For businesses with customers in more than one language
Collect testimonials in your customers’ own languages, and translate them honestly
A customer describing their experience in a second language sounds stiffer and says less. Ask in their language, keep what they said, and label any translation you show. The checklist below covers collection, translation and display.
- Which language to ask in, and how to know
- Translating without changing what they meant
- Labelling translations on your site
The problem, solved
What goes wrong when everyone is asked in one language, and how StoryProof fixes it
Situation 1 of 4
Thinner answers
People writing in a second language keep it short and safe. The specific detail that makes a testimonial believable disappears.
How StoryProof solves it
StoryProof forms can be set to any of 6 languages on every plan, so the questions arrive in the language the customer actually thinks in.
Situation 2 of 4
Fewer videos
Speaking on camera in a second language is a bigger ask than writing in one. Many simply decline.
How StoryProof solves it
The same link also accepts an audio note or a written answer, so a customer who will not film themselves can still reply in their own voice or their own words.
Situation 3 of 4
Translations passed off as originals
A polished English quote under a customer who wrote in Portuguese is not quite their words, and careful readers notice.
How StoryProof solves it
Nothing is published until you approve it, which leaves time for a fluent check, and a tag on the translated version tells whoever builds the page that it needs a label.
Situation 4 of 4
The wrong quote on the wrong page
A visitor on your French page who meets a wall of English testimonials learns that other people like you, not that people like them do.
How StoryProof solves it
You pick the testimonials in each widget, so the French page’s widget can hold French originals while the English page keeps its own set.
Checklist
Multilingual testimonial checklist
Tick off each step for every language you collect in.
The checklist runs in your browser and is not saved or sent.
In StoryProof
Set it up in StoryProof
- 1
Create one form per language
Collection forms come in 6 languages on every plan. Set each form’s language and write the prompts in it.
- 2
Send each customer the form in their language
They answer with a video, an audio note or written text, whichever they prefer.
- 3
Approve and tag by language
Every answer waits for your approval. Tag each one with its language, and with “translated” once a checked translation exists.
- 4
Build a widget per language page
Choose which testimonials each widget shows, so your Spanish page shows Spanish testimonials first.
What happens next: As each language collects more originals, swap translations out for native testimonials on that language’s pages.
Before you start
Limits
Six form languages
If a customer’s language is not one of the six available for forms, use the closest common language and let them answer in their own words anyway.
Translation is up to you
StoryProof collects and displays testimonials. Translating them, and checking the translation, is done by you or your translator.
Be careful with machine translation
It is fine for understanding a testimonial. For publishing one, have a fluent person check it first.
Video stays in its spoken language
A video testimonial is heard in the language the customer spoke. Show it on pages whose readers understand that language, or pair it with a labelled written translation in your own page copy.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Short answers to what usually comes up next.
Should I translate testimonials or only show them in their original language?
Both have a place. Originals are strongest for readers of that language; a clearly labelled translation helps everyone else.
Is it misleading to show a translated testimonial?
Not if you say it is translated and the translation is faithful. Presenting it as the customer’s own wording when it is not is the problem.
What if a customer mixes two languages in one answer?
Keep the original as they wrote or said it. If you translate it, translate the whole answer into the page language and label it, rather than quoting only the half that is already in English.
Who should check a translation if nobody on the team speaks the language?
A paid translator, or a fluent colleague or partner you trust. If no fluent check is possible, show the original only and leave the translation off the page.
Still have a question? Ask the StoryProof team or book a demo.
Ask in the language they think in
Create a form for each of your customers’ languages and start collecting answers that sound like them.
Last updated 2026-11-04.