Multi-language updates

Maintain multilingual capabilities by adding languages, updating language-specific knowledge and voices, and managing pronunciation rules. Keep translations and behavior rules up-to-date as your business expands to new markets.

Quick reference

I need to…	Action
Add a new language	Behavior → Additional languages
Update language-specific knowledge	Edit topics with language variants or use `<language:xx>` tags
Change voice for a language	Voice > Settings → select language card
Fix a translation issue	Behavior > Language > Translations → edit the card
Add language-specific pronunciations	Voice > Advanced settings > Speech > Pronunciation → add rules per language
Test language switching	Agent Chat → select language from dropdown

Adding or removing languages

Adding a new language

Go to Behavior and add the language under Additional languages
Configure a voice for the new language in Voice > Settings
Add language-specific knowledge (see below)
Add any necessary translation overrides
Update behavior rules for the new language – use <language:xx> tags to scope rules to specific languages
Add pronunciation rules for the new language
Test in Agent Chat using the language dropdown, then publish

Use a multilingual voice model (such as ElevenLabs multilingual or Cartesia sonic) for proper pronunciation across languages. See Voice for available providers including ElevenLabs, Cartesia, Hume, Rime, Minimax, PlayHT, and Google TTS.

Removing a language

Remove the language from Behavior under Additional languages, then update any language-specific knowledge, translations, pronunciation rules, and functions. The agent will fall back to the main language for callers speaking the removed language.

Language-specific knowledge

FAQs with language variants

Go to Knowledge > FAQs
Create or edit a topic
Add language variants for each supported language with translated or culturally-appropriate content
Translate both sample questions and content for each variant
Save and test

Sample questions must be in the same language as caller inputs – they are compared with user inputs during the retrieval process.

Conditional content with `<language:xx>` tags

For content where you don’t need full language variants, use <language:xx> tags to serve language-specific content in a single prompt:

<language:en>
Please hold while I check your account.
</language>
<language:es>
Por favor espere mientras reviso su cuenta.
</language>

This works in behavior rules, FAQs content, flow steps, and function descriptions.

Sources per language

Add separate sources per language:

URL sources – add the language-specific version of your website
File sources – upload language-specific documents
Integration sources – configure integrations (such as Zendesk or Gladly) to return language-specific content

Shared vs. language-specific knowledge

Use shared knowledge when…	Use language-specific knowledge when…
Information is universal (phone numbers, addresses)	Content needs translation
Data is language-agnostic (product IDs, prices)	Cultural context matters
Maintaining multiple versions is impractical	Local regulations differ by region

Updating voices per language

Use native voices – don’t use an English voice for Spanish
Match regional accents – Mexican Spanish for Mexico, Castilian for Spain
Test pronunciation of language-specific characters
Multilingual TTS models are convenient but may have slightly lower quality than language-specific models

Language detection and switching

By default, the agent detects the caller’s language automatically through ASR and responds in that language. If detection is too aggressive or not sensitive enough, adjust in behavior rules – for example, instruct the agent to only switch after the caller has spoken consistently in a different language for multiple turns. For explicit selection, create a Managed Topic that lets callers choose their language and use a function to set it:

def set_language(language_code):
    conv.set_language(language_code)
    return {"utterance": f"Switching to {language_code}."}

Language-specific functions

Accessing the current language

Access the current language in functions with conv.language:

def dynamic_response():
    current_language = conv.language

    if current_language == "es":
        return {"utterance": "Respuesta en español"}
    else:
        return {"utterance": "Response in English"}

Using translation cards in functions

For hard-coded utterances that need language-specific versions, use the conv.translations object instead of if/else branching. Create a translation card, then reference it by key:

conv.translations.tn_greeting

For translation keys with special characters:

getattr(conv.translations, "key with special chars")

What to translate

Not all project content needs translation. See the full reference table in Multi-language setup. Key rules:

Keep instructions in English (e.g., “Ask for the user’s phone number”)
Translate example utterances and scripted responses
If content is directed at the agent, keep it in English. If it will be spoken aloud to the customer, translate it.
Topic names, actions, function names, and Python code should stay in English.

Fixing translation issues

Issue	Solution
Awkward phrasing	Add a manual override on the Translations page
Cultural mismatches	Use culturally-appropriate equivalents for idioms
Incorrect terminology	Use domain-specific terms with a glossary
Formatting issues	Localize date/time/number formats per language
Pronunciation issues	Add language-specific rules in Advanced voice settings

For content where auto-translation isn’t sufficient, use the Translations page to create manual overrides. For bulk updates to FAQs, export as CSV, translate the content, then re-import.

Testing

Open Agent Chat and select a language
Verify the agent responds correctly
Switch languages mid-conversation and confirm detection works
Test with native speakers for naturalness and cultural appropriateness

Maintenance checklist

Monthly: Audit content parity across languages
Quarterly: Review voices for naturalness
Ongoing: Update all languages together – don’t let translations lag behind

Multi-language setup – configure language support and see the full “what to translate” reference
Translations – manage manual translation overrides
Advanced voice settings – pronunciation and speech configuration
Voice Library – browse and select voices per language
FAQs – add language variants
Voice – programmatic voice configuration with provider classes

PolyAcademy

Recipes

Maintain

Glossary

FAQs

Quick reference

Adding or removing languages

Adding a new language

Removing a language

Language-specific knowledge

FAQs with language variants

Conditional content with `<language:xx>` tags

Sources per language

Shared vs. language-specific knowledge

Updating voices per language

Language detection and switching

Language-specific functions

Accessing the current language

Using translation cards in functions

What to translate

Fixing translation issues

Testing

Maintenance checklist

​Quick reference

​Adding or removing languages

​Adding a new language

​Removing a language

​Language-specific knowledge

​FAQs with language variants

​Conditional content with <language:xx> tags

​Sources per language

​Shared vs. language-specific knowledge

​Updating voices per language

​Language detection and switching

​Language-specific functions

​Accessing the current language

​Using translation cards in functions

​What to translate

​Fixing translation issues

​Testing

​Maintenance checklist

​Related pages

Quick reference

Adding or removing languages

Adding a new language

Removing a language

Language-specific knowledge

FAQs with language variants

Conditional content with `<language:xx>` tags

Sources per language

Shared vs. language-specific knowledge

Updating voices per language

Language detection and switching

Language-specific functions

Accessing the current language

Using translation cards in functions

What to translate

Fixing translation issues

Testing

Maintenance checklist

Related pages