diff --git a/beszel/site/src/lib/i18n.ts b/beszel/site/src/lib/i18n.ts
index 3b7e8bc..0ba1007 100644
--- a/beszel/site/src/lib/i18n.ts
+++ b/beszel/site/src/lib/i18n.ts
@@ -1,29 +1,41 @@
 import { $direction } from "./stores"
 import { i18n } from "@lingui/core"
+import type { Messages } from "@lingui/core"
+import languages from "@/lib/languages.json"
 import { detect, fromUrl, fromStorage, fromNavigator } from "@lingui/detect-locale"
 import { messages as enMessages } from "../locales/en/en.ts"
 
-// const locale = detect(fromUrl("lang"), fromStorage("lang"), fromNavigator(), "en")
-const locale = detect(fromStorage("lang"), fromNavigator(), "en")
+console.log(languages)
+
+// let locale = detect(fromUrl("lang"), fromStorage("lang"), fromNavigator(), "en")
+let locale = detect(fromStorage("lang"), fromNavigator(), "en")
 
 // log if dev
 if (import.meta.env.DEV) {
 	console.log("detected locale", locale)
 }
 
+// activates locale
+function activateLocale(locale: string, messages: Messages = enMessages) {
+	i18n.load(locale, messages)
+	i18n.activate(locale)
+	document.documentElement.lang = locale
+	$direction.set(locale.startsWith("ar") ? "rtl" : "ltr")
+}
+
+// dynamically loads translations for the given locale
 export async function dynamicActivate(locale: string) {
 	try {
-		const { messages } = await import(`../locales/${locale}/${locale}.ts`)
-		i18n.load(locale, messages)
-		i18n.activate(locale)
-		document.documentElement.lang = locale
-		$direction.set(locale.startsWith("ar") ? "rtl" : "ltr")
+		const { messages }: { messages: Messages } = await import(`../locales/${locale}/${locale}.ts`)
+		activateLocale(locale, messages)
 		localStorage.setItem("lang", locale)
 	} catch (error) {
 		console.error(`Error loading ${locale}`, error)
+		activateLocale("en")
 	}
 }
 
+// handle zh variants
 if (locale?.startsWith("zh-")) {
 	// map zh variants to zh-CN
 	const zhVariantMap: Record<string, string> = {
@@ -38,9 +50,17 @@ if (locale?.startsWith("zh-")) {
 		"zh-Hant": "zh-HK",
 	}
 	dynamicActivate(zhVariantMap[locale] || "zh-CN")
-} else if (locale && !locale.startsWith("en")) {
-	dynamicActivate(locale.split("-")[0])
 } else {
-	i18n.load("en", enMessages)
-	i18n.activate("en")
+	locale = (locale || "en").split("-")[0]
+	// use en if locale is not in languages
+	if (!languages.some((l) => l.lang === locale)) {
+		locale = "en"
+	}
+	// handle non-english locales
+	if (locale !== "en") {
+		dynamicActivate(locale)
+	} else {
+		// fallback to en
+		activateLocale("en")
+	}
 }