diff --git a/app/models/writing_conference.rb b/app/models/writing_conference.rb
index e163ded..c7f5426 100644
--- a/app/models/writing_conference.rb
+++ b/app/models/writing_conference.rb
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ class WritingConference
     when "abstract"
        value = nl2br(self.abstract)
     when "language"
-       value = I18n.t(self.language) if !self.language.nil? rescue ""
+       value = I18n.t(self.language, :default=> self.language) if !self.language.nil? rescue ""
     when "file"
       files = []
       self.writing_conference_files.each do |conference_files|