Using locale-specific URLs

Consider using a URL structure that makes it easy to geotarget your site, or parts of it, to different regions. The following table describes your options:

de.example.com

example.com/de/

site.com?loc=de

How does Google determine a target locale?

Google relies on a number of signals to determine the best target audience for a page:

• Country-code top-level domain names (ccTLDs). These are tied to a specific country (for example .de for Germany, .cn for China), and therefore provide a strong signal to both users and search engines that your site is explicitly intended for a certain country. Some countries have restrictions on who can use ccTLDs, so be sure to do your research first. We also treat some vanity ccTLDs (such as .tv and .me) as gTLDs, as we've found that users and website owners frequently see these as being more generic than country-targeted. See Google's list of gTLDs .
• hreflang statements , whether in tags, headers, or sitemaps.
• Server location (through the IP address of the server). The server location is often physically near your users and can be a signal about your site's intended audience. Some websites use distributed content delivery networks (CDNs) or are hosted in a country with better webserver infrastructure, so it is not a definitive signal.
• Other signals. Other signals to identify the intended audience of your site can include local addresses and phone numbers on the pages, the use of local language and currency, links from other local sites, or signals from your Business Profile (where available).

What Google doesn't do:

• Google crawls the web from different locations around the world. We do not attempt to vary the crawler source used for a single site in order to find any possible variations in a page. Therefore, make sure you explicitly tell Google about any locale or language variation that your site exposes, using one of the methods shown here (such as hreflang entries, ccTLDs, or explicit links).
• Google ignores locational meta tags (like geo.position or distribution ) or geotargeting HTML attributes.

Handling duplicate pages with multilingual/multi-regional sites

If you provide similar or duplicate content on different URLs in the same language as part of a multi-regional site (for instance, if both example.de/ and example.com/de/ show similar German language content), pick a preferred version and use the rel="canonical" element and hreflang tags to make sure that the correct language or regional URL is served to searchers.

Generic top-level domains

Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are domains that aren't associated with specific locations. If your site has a generic top-level domain such as .com, .org, or any of the following domains, and wants to target users in a particular geographic location, explicitly set a country target using one of the methods described previously.

Google treats the following top level domains as gTLDs:

• and many more...

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2024-03-18 UTC.

WEBSITE ESSENTIALS

How to build a multilingual website to expand your reach

• Cecilia Lazzaro Blasbalg

As you look to expand your online audience, you might have already considered building a multilingual website . A site with content in the various languages you serve enables you to communicate effectively with your visitors.

There are other reasons why you might want your online presence to be multilingual and this website type . Your business might be located in a popular tourist destination, having the potential to attract clients spanning far beyond the neighborhood, state or even country.

In this article, you will learn how to make a website that is easily accessible to all languages and localized to different regions. Therefore, we put together a step-by-step guide to help you start.

What is a multilingual website?

A multilingual website is what it sounds like - a website available in multiple languages. This means that visitors to your website can access your content in their preferred language. Multilingual websites are becoming increasingly common, as more and more businesses are looking to reach a global audience.

How to build a multilingual website

Translate your website content

Adapt your visual content

Modify your SEO for all languages

Enable your site to be multilingual

01. Translate your website content

A multilingual site’s most essential component is translation. If you don’t speak the additional languages you’re adding to your site, you have several options for translating your content.

You can invest in a professional translator, or you can use a neural machine translation service for a quick fix, like Google Translate. If you’re using the latter, make sure to review and proofread your translated content as there are many grammatical or cultural nuances that can get lost in translation.

Wix Multilingual allows you to enjoy Google Translate’s powerful linguistic services, in addition to manually editing your translation directly on your site’s editor.

During the translation process, make sure not to overlook any parts of your site’s copy, from the text on your homepage design and menu, to the retailing details on your online store , to the content in your online course . Starting a blog with a blog maker ? You'll need to think about your translation options here too.

Tip: Learn how to make a multilingual blog to support your content.

One small detail to note in your translations is the date. To all those out there who have missed a deadline or meeting because the format of the month and date was different from their personal custom (Is 12/04 April 12th or December 4th?), you know exactly how confusing this can be. Either do some research into the conventional date and time format for your secondary language(s), or play it safe by simply writing out the full month.

As you’re translating your website content, you may experience that some things can’t transfer from one language to another, even requiring more context for clarity.

Therefore, pay attention to cultural references. For example, have you jazzed up your call-to-action text with puns particular to one language, or country? First of all, you deserve a round of applause for a job well done acing your engaging microcopy. Second, make sure to find equivalent phrases, or to take a similar tone, when switching over to your secondary language(s).

While translating you can consider using website under construction templates .

02. Adapt your visual content

Text is not the only element on your page that you can “translate.” The same principle goes for images, too. If you offer a localized service, for example, and want to display photos of it from sites across the globe, you can select the requisite images to match the regional language of the text.

Say you have the Statue of Liberty featured on your homepage to illustrate a cultural landmark. You might want to swap that image with the Eiffel Tower for your French-speaking audience on your multilingual site. International visitors will have a better connection with your site if you localize your visual content, since images carry different meanings for different cultures.

03. Modify your SEO for all languages

Once you have completed the translation stage, it’s time to make sure your work can be found in all of its linguistic glory across the internet. That entails optimizing each of your new pages for search engines.

Each international market comes with its own internet searching habits and SEO needs. Start by conducting keyword research in your new language - and update your site's SEO settings accordingly. That way, potential customers searching the web for a business or solution like yours in their native language will have a higher chance of stumbling across your site.

04. Enable your site to be multilingual

Now that your web content is all ready to go, it’s time to let visitors of all different languages know that they can access your website.

Show off your linguistic talent with an easy-to-spot language menu . You can customize it to your liking, representing each language with mini flag icons, written abbreviations or a combination of the two, to signal to users the options that are available for their choosing.

We suggest placing this language toggle in your primary header navigation. You can even use subtle animation features, to draw visitors’ attention to the translation option. The longer they have to search, the higher the chance they might leave in favor of a page they can actually understand.

A word for the wise: if you offer two or three languages, flag or word icons that appear right in the header menu will be perfect. If you offer more, though, consider a drop-down menu of lettered abbreviations to avoid clutter.

The process of creating a multilingual site can feel daunting at first. Yet, believe it or not, once you’ve created a professional website in your primary language, you’ve already taken a major step toward simplifying this process. The site structure you’ve created can now serve as a roadmap to help you in adapting to a second, or even third and fourth, language.

If you’re building your website on Wix, you’ll find that there’s absolutely no need to recreate a new site for each language. Every time you add in a new language with Wix Multilingual , a parallel copy is automatically created for you. And if you change any element in one of your languages, the same change is immediately reflected across all of your multiple versions.

You might also want to consider the pros and cons between a static and dynamic site before hitting publish.

How to create a Wix Multilingual site

Log in to your Wix account or sign up and pick your favorite professional online template to get started.

In the Wix Editor, select ‘Settings’ from the top menu bar.

Click ‘Multilingual’ and then ‘Get Started.’

Choose the language(s) you want.

Set your main language and the flag you want to display with it.

Select ‘Next.’

Set your secondary language (note: you can add additional languages later) and the flag you want to display with the language.

Click ‘Next’ and then ‘Start Now.’

Translate the content on your site including text, photos and videos. You can switch between languages using the flags on the top left corner of the Editor, and access your Multilingual Dashboard by selecting ‘Settings’ > ‘Multilingual’ from the top bar.

Click Publish to make your changes live.

Learn more: How much does a website cost

Benefits of a multilingual website

As you can see, creating a multilingual website can be demanding, so you need to be sure it's worth it. Here are some of the most important benefits:

Reach a wider audience: A multilingual website can help you reach a wider audience by making your content available to people who speak different languages. This is especially beneficial if you're targeting a specific country or region.

Improve SEO: When you translate your website content into multiple languages, you can rank for keywords in those languages. This can help you attract more visitors to your website from different parts of the world.

Build trust with international customers: When visitors to your website see that you've taken the time to translate your content into their language, they'll be more likely to trust you and do business with you.

Increase sales: 76% of online shoppers prefer to buy products with information in their native language. A multilingual website can help you increase sales by making it easier for people from different countries to buy your products or services.

Provide a better user experience: A multilingual website provides a better user experience for people who speak different languages because it's easier for them to find what they're looking for and interact with your website.

If you are looking to expand your business internationally, a multilingual website is a must-have.

Challenges of a multilingual website

There are a few challenges that you may face when creating a multilingual website. These include:

Cost in money and time: Translating your website into multiple languages can be expensive, especially if you use professional translation services. It also can be a time-consuming process, depending on the amount of content you need to translate.

Localization: On top of translating your website content, you may also need to localize your website. This means adapting your website to the cultural and linguistic norms of the countries you are targeting.

Managing content: Managing multilingual content can be complex. You need to make sure that all of your content is translated accurately and that the translations are consistent. You also need to continually update your translations whenever you add content.

Despite these challenges, creating a multilingual website is a worthwhile investment if you're looking to expand your reach.

Multilingual website examples

Creating a multilingual website is a great way to reach a global audience and cater to users who speak different languages. Here are five examples of multilingual websites:

Wikipedia : Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is available in multiple languages. Users can easily switch between languages to access content in their preferred language. This approach enables Wikipedia to provide information to a diverse audience worldwide.

Nike: Nike, a global brand, offers a multilingual website to serve its international customer base. Visitors can choose their preferred language, and the website adapts to provide content, product descriptions and support in that language.

IKEA: IKEA, a multinational furniture retailer, has a multilingual website to accommodate its global customer base. Users can select their country and language preferences to access product information, shopping options and other content in their chosen language.

Wix : Wix, the website builder has multiple language pages to reach and support its global range of users. Examples include de.wix.com (German), fr.wix.com (French).

Pro tip: Beginners might also enjoy using Wix’s AI website builder , a first-of-its-kind chat-based experience that taps into Wix's ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to help you design a website in record time. Simply chat with AI about the vision for your site and you’ll get a complete website that you can customize as you wish.

How to build a multilingual website FAQ

How do multilingual websites work.

There are two main approaches for multilingual websites:

Subdirectories: Different language versions of the site are hosted in separate folders, like .com/en and .com/es. Visitors typically choose their preferred language through a flag icon or dropdown menu.

Content Management Systems (CMS) : Discover plugins or built-in features to manage translated content within the same website framework. Users can switch languages seamlessly within the site.

How do I translate a website into multiple languages?

What are some tips for designing a multilingual website, can i use templates for a multilingual website, how do you structure a multilingual website, what is an example of a bilingual website, related posts.

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32 Free Language Learning Websites to Try in 2024

A tight budget is no longer an excuse to not learn a language. Not when the internet is at our fingertips!

Websites and smartphone apps have brought the world closer to us—and its thousands of languages.

The benefits of learning a new language no longer have to come with a hefty price tag—or any price tag at all!

Whether you prefer flashcards or face-to-face interaction, want to learn Amharic or Zulu, are a novice or near-native, here are 32 free language learning websites you can use to fine-tune your language skills without spending a cent.

General Language Learning Websites

• 1. Live Lingua
• 2. Learn a Language
• 3. Open Culture

4. Internet Polyglot

5. omniglot, 6. languageguide.org, video-based language learning websites, 7. easy languages, 9. languagepod101.com, 10. youtube, massively open online courses (moocs), 11. mit open courseware, 13. coursera, free language exchange websites, 15. the polyglot club, language learning websites for reading skills, 17. readlang, 18. lingua.com, language learning websites for writing skills, 19. mylanguageexchange.com, free websites for getting language help, 21. hinative, free websites for vocabulary and flashcards, 23. duolingo, 24. memrise, 25. digital dialects, free learning websites for specific languages, 26. french: the french experiment, 27. german: deutschakademie, 28. spanish: 123 teach me, 29. chinese: chinese-tools.com, 30. portuguese: learn portuguese with rafa, 31. japanese: nhk world, 32. arabic: arabic online, how to learn a language with free websites, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

When most of us think about taking a language course, we picture a classroom full of wobbly desks, and potentially a three- or four-digit tuition fee.

These free language learning websites offer online courses and other general knowledge about a wide variety of languages, so you can keep the structure and formality of a traditional course but skip the fees.

1.  Live Lingua

Available languages: Arabic, French, Japanese, Russian, Cantonese, Tagalog and many more.

It’s not hard to believe. There are thousands of free e-books, audio recordings and foreign language video materials available in over 130 different languages.

It’s also one of the most user-friendly websites hosting the US Foreign Service Institute’s public domain language courses , which were developed by the US Department of State for expert language learning and are now freely available on various sites across the web.

See our full review of all of Live Lingua’s offerings here .

2.  Learn a Language

Available languages: English, Spanish, German, Chinese, Greek, Norwegian and more.

You can learn over 1,400 words in your target language for free with their vocabulary lists and verb conjugation charts, and there’s plenty more free learning to be done in the actual courses.

3.  Open Culture

Available languages: Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Icelandic, Korean, Swedish and many more.

When it comes to languages, they’re not bluffing.

Their free courses and materials contain language learning resources from governments, universities and respected private institutions worldwide, so you can find free lessons without sacrificing quality.

Available languages: Dutch, German, Japanese, Ukrainian, Spanish, French and many more.

This allows you to choose what language you’re learning and the language you’re learning it in .

Do you already speak Spanish and want to get started on Portuguese? Select “Spanish” for your language, and start with a composite mental exercise to strengthen one language while building another .

Available languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Gaelic, Gujarati, Korean, Thai and many, many more.

This online encyclopedia of languages and writing systems is like the Wikipedia of all things linguistics.

Not only does it provide linguistic and cultural information on hundreds of world languages, but it also offers some of its own free video lessons.

Available languages: Spanish, Turkish, Korean, Portuguese, Hindi, Polish and more.

The lessons are perfect for both audio and visual learners because they incorporate images with each audio file. Some exercises are already set to an advanced level by default, but you can adjust the difficulty level in the settings.

When it’s time to test your knowledge, you can do so with both the speaking and listening challenges.

Turning on the TV is great for language learning .

If you want your brain to soak up the sights and sounds of actual everyday speech and how it’s used in your target language, tune in and kick back for some quality input-based learning with these free websites.

Available languages: Catalan, French, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Czech and more.

The videos feature on-the-street interviews with locals , who discuss language, culture and life in general. Note the name—you don’t need advanced-level skills to enjoy the material!

Not only can these videos help you practice listening to authentic spoken language, but they can also give you valuable insight into local culture.

Videos include subtitles in the target language and English. While not all the language channels are active anymore, there’s still a lot of pre-existing content for learners of a number of languages.

Available languages: Spanish, Korean, Gujarati, Arabic and many more.

This is an especially exciting resource if you’re learning a less commonly studied language with limited video materials available.

Tuning into your favorite Albanian or Nepali TV station can easily compensate for the lack of other learning materials online.

Available languages: Afrikaans, Cantonese, Filipino, Greek, Italian, Turkish and many more.

It’s typically updated with new lessons every week, with material for beginner to advanced learners and including grammar, vocabulary, everyday conversations and culture.

You’ll be directed to language-specific sites once you enter your email and pick a language. Some offerings include SpanishPod101 , FrenchPod101 , GermanPod101 , ChineseClass101 and RussianPod101 , among many others.

While there is the option to pay for additional content and learning tools, LanguagePod101.com has thousands of professionally produced audio and videos for free.

Available languages: Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and many, many more.

Beyond language learning channels by a wide variety of teachers in an even bigger array of languages , there’s also the option of finding movies, TV shows, commercials, talks and more.

YouTube is also a fantastic resource if you’re studying a less common language. The channel Wikitongues , for example, contains numerous videos of rare languages and unique regional dialects.

After checking the main site for whatever you’re looking for, you can also look through YouTube’s Movies & TV section . Some options here do require payment, but some are free (typically with ads).

Many world universities are making lesson materials and entire courses online for free. Here are some of the best MOOCs for learning a language.

Available languages: Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German and other related topics.

Under the “Global Studies and Languages” section of the website, you’ll find courses ranging from Chinese II to Contemporary French Politics.

The courses are designed to help you engage with the language and its greater cultural context . Courses are available to download.

Available languages: Japanese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Italian and related topics.

You might take a dedicated language class or a topic course in your target language if you’re more advanced. For example, you could sign up to take an algebra class entirely in Spanish!

Some courses have certificates you can get for completing them. In general, it does cost money to get a verified certificate, so make sure you check the details before you sign up. Additionally, you may be able to get college credit , depending on your course.

Available languages: Korean, Chinese, Spanish, French, Russian and more.

Many courses will be geared toward beginners (like First Step Korean ) and others will engage more generally with language learning (like Miracles of Human Language ).

Note that not all courses are free, but many are. Additionally, you can take them at much the same rate you would an actual university course (a few months) or speed up the process and go at your own pace.

Whatever you find here, it’s coming from a respected university or educational institute, and if it’s not on offer now, sign up to get an alert when it is.

Available languages: French, Irish, Japanese, Swedish, Spanish, Chinese and more.

Best of all, if you complete all modules and score at least 80% on all your course assignments, you’ll be rewarded with a fancy (and free) certificate !

The biggest secret to effective language learning isn’t a secret at all: You’ve gotta talk! And who better to talk with than a native speaker?

It’s okay if you can’t hop on a plane this weekend—instead, just click over to one of these websites, where you can connect with native speakers of your target language for free.

Available languages: Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Danish, French, Estonian and many more.

You can find language exchange partners, submit written texts for correction, hang out in chat rooms, browse through target language videos and attend language events and meetups .

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the link above, you’ll also find “from scratch” introduction courses to many common and not-so-common languages.

Available languages: Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, German and more.

Tandem allows you to exchange audio calls, video calls, texts and voice messages .

Tandem can even hook you up with text translations in the app if you need extra support to chat more easily, making Tandem a great choice for beginning learners.

See our complete Tandem review here .

As one of the major language skills, reading is a great way to both grow your abilities and practice what you’ve already learned.

These free sites can help make reading in a foreign language simpler and more efficient.

Available languages: Spanish, German, French, Russian, Polish, Norwegian and many more.

Once you’ve installed it, you can go to any website in your target language and click any word you don’t know for an instant translation. Words you click are saved so you can practice them with flashcards.

Readlang also has some great content to get you started on the right path if you don’t feel like sourcing your own. You can filter the library selections by difficulty level, word count and category, too.

Available languages: Czech, Danish, Spanish, French, Turkish, Polish and more.

Readings are usually brief, and each is accompanied by questions to test your comprehension. Once you complete the questions, the website will suggest additional texts you might enjoy, making it easy to keep your reading practice going.

If you prefer printed exercises, Lingua.com also offers printable PDFs that feature both the reading, associated questions and answers to the questions.

Writing in your target language will help you learn proper digital communication and give you practice producing the language on your own.

Try out one of these websites to take your writing abilities for a spin for free.

Available languages: Arabic, Hawaiian, Icelandic, Persian, Spanish, Chinese and many more.

This website focuses on connecting users for an email-based pen pal relationship , and they provide helpful tips to make sure you both get the most out of the exchange.

You can browse for pen pals by language or country. An advanced search provides an even broader array of criteria, like city, age, gender and more.

Available languages: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German and more.

There are several subreddits in foreign languages, so you can snag the writing (and reading) practice you’re looking for.

And let’s be real—someone will be prepared to correct your grammar. This is the internet, after all.

Most foreign language forums are subreddits for foreign countries —like the Italy subreddit , the Mexico subreddit or the Brasil subreddit —but there may be subreddits for learners of certain languages too, such as r/LearnJapanese or r/German .

Perhaps you’re not ready to fork out money for a private tutor , or you don’t have the time to attend language classes.

Sometimes, though, you’ll run into questions you just can’t answer on your own—that’s where these sites will come in handy.

Available languages: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Turkish and more.

Rather than giving you flashcards and courses or even facilitating Skype sessions, HiNative allows you to ask questions to native speakers of the language you’re learning.

Whether it’s about the difference between two confusing words, getting a pronunciation check or figuring out how and when to use the subjunctive, just send a text and wait for a response.

For more information, here’s our full review of HiNative .

Available languages: German, Korean, Hindi, Russian, Basque, Serbian and many, many more.

Designed for language learners to find native-speaking teachers and exchange partners via Skype or the online classroom, the free version of their service includes great benefits, including access to their learner community.

This access allows you to connect with other learners, ask questions and receive corrections from native speakers of your target language.

If you're looking to invest a little more to have a private tutor or teacher at some point, you can do that on italki too .

You can also read more about italki in our complete review .

Learning vocabulary is essential for language learning success, and these websites will help you do so—efficiently!—for free.

Available languages: Japanese, Portuguese, Arabic, Welsh, Hebrew, German and more.

They use a gaming strategy to make sure you retain more of what you learn, and the truly dedicated will be rewarded by being asked to translate sentences of increasingly comical ridiculousness as they work up through the levels of their language.

To learn more, see our complete Duolingo review here .

Available languages: Spanish, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Mongolian, Yoruba and more.

You can use the cards provided by Memrise and its users, or you can create your own mnemonic devices by composing and finding images for your own cards.

Somehow, repetition doesn’t seem so repetitive when you can turn all your flashcards into irreverent memes and personal in-jokes tailored to you and your own brain.

See our full review of Memrise here .

Available languages: Afrikaans, Filipino, Japanese, French, Hungarian, Polish and more.

Listen to the voice as it names fruits, click them and drag them into a basket, or match English phrases to those in your target language.

It’s a simple platform free of distraction, and it offers that old-school vibe for the Nintendo kids who still have a knack for learning in 16-bit.

If you already know which language you’re going to study , perhaps one of these free language-specific sites can help you get started.

This site is full of incredible digital artwork and helpful French content . Alongside 15 free lessons for beginners, there’s user-friendly stories (like “The Three Little Pigs”) complete with French, English translations and adorable illustrations.

You can find more free online French lessons here .

Note that the website is fully in German—but if you scroll down to the sections titles “Gratis Online-Deutschkurs” (Free Online German Course) and “Gratis Deutsch Audiokurs A1” (Free German Audio Course A1), you should be able to find your way around.

For more resources, check out our in-depth post about how to learn German for free .

Lessons include grammar explanations, review quizzes and native speaker audio. You can find content for absolute beginners all the way up to intermediate level Spanish.

There are more tips and resources in our full guide to learning Spanish for free .

There’s also a Chinese dictionary, multiple phrasebook and writing lessons, as well as plenty of information about Chinese culture, like calligraphy, astrology and traveling in China.

Our guide to learning Mandarin online for free will give you even more resources to explore. 

There’s a whole host of Portuguese information on this site—including further resources for your studies.

Check out our full blog post to explore more free Portuguese learning resources .

There are dozens of short lessons, typically including audio for pronunciation, a script and grammar tips.

If you’re more of an app person, check out this post on free Japanese apps for more budget-friendly options.

You can start learning Arabic on this easy-to-use website from the European Union.

Arabic Online aims to help beginners familiarize themselves with the language , and it offers several paid courses beyond the beginner level.

Using free resources to learn your target language may take a bit of extra organizing on your part in order to get the most out of the experience. You can and should:

• Try several websites. After all, they’re free! Testing various sites can help you find those that best match your needs and interests—like one or two per category. View it as your own personal version of “The Bachelor,” but (hopefully) with significantly less drama.
• Pay attention to level. While some websites can accommodate all levels, others focus more specifically on beginning, intermediate or advanced learners. Finding one that works with your level will help you use it to maximum effect without being demotivating or hindering your progress.
• Pair multiple websites. This gives you a variety of approaches to your target language. Plus, you’re more likely to develop all four language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) and end up with more language confidence.

If you’re trying out free language learning websites because you’re hesitant about committing to a costly course, remember that most paid online language classes have free trials that you should absolutely take advantage of!

Once you’ve figured out how you like to learn with the free sites listed above, it may be beneficial to continue or supplement your language studies with a paid course— here are our current favorites , so you don’t have to go it alone.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

Try FluentU for FREE!

The free language learning websites above prove that money is no obstacle for determined language learners.

Now all you need to do is make the time to study, and you’re all set to start heading towards fluency!

If you dig the idea of learning on your own time from the comfort of your smart device with real-life authentic language content, you'll love using FluentU .

With FluentU, you'll learn real languages—as they're spoken by native speakers. FluentU has a wide variety of videos as you can see here:

FluentU App Browse Screen.

FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.

Didn't catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.

Interactive, dual-language subtitles.

You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's "learn mode." Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU Has Quizzes for Every Video

And FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You get a truly personalized experience.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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20 Real Multilingual Website Examples of 2024

Ever visited a website written in an unfamiliar language and wished you could translate it into a familiar one? Do you want to reach different target markets that cut across multiple languages?

Creating a multi-language website is essential i f you want to have a truly global appeal and great visibility on local search engines. Instead of relying on Google Translate to translate your web pages to your target audience’s local language automatically, design a multilingual site.

You can use the best website builders like Wix and Squarespace to build responsive sites that support multiple language options for your content.

This article covers the 20 best examples of multilingual websites you can use as design inspiration to build your own site.

Let’s get started.

1. Dream Big

Made with Squarespace

Dream Big is a multilingual SEO company comprising a group of international creative professionals with wide experience in digital environments and communication. 

One of the top localized sites, the Dream Big website makes provision to accommodate cultural differences by displaying its website content in a second language, Spanish.

Pinned to the right-hand side of the homepage is an anchor scrolling menu, helping users skip to specific homepage sections. A parallax scrolling effect is visible as users scroll through the home page, one of the site’s catchy design elements.

2. Hors-D'œuvre

Made with Wix

Hors-D’œuvre is a French creative studio that delivers an authentic body of work focused on effortless styles and attention to detail. 

This cool multilingual site gives more detail to its website design, prioritizing machine translation that makes the site one of the stand-out localized sites.

Other than the French version of its site’s content, the Hors-D’œuvre website's other language option is English. Visitors can alternate between these two languages by clicking the language text in the header menu, next to the black-and-white cart icon.

3. Linen Chest

Linen Chest is a family-owned business based in Canada, helping its clients select products to decorate their homes. One of the top multilingual web pages, the Linen Chest multilingual site is well-arranged, displaying images of its products across different homepage sections.

In between the site’s announcement feature and primary header menu is another menu feature that stands out over an extensive Gray background.

A language translating option attached to the last text on the right in the menu displays other language options when clicked on.

4. Japan Mobility

Made with Duda

Japan Mobility provides full-service relocation assistance for those looking to relocate and establish a new life in Japan, making the relocation process easier. A service-oriented company, the Japan Mobility website is one of the intelligently designed multilingual website examples.  

The language switcher feature is visible in a box at the top of the double-fixed header menu displaying various languages. Users can select a different language by clicking on the box feature, which displays two other language options.

Made with WooCommerce

Retrock is the biggest vintage and designer clothes store in Budapest, big on sustainability, which serves as the brand’s DNA. One of the top multilingual website examples, the Retrock website is minimalistic, sticking to a straightforward website design.  

The website's default language is Hungarian, and the brand intends to boost its presence in its local market. English is the only other available language option, a strategy that the brand employs to target new markets and make its products widely known. 

6. Cakemail

Made with Webflow

Cakemail is an AI-integrated email marketing platform for unparalleled engagement and cost efficiency, helping companies boost their online presence. This top multilingual website example is welcoming, displaying colorful animated icons that steal visitors’ attention. 

At the top of the homepage, just above the header menu section are icons, specifically designed to serve different purposes. A web icon stands out in the logo’s text Rich Purple color, serving as the site’s language-switching feature, allowing users to switch to other language options.

7. Edgard Cooper

Made with Shopify

Edgard Cooper is a young company with a long past and a small team with a big heart helping to ensure pets are given the absolute best feeding care. This great multilingual website is visually appealing, displaying bold colors and icons that make it stand out. 

The header menu is one of the site’s best design features, displaying header texts and icons in the logo’s color. A web icon is also visible on the header menu, next to a cart icon, serving as the feature that allows users to change their location and language options. 

Dryrobe’s mission is to inspire, enable, and improve the experience of an active outdoor lifestyle for everyone.

One of the best multilingual website examples, the Dryrobe online store is designed to easily create buzz around its products to target audiences across various languages.

A language switcher feature is visible as bold flags as part of a list of icons in the site’s header menu, displaying four language options. This feature accommodates different versions specifically designed for different markets. 

9. Mad Art Agency

Mad Art Agency is a team that combines strategic thinking, creative design, and innovative technology to make brands unique. This simple multilingual website is aesthetically pleasing, blending different design elements in a predominantly black-and-white color scheme.

A top design brand with a view of international customers, the Mad Art Agency offers its site’s content in different languages. The different locations the brands cover are visible and attached to the bottom of the hero section in a centralized display as text.

10. Mega Marvels

Mega Marvels works with tourists from all over the world, serving clients through trained and qualified guides fluent in different languages. One of the best multilingual website examples, the Mega Marvels website is unique, sticking to a centralized layout for its multilingual content.

Language selection on the Mega Marvels website is easy and easily accessible from the site’s sticky header menu, next to a contact CTA button. Flags of different countries serve as links between different languages and are visible in the site’s header menu.

11. L’AISEA

L’AISEA is an Istanbul-based fashion brand producing women's designs based on style and age groups from woven fabric. This great multilingual website is aesthetically pleasing, sticking to a soft color scheme for its website design. 

The site’s fixed header menu displays bold texts, which are key aspects of the site’s design, with the initial RU and TR standing out. These texts stand for Russian and Turkish, the two other preferred languages this website offers its target audience. 

Moodle is the world’s most customizable and trusted eLearning solution that empowers educators to improve our world. 

One of the best multilingual websites, the Moodle website is aesthetically pleasing, incorporating a touch of the logo’s ArtyClick Orange color into the site’s web design. 

Visitors can change the default language from English by clicking on the language initials displayed beside the search icon in the header menu. 

This education site offers five other language options in a bid to increase its reach and accommodate more target audiences. 

13. Madarek International

Madarek International Holding Company is a Saudi company focusing on investing in promising investment fields with sustainable growth through a diversified investment portfolio. 

One of the outstanding multilingual websites, the Madarek International Holding Company site is professional, with plenty of white spaces visible on the home page. 

A Saudi-based company, the Madarek International website is a global business that sets English as its site’s preferred language to accommodate its international audience. 

Users can change to a different language, Arabic, by clicking on the language switcher feature visible and pinned to the right-hand corner of the homepage.

14. Shift Out

Shift Out is your reliable moving partner in the Netherlands, offering an all-in-one moving solution that makes moving easy for its clients. This simple multilingual website is unique, sticking to black-and-white as the website’s predominant color scheme. 

A Netherland-based brand, the Shift Out website displays the English version of its site’s content to its target audience. 

I love how the translation technology feature is easily visible at the right-hand corner of the homepage, switching the Dutch when clicked on.

15. Gymshark

Gymshark exists to unite the conditioning community, offering workout clothes designed to help its users become their personal best. This top multilingual website example doubles as its online store, displaying its different products using an interactive product carousel feature.

A double-fixed header menu stands out at the top of the Gymshark website’s homepage, displaying header text and icons. There is a translating text feature attached to the English text with a downward pointing arrow that reveals the other language option, Spanish.

16. Hotel Joyet De Maubec

Located in the heart of the old town of Uzerche, Hotel Joyet De Maubec is an exceptional stopover and unforgettable place for the rebirth of the body and soul. 

One of the top multilingual sites, the Hotel Joyet De Maubec website is aesthetically pleasing, displaying high-quality images of the hotel’s interior to attract customers. 

The site’s sticky header menu displays texts and multiple CTA buttons in a gentle color scheme, blending in with the site’s color theme. A language CTA button is visible, displaying two language options, English and French, with English as the default language.

17. Dependable Health Services

Dependable Health Services, a Luke Company, proudly serves government agencies by providing qualified and credentialed professionals in healthcare, allied health, and caregiving positions. 

One of the best multi-language websites, the Dependable Health Services website is modern, sticking to a clean layout for its web design. 

The site’s content is available in multiple languages, with English language as the site’s predominant language. 

Site visitors can change to Spanish, the site’s other language option via a CTA button in the header menu that alternates as the mouse cursor hovers over it.

18. Dream Glass Group

Made with WordPress

Dream Glass Group creates multi-functional spaces for its clients through cutting-edge smart glass technology, sleek aesthetic design, and dedicated customer service. This top multilingual website example sticks to its brand’s identity with its sleek and aesthetic website design.

Several high-quality images steal the attention of the site’s homepage, with a parallax scrolling feature visible as visitors scroll. Visitors can change to three other language options by clicking the country flag’s icon just above the site’s header menu. 

19. FX PRIME

FX PRIME is the leading independent currency advisor for professionals, helping private investors, asset managers, corporates, and small banks successfully manage their FX. 

This financial advisor’s multilingual website example displays two language options, accessible at the right-hand corner of the site’s sticky header menu. 

Several high-quality images serve as background images of different sections with a parallax scrolling effect visible as visitors scroll. A progress indicator is visible at the top and linked to the entire home page, gradually increasing as visitors scroll down the home page.

Notion is a connected workspace where better, faster work happens, with AI at your side to help you write, plan, and share. One of the best multilingual website examples, the Notion website is uniquely designed with a predominantly black-and-white color scheme.  

The centralized layout adds a personal touch to the site’s website design, engaging visitors and screen readers as they access the site. This footer section houses the site’s language translation feature beneath the brand’s social media icons and is visible in black and white.

Multilingual Websites FAQ

The easiest and most widely used method of making a multilanguage website is subdirectories. By implementing subdirectories, different language versions of the sites are hosted in separate folders to accommodate multiple languages. Visitors can then choose the default language or their preferred language from the available language options. 

A multilingual website is an excellent tool to expand your reach in your target market and increase your customer base. There are many benefits to gain from using a multilingual website, including increased sales and website traffic to your website. 

Several website-building options support multiple languages, including Wix, WordPress, Pixpa, EventCreate, and Webnode. Of these website builder options, Wix and WordPress are excellent content management systems. They both stand out in the specific features and affordable pricing plans available to create your own multilingual website. 

The standout benefit you gain from using native language for website content is the higher engagement rates the content generates. These contents only apply to a specific customer base as they are more relatable based on their local preferences for their native tongue. 

Explore Further

• Best Multi-Page Website Examples
• User Interface Design Examples
• Best Clean Website Design Examples
• Examples of Fixed Position Navigation
• Best Website Design Ideas
• Simple & Minimal Websites
• Best ADA-Compliant Website Examples
• Best JavaScript Website Examples
• Interior Design Websites
• Best Professional Services Websites

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