# LibreTranslate language detection issue **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/libretranslate-language-detection-issue/411017 **Category:** Self-hosting **Tags:** translation, interface, ux **Created:** [August 27, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/libretranslate-language-detection-issue/411017 "2026-08-27T00:15:40Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 1
### Author: ![happyhappy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58f4c7/32.png) [@happyhappy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/happyhappy) #### Post date: [August 27, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/libretranslate-language-detection-issue/411017/1 "2026-08-27T00:15:40Z")
We added LibreTranslate via docker container to our new (8 mo.) Discourse instance. It works well for certain languages (es, de, nl). However, it fails miserably with Basque (eu) and other languages. I set up a script to make JSON calls of our version of libretranslate, and confirmed them with the test model at [libretranslate.com](http://libretranslate.com) . In both cases, it failed to recognize simple Basque sentences. However, when I specified Basque as the source language, they both translated well. Although this is a libretranslate problem (and I did try unsuccessfully to install the `lingua-language-detector` in the container using `pip install lingua-language-detector`), I wonder if a Discourse solution might be employed. The idea is to use the interface language of the message sender to set the source language for the translation operation, rather using ‘auto’ detection.` Any idea whether this is feasible or potentially actionable? --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/libretranslate-language-detection-issue/411017)._