How Language Translation Works: Supported Languages, Settings, and Priority Order

CanIPhish makes it easy to deliver phishing simulations, training, and notifications in your users’ preferred languages. We support 75 written languages and 29 spoken languages, allowing you to create inclusive, global-ready campaigns with minimal effort. If you want to know what languages are supported and at what level, click here.

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1. Where Can Language Settings Be Configured?
2. Language Precedence: Which Setting Wins?
3. Phishing Translations
4. Training Module Translations
5. Notification Translations
6. Language Settings: Platform Level
7. Language Settings: Campaign Level
8. Language Settings: Employee Level (Employee Lists)
9. Language Settings: Changed by Employee
10. Common Scenarios and Recommended Configuration
    • Multinational Companies with Regional Business Units
    • A Single Location with a Multilingual Workforce
    • Single-Language Organization in a Non-English-Speaking Country

1. Where Can Language Settings Be Configured

Platform Level

Language can be configured at a platform level from within the platform settings. This is recommended for organizations with a single preferred language.

Campaign Level

When setting up a campaign, you can select the preferred language for phishing emails and for training modules. This is recommended for organizations that have employees speaking multiple languages, and the language preference is known.

Employee Level

Using employee lists, you can set up each employee to have a preferred language. This is recommended for organizations with diverse language requirements where employees, which will be included in the same campaigns speak different languages

Change by the Employee

Employees can select their preferred language from within the training module or, their learner platform. This allows employees to receive training material in the language they are most comfortable with.

2. Language Precendence: Which Setting Wins?

The platform uses an order of precedence system to decide which language a user sees. This varies slightly depending on what part of the platform you're using — phishing emails, training modules, or notifications. Here’s a quick summary of how each works:

Phishing Emails

• Language Explicitly Set In The Campaign.
  • Language Set To Dynamic Translation In Campaign:
    • Check If The Employee's Language Is Set In The Relevant Employee List. If Set, Use Language.
      • If Not Set, Default To English.

Limitation: Custom emails aren't translated.

Training Modules

• Language Explicitly Set By Employee In Learner Dashboard (Saved As A Browser Cookie).
  • Language Explicitly Set In Training Campaign
    • Language Set To Dynamic Translation In Training Campaign:
      • Check If The Employee's Language Is Set In The Relevant Employee List. If Set, Use Language.
        • If Not Set, Check User's Browser Settings At The Time Of Module Load To Determine Language.

Notification Settings

• Language Explicitly Set at Platform Level.
  • Language Set To Dynamic Translation In Platform Settings > Language Settings:
    • Check If The Employee's Language Is Set In The Relevant Employee List. If Set, Use Language.
      • If Not Set, Default To English.

Limitation: Custom emails aren't translated.

3. Phishing Email Translations

Simulated phishing emails in CanIPhish can be delivered in all 75 supported languages, including those used by our AI-powered conversational phishing engine. This ensures your phishing simulations are relevant, realistic, and globally accessible.

Language selection for phishing emails follows a clear order of precedence:

1. Language explicitly set in the campaign takes priority. This ensures all recipients receive emails in the chosen language, regardless of personal settings.

2. If the campaign is set to use dynamic translation, the system will:

   • Check the employee’s language setting in the relevant employee list.

   • If no language is set for the employee, the system defaults to English.

Important: If you're using custom email templates, these will not be translated. They'll be served exactly as you've written them, so be sure to create separate templates for different languages if needed.

4. Training Module Translations 

CanIPhish supports 75 written languages and 29 spoken languages across our training modules, making it easy for employees to learn in the language they’re most comfortable with.

Whenever a training module includes spoken content, subtitles are automatically included. If a spoken language isn’t available for a specific module, our team can provide subtitles in your preferred language upon request.

Language selection for training modules follows a clear order of precedence:

1. Employee-selected language in the Learner Dashboard takes top priority. This preference is saved in a browser cookie and automatically applied to future modules.

2. If the employee hasn’t set a language, the language explicitly defined in the training campaign will be used.

3. If the campaign is set to use dynamic translation, the platform will:

   • First check if the employee’s language is set in the relevant employee list.

   • If not set, fall back to the user’s browser language at the time the module is loaded.

It's important to note that learners can select their preferred language from within the module. This can be done by clicking "Settings" at the top right. This will bring up the language selection modal

5. Notification Translations

Training notifications in CanIPhish can be automatically translated into any of our 75 supported languages. 

Language selection for notifications follows this order of precedence:

1. Language explicitly set in Platform Settings takes top priority.

2. If Platform Settings are configured to use dynamic translation, the system will:

   • Check if an employee’s language setting is specified in an employee list

   • If no language is set for the employee, the system defaults to English.

Certificates of completion that are generated after a training has been completed are reliant on the notification translation setting. If dynamic translation is selected, then learners will receive certificates of completion in their preferred language (as specified in corresponding employee lists).

Important: If you're using custom notification templates, these will not be translated. They’ll be sent exactly as you've written them. 

6. Language Settings: Platform Level

Platform-level language settings are simple to configure and ideal for companies that operate in a single language.

Platform-level settings are not included in the order of precedence for phishing emails and training modules, but if you're using platform-level settings, your campaigns will default to your preferred language, meaning you are using "Campaign Level" translations.

You can set this up by going to Platform Settings > Language Settings, where you’ll choose your preferred default language for:

• Training modules

• Phishing emails

• Notifications

Once configured, this setting applies across your entire tenant—meaning you don’t need to adjust language settings at the campaign or employee level unless you want more granular control. 

7. Language Setting: Campaign Level

Campaign-level language settings sit high in the order of precedence and directly impact both phishing emails and training modules.

You can configure the exact language to be used on a campaign-by-campaign basis, giving you tight control over how content is delivered to your users.

These settings are found within the Campaign Wizard, specifically when selecting your phishing email templates and/or training content. You can choose a static language or opt for dynamic translation, which will defer to the employee's language settings within their employee list when available.

Using campaign-level settings is ideal when you’re running region-specific campaigns or need to override the platform default for a particular audience.

8: Language Settings: Employee Level (Employee Lists)

Employee-level language settings are a powerful way to automate language selection and ensure each person receives content in their preferred language.

To use this feature, two things need to be in place:

1. The campaign or platform must be set to use dynamic translation.

2. Each employee’s preferred language must be defined using the advanced attributes available in your employee lists.

When these are configured, CanIPhish will automatically deliver phishing emails and training modules in the correct language—without any manual setup for each campaign.

This approach is ideal when you’re running multilingual campaigns or looking to scale with fully automated language delivery across diverse teams.

9. Language Settings: Changed By Employee

Employee-level language settings apply only to training modules and sit at the very top of the order of precedence.

This setting allows each user to select the language they're most comfortable with directly from the Learner Dashboard or within the training module. Once chosen, the preference is saved as a browser cookie, so they won’t need to select it again in future training sessions.

If no language is selected by the employee, the system falls back to the remaining order of precedence:

1. Language explicitly set in the training campaign

2. If set to dynamic translation, the language defined in the employee list will be used

This setup ensures that learners always receive training in the most relevant and familiar language, without relying solely on admin configuration.

10. Common Scenarios and Recommended Configuration

Scenario 1: Multinational Companies with Regional Business Units

Your organization operates across multiple regions — for example, a team in Sydney, Paris, and Tokyo. Each region uses a different primary language, and your awareness campaigns need to reflect that.

There are two common setup options, depending on how you manage employees and campaigns.

Approach A: Centralised Campaigns Using Dynamic Translation

•  

  • Platform Level: Set to Dynamic Translation.

  • Campaign Level: Set to Dynamic Translation.

  • Employee Level (Employee List):  Assign each employee their preferred language using advanced attributes.

Best for
Organizations looking to keep their employees within the same employee list despite geographic location/preferred langauge.

Why it works
You can launch a single campaign, and CanIPhish will automatically deliver content in each employee’s preferred language.

Approach B: Separate Campaigns by Region or Language

•  

  • Platform Level: English (or whatever language you prefer)

  • Campaign Level: Set a specific language per campaign (e.g. English for Sydney, Japanese for Tokyo).

Best for
Companies where regional teams run their own campaigns.

Why it works
This approach gives you complete control over how content is presented in each region.

Scenario 2: A Single Location with a Multilingual Workforce

Your business operates from a single location, but your workforce speaks a mix of languages. For example, a manufacturing plant, contact center, or logistics hub may employ people who speak Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, and more. Everyone works together, but not everyone learns best in English.

Recommended Setup

• Platform Level: Set to Dynamic Translation.

• Campaign Level: Set to Dynamic Translation.

• Employee Lists: Use one central list and assign each employee a preferred language.

Why it works
This approach keeps things simple to manage while ensuring each employee receives content in a language they’re comfortable with. It promotes inclusivity without requiring multiple campaigns.

Scenario 3: Single-Language Organization in a Non-English-Speaking Country

Your company is based in a non-English-speaking country, such as Germany, Japan, or Brazil. The organization operates in a single language, and you want all training, phishing, and notifications delivered in that language by default.

Recommended Setup

• Platform Level: Set to your preferred language (e.g. German)

Why it works
This setup provides a straightforward way to maintain consistency across all campaigns without needing extra configuration. It’s ideal when everyone uses the same language, and there's no need for dynamic content delivery.