SpeakYourUsers'Language

Why Multi-Language Matters

Global products need global communication. When users receive notifications in their own language:

• Higher engagement: Open rates increase 30-50% for localized content
• Better experience: Users feel valued and understood
• Reduced support: Fewer "I don't understand this email" tickets
• Legal compliance: Some regions require native language communication

How It Works

1. Set User Language

Store the user's preferred language in their profile:

// When creating or updating a user
await sendivent.contacts.upsert({
  email: 'hans@example.de',
  name: 'Hans Schmidt',
  language: 'de'  // ISO 639-1 language code
});

2. Create Localized Templates

Create templates for each language you support:

3. Send as Usual

The API call is the same—Sendivent selects the right template:

await sendivent.send('welcome', {
  user: { email: 'hans@example.de' },
  payload: { activationUrl: 'https://app.example.com/activate' }
});
// Hans receives the German template automatically

Locale-Aware Formatting

Dates, numbers, and currencies are formatted according to each user's locale:

Date Formatting

Order placed: {{formatDate orderDate "long" user.language}}

Currency Formatting

Total: {{formatCurrency amount "USD" user.language}}

Number Formatting

Items: {{formatNumber quantity user.language}}

Translation Workflow

Dashboard Overview

Track your translation coverage at a glance:

• See which events have templates for each language
• Identify missing translations before they cause fallbacks
• Export template content for translators
• Import translated content back

Template Organization

Organize templates by language in the dashboard:

Events/
├── welcome/
│   ├── email/
│   │   ├── en (default)
│   │   ├── de
│   │   ├── es
│   │   └── ja
│   └── sms/
│       ├── en (default)
│       └── de
└── order-confirmation/
    └── email/
        ├── en (default)
        └── de

Fallback Chain

Configure how Sendivent handles missing translations:

1. Exact match: de-AT (Austrian German)
2. Language match: de (German)
3. Default language: en (English)

RTL Language Support

Right-to-left languages like Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian require special handling. Sendivent manages this automatically:

• Email templates get dir="rtl" attribute
• Text alignment is reversed appropriately
• Mixed LTR/RTL content is handled correctly

Example Arabic Template

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
  <h1>مرحباً {{user.name}}!</h1>
  <p>شكراً لطلبك رقم {{payload.orderNumber}}</p>
</div>

Best Practices

1. Start With Your Top Languages

Don't try to support every language at once:

1. Check your analytics for user language distribution
2. Start with your top 3-5 languages
3. Add more as you grow

2. Keep Templates in Sync

When you update the English template, update translations too:

• Use our template comparison feature
• Track which templates were updated since last translation
• Set up notifications for stale translations

3. Test Across Languages

Some languages require more space than English:

• German text is often 30% longer
• Test email layouts with the longest translations
• Ensure SMS templates fit in character limits

4. Handle Pluralization

Different languages have different plural rules:

{{#eq user.language "en"}}
  You have {{count}} {{pluralize count "item"}}
{{/eq}}
{{#eq user.language "ru"}}
  У вас {{count}} {{pluralizeRu count "товар" "товара" "товаров"}}
{{/eq}}