---
id: KB-CC-007
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/contacts-and-channels/writing-to-third-parties-in-their-language
idioma: en
categoria: contactos-canales
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CC-004, KB-CC-002]
citadoPor: [KB-DI-013]
---

# Writing to third parties in their language

_What actually changes when the supplier does not speak your language._

**Responde a:** request documents from a foreign supplier · what language to write to an overseas supplier · translate notices to another language · international supplier documentation

A supplier who does not understand what you are asking for is not an uncooperative supplier: they are a supplier who has not understood. The difference matters, because one is solved by chasing and the other is not.

**En corto**

- The document's name in their language is worth more than the whole email translated.
- English works as a bridge, but not for naming official documents.
- What gets signed is read in the language it is signed in.

## What to translate, in order

| What | Priority | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The document's name | Highest | It is the only thing they have to find in their files |
| The deadline and what it unblocks | High | It is their reason to act today |
| Context about who you are | Medium | English usually suffices |
| The document they sign | Mandatory where it has effects | Nobody should sign what they cannot read |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> If the document being signed has legal consequences, having it in a language the person understands is not courtesy: a signature on text the signer could not read is exactly what gets disputed later.

## The trick that pays off most

Put the official document name in their language **and** in yours, in brackets. They find the paper; you still know what you are being sent when it arrives.

> [!WARNING]
> Be careful translating official document names literally: the equivalent certificate in another country is called something else, and sometimes does not exist. Better to describe what it attests than to invent a name.

> [!NOTE]
> The help centre is in six languages precisely for this: you can link them the article explaining what a case is in their own language instead of explaining it yourself.

**Can I keep templates per language?**

Yes, saved as reply templates.

**What if I do not know their language?**

The company's country language is nearly always right; English is the fallback.

**Does automatic reading work on documents in other languages?**

Yes, including non-Latin scripts.

## Ejemplos

**A company has had nothing from a Portuguese supplier for three weeks.**

- Rewrites the request naming each document in Portuguese and in Spanish
- Links them the help article in Portuguese

→ They deliver in two days; it was never reluctance, they simply did not know what was being asked.

**A foreign supplier is written to in your own language.**

- Sends the notice in their language

→ Response rates rise.

**The link leads to a screen in another language.**

- Checks how the recipient sees it

→ The path is understood on the other side.

**The message is translated but not the document names.**

- Also translates what is being requested

→ The supplier knows what to send.

**The language is assumed from the company's country.**

- Records the contact's language

→ The notice goes out in the right language.

**A contact replies in another language.**

- Updates their language on the record

→ Later sends already go out right.