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Add Language Codes to Employee Profiles

Learn how to use language codes—short identifiers that represent each employee’s preferred language—by adding them to your employee data.

Jared Ellis avatar
Written by Jared Ellis
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Who can use this feature?

Available on:

  • All Culture Amp subscriptions

Overview


Customize the platform experience by setting a language preference for each employee. This guide walks you through how to add language codes to your employee data file, what happens after you upload it, and how to enable those languages across your account.

Note: Uploading language codes sets the language preference in an employee’s profile, but the platform features will not display in that language unless it has also been activated by our support team.

What are Language Codes?


Language codes are two-letter identifiers (with optional classifiers) that represent an employee's preferred language. You can add these codes in the Language column of your employee data file.

How to Update Your Employee Data File


  1. Open your employee data file
    Use the file you normally upload to Culture Amp.

  2. Add or update the Language column
    If it doesn’t exist yet, add a new column titled Language.

  3. Enter the correct language code
    Use the language codes listed in the table below. Example: fr for French, pt-BR for Brazilian Portuguese.

  4. Save and upload the updated file
    Once uploaded, each employee’s Preferred language will update automatically.

Tip: If all employees can comfortably use US English, you can leave the language column blank. Their default language will be set to English (US).

Tier 1 and Tier 2 Language Codes List

Below are the supported language codes to use in the Language column of your employee data file.

Language (in English)

Native Language

Language Code

English (US English)

English

en

English (UK English)

English

en-gb

Albanian

Shqip

sq-AL

Arabic

العربية

ar

Bulgarian

български

bg

Simplified Chinese

简体中文‬

zh

Traditional Chinese

繁体中文

zh-TW

Czech

čeština

cs

Danish

dansk

da

Dari

دری

fa-AF

Dutch

Nederlands

nl

Estonian

Eesti keel

et

Farsi

فارسی

fa-IR

Finnish

Suomi

fi

French

français

fr

French Canadian

français canadien

fr-CA

French Creole

fransè ayisyen

ht

German

Deutsch

de

Greek

ελληνικά

el

Hebrew

עִברִית

he

Hindi

हिंदी

hi

Hungarian

Magyar

hu

Indonesian

Bahasa Indonesia

id

Italian

italiano

it

Japanese

日本語

ja

Khmer

ភាសាខ្មែរ

km-KH

Korean

한국의

kr

Latvian

Latviešu

lv

Lithuanian

Lietuvių

lt

Malay

Bahasa Melayu

ms

Maori

Te reo Maori

mi

Nepali

नेपाली

ne-NP

Norwegian

Norsk

no

Polish

Język Polski

pl

Portuguese

Português

pt

Brazilian Portuguese

Português brasileiro

pt-BR

Romanian

Limba Română

ro

Russian

русский

ru

Serbian

српски

sr

Sinhala

සිංහල

si-LK

Slovak

Slovenčina

sk

Somali

Soomaali

so-SO

Spanish

Español

es

Latin American Spanish

Español latinoamericano

es-419

Swedish

Svenska

sv

Filipino

Tagalog

tl

Tamil

தமிழ்

ta-LK

Thai

ไทย

th

Turkish

Türkçe

tr

Ukrainian

Українська

uk

Vietnamese

Việt

vi

Welsh

Cymraeg

cy

Tier 3 Languages (Not Officially Supported)

While you can add tier 3 language codes to employee profiles, these languages are not officially supported and have important limitations. To learn more about language tiers and which parts of the platform are covered, check out our supported languages article.

Language (in English)

Native Language

Language Code

Armenian

Հայերեն

hy

Belarusian

беларуская

be

Burmese

မြန်မာစာ

my

Croatian

Hrvatski

hr

Informal German

Deutsch (informell)

de-x-informal

Kannada

ಕನ್ನಡ

kn

Maltese

Malti

mt

Persian

فارسی

fa

Slovene

Slovenščina

sl

Urdu

اُردُو

ur

Uzbek

O‘zbekcha

uz

Zulu

isiZulu

zu

After You Upload Your File


Once your updated file is uploaded:

  • The Preferred language field will automatically update for each employee profile.

  • However, employees will only see the platform or surveys in their preferred language if that language has been enabled at the account and survey level.

  • This language preference will be used for any surveys or experiences where that language is available.

Enabling Languages at the Account and Survey Level


Adding language codes to the employee file does not automatically activate those languages across the platform. To fully enable them at the account or survey level, follow these steps:

Enable Languages at the Account Level

  1. Start a support conversation

  2. Share the language codes you want enabled

  3. Our Product Support Team will activate them for your account.

Once enabled, employees will see parts of the platform in their preferred language (where multilingual support is available).

Enable Languages for Surveys or Performance Cycles

To make languages available in specific surveys or performance cycles, follow the guidance below:

FAQs


Can I remove English as a language?

No. English is always available on the platform and cannot be removed.

What happens if I upload a language code that hasn’t been enabled on the account?

The employee’s language preference will still be saved in their profile, but they won’t see the platform or surveys in that language until it's activated by our support team.

Can I add Tier 3 languages to employee profiles?

Yes, but these languages are not officially supported and have important limitations. We recommend using Tier 1 or Tier 2 languages for the best experience. Check out our supported languages article to learn more.

Who should I contact to enable additional languages?

Please reach out to our Product Support Team via a support conversation and share the list of language codes you'd like to enable.


💬 Need help? Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.

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