# gt-next: General Translation Next.js SDK: loadDictionary
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/docs/next/api/config/load-dictionary.mdx
---
title: loadDictionary
description: API reference for the loadDictionary() function
---

## Overview

`loadDictionary` loads a translation JSON file for a given locale.

This function is intended for those who want to use `gt-next` as a stand-alone i18n library.

This function is primarily used to migrate existing projects with i18n to General Translation while keeping their existing translations.
Follow [this guide](/docs/next/guides/migration) to set this up.

If multiple translations exist, translations from dictionaries loaded by `loadDictionary` will always take precedence over the others.
`loadDictionary` only supports JSON files with string translations.

## Reference

### Parameters

<TypeTable
  type={{
  "locale": {
      type: 'string',
      optional: false,
  },
}}
/>

### Description

| Type     | Description                                         |
| -------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `locale` | The locale for which translations should be loaded. |

### Returns

A `Promise<any>` that resolves to a dictionary mapping ids to translations for the given locale.

***

## Setup

Generally, you will load the dictionary from the `./public/locales` directory.

Define `loadDictionary` as the default export in a file named `loadDictionary.js` or `loadDictionary.ts`, either in the `src/` directory or at the root.
Make sure the function returns a promise that resolves to an object containing translations for the given locale.

```jsx title="src/loadDictionary.js"
export default async function loadDictionary(locale) {
  const translations = await import(`../public/locales/${locale}.json`);
  return translations.default;
}
```

<Callout>
  **Question:** What&#39;s the difference between [`loadTranslations`](/docs/next/api/config/load-translations) and [`loadDictionary`](/docs/next/api/config/load-dictionary)?

  * [`loadTranslations`](/docs/next/api/config/load-translations) is used to define custom loading behaviour for fetching translations for your app.
    This could mean getting translations from a CDN, a database, or your app&#39;s bundle.
    These are usually machine-generated translations, managed by the CLI tool, and not particularly user-friendly to edit.
  * [`loadDictionary`](/docs/next/api/config/load-dictionary) is intended for implementations of `gt-next` as a standalone library.
    Users bring their own translations, and no translation infrastructure is used.
</Callout>

***


## Notes

* `loadDictionary` is used to load custom translations for your app.
* Dictionaries loaded by `loadDictionary` will take precedence over translations loaded by [`loadTranslations`](/docs/next/api/config/load-translations).

## Next steps

* If you want to write your own translations, see [custom translations](/docs/next/concepts/stand-alone).
* See [`loadTranslations`](/docs/next/api/config/load-translations) for more information on writing a custom translation loader.