diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0106_user_preferred_language.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0106_user_preferred_language.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a77030a05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0106_user_preferred_language.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.5 on 2021-10-06 19:17
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("bookwyrm", "0105_alter_connector_connector_file"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="user",
+            name="preferred_language",
+            field=models.CharField(
+                blank=True,
+                choices=[
+                    ("en-us", "English"),
+                    ("de-de", "German"),
+                    ("es", "Spanish"),
+                    ("fr-fr", "French"),
+                    ("zh-hans", "Simplified Chinese"),
+                    ("zh-hant", "Traditional Chinese"),
+                ],
+                max_length=255,
+                null=True,
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/user.py b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
index 637baa6ee..d7945843f 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/user.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from bookwyrm.connectors import get_data, ConnectorException
 from bookwyrm.models.shelf import Shelf
 from bookwyrm.models.status import Status, Review
 from bookwyrm.preview_images import generate_user_preview_image_task
-from bookwyrm.settings import DOMAIN, ENABLE_PREVIEW_IMAGES, USE_HTTPS
+from bookwyrm.settings import DOMAIN, ENABLE_PREVIEW_IMAGES, USE_HTTPS, LANGUAGES
 from bookwyrm.signatures import create_key_pair
 from bookwyrm.tasks import app
 from bookwyrm.utils import regex
@@ -133,6 +133,12 @@ class User(OrderedCollectionPageMixin, AbstractUser):
         default=str(pytz.utc),
         max_length=255,
     )
+    preferred_language = models.CharField(
+        choices=LANGUAGES,
+        null=True,
+        blank=True,
+        max_length=255,
+    )
     deactivation_reason = models.CharField(
         max_length=255, choices=DeactivationReason, null=True, blank=True
     )