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Alexey D
Alexey D

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How to Detect Text Language in Python — 55 Languages, Free API

#python #api #nlp #tutorial

How to Detect Text Language in Python — 55 Languages, Free API

Building a multilingual app? Routing support tickets? Filtering content by region? You need to know what language a text is written in — fast and reliably.

This guide shows how to detect text language in Python and JavaScript using a free API that supports 55+ languages and returns a confidence score.

The API: Language Detector Pro

👉 Language Detector Pro on RapidAPI

  • 55+ languages including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi
  • Confidence score (0.0–1.0)
  • Short text support (works on 10+ characters)
  • Batch endpoint (up to 20 texts per request)

Sample Response 

{
  "language": "ru",
  "language_name": "Russian",
  "confidence": 0.97,
  "alternatives": [
    {"language": "uk", "confidence": 0.02},
    {"language": "bg", "confidence": 0.01}
  ]
}
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Python Example 

import requests

def detect_language(text):
    url = "https://language-detector-pro.p.rapidapi.com/detect"
    headers = {
        "X-RapidAPI-Key": "YOUR_KEY",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }
    r = requests.post(url, json={"text": text}, headers=headers)
    data = r.json()

    return {
        "language": data["language_name"],
        "code": data["language"],
        "confidence": data["confidence"]
    }

# Usage
texts = [
    "Hello, how are you?",
    "Привет, как дела?",
    "Bonjour, comment allez-vous?",
    "こんにちは、お元気ですか？",
    "مرحبا، كيف حالك؟"
]

for text in texts:
    result = detect_language(text)
    print(f"{result['language']:<12} ({result['code']}) | confidence: {result['confidence']:.0%}")
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Output:

English      (en) | confidence: 99%
Russian      (ru) | confidence: 97%
French       (fr) | confidence: 98%
Japanese     (ja) | confidence: 99%
Arabic       (ar) | confidence: 99%
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JavaScript Example 

async function detectLanguage(text) {
  const res = await fetch("https://language-detector-pro.p.rapidapi.com/detect", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "X-RapidAPI-Key": "YOUR_KEY",
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ text })
  });

  const data = await res.json();
  console.log(`${data.language_name} (${data.language}) — ${(data.confidence * 100).toFixed(1)}%`);
  return data;
}

detectLanguage("Eu falo português");
// Portuguese (pt) — 96.3%

detectLanguage("Ich spreche Deutsch");
// German (de) — 98.7%
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Batch Detection

Detect language for up to 20 texts at once — perfect for routing support tickets:

import requests

tickets = [
    "My order hasn't arrived",
    "Mi pedido no ha llegado",
    "Meine Bestellung ist nicht angekommen",
    "我的订单还没有到达"
]

r = requests.post(
    "https://language-detector-pro.p.rapidapi.com/batch",
    json={"texts": tickets},
    headers={"X-RapidAPI-Key": "YOUR_KEY", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
)

for i, item in enumerate(r.json()):
    print(f"[{i}] {item['language_name']:<12} → route to {item['language'].upper()} support team")
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Output:

[0] English      → route to EN support team
[1] Spanish      → route to ES support team
[2] German       → route to DE support team
[3] Chinese      → route to ZH support team
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Real-World Use Cases

  • Support routing — automatically assign tickets to the right language team
  • Content moderation — filter content by language/region
  • Chatbots — detect language before responding
  • Translation pipelines — route text to the correct translation service
  • SEO analysis — identify language of scraped content

Free Tier

Free tier available — no credit card required.

👉 Subscribe here: Language Detector Pro on RapidAPI

Also check out: Phone Validator Pro | Email Validator Pro

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