Form Language

ODK Collect and XLSForm support multi-language forms.

To add additional languages to your XLSForm, add columns of user-facing content with language-specific columns. All columns representing user-facing text or media can be multi-lingual:

  • label
  • hint
  • media::*
  • constraint_message
  • required_message

Each language column adds two colons and the language name, followed by the two letter language code in parentheses. For example:

  • label::English (en)
  • hint::French (fr)
  • media::image::Español (es)

Note

The text shown in Collect's user interface (e.g., buttons, menus, dialogs) is controlled by application, not the form. See user interface settings for how to change the interface language.

XLSForm — Single language

survey
type name label hint
select_multiple colors color_prefs What colors do you like? Select three.
choices
header:list_name
name label
     
colors red Red
colors blue Blue
colors yellow Yellow
colors green Green
colors orange Orange
colors purple Purple

XLSForm — Multiple languages

survey
type name label::English (en) label::Español (es) hint::English (en) hint::Español (es)
select_multiple colors color_prefs What colors do you like? ¿Qué colores te gustan? Select three. Seleccione tres.
choices
list_name name label::English (en) label::Español (es)
colors red Red Rojo
colors blue Blue Azul
colors yellow Yellow Amarillo
colors green Green Verde
colors orange Orange Anaranjado
colors purple Purple Púrpura
A multi-select widget in Collect. The label is "What colors do you like?" The hint text is "Select three." The choices are: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, and Purple. A multi-select widget in Collect. The label is "¿Qué colores te gustan?" The hint text is "Seleccione tres." The choices are Rojo, Azul, Amarillo, Verde, Anaranjado, and Púrpura.

Warning

There is no fallback language.

If you have specified languages for a column, the non-specific version of that column will be treated as if it were a separate language. (The Change Language menu will list it as Default.)

To avoid this, all columns that can be made multi-lingual need to be created as such for a multi-language form. For example, even if using the same image for a question prompt you will need a media::image::* column for each language. However, you may provide the same media filename for each.

Blank cells in a language-specific column will be blank in the form when that language is active, even if the "default" column has a value.

XLSForm — Multiple languages with media example

survey
type name label::English (en) label::Español (es) media::image::Español (es) media::image::English (en)
text coffee Do you want coffee? ¿Quieres café? mug_es.jpg mug_en.jpg

Switching languages

If your form defines multiple languages and you know most of your data collectors will need to use the same one, you should set an explicit default language. You can do this in your XLSForm's settings sheet:

XLSForm — setting a default language

settings
form_id version default_language
my_form 2024050301 Español (es)

Otherwise, Collect will default to the first language defined.

To switch between available languages on a form, go to ⋮ ‣ Change Language.

Note

Collect will remember the last language you switched to on a form, even if you switch device language.

Changing the form's language display will not change the device language. If you are in a context that requires switching languages often, make sure you know where to do this in your device's Settings menu.