Prompting in Your Own Language: Native Script, Romanised and Mixed Text

Nadia in Dhaka writes to her customers in Bangla. Mateo in Bogotá answers his in Spanish. Priya in Pune chats with friends in a mix of Hindi and English, typed with Latin letters. Each of them has been told, at some point, "just write your prompt in English". It is useful advice only if English is comfortable for you. A prompt is a tool for getting work done, and you should be able to use it in the language you think and work in.

This page shows how to do that on purpose. The worked examples use Bangla (the second language of this platform), Spanish and Hindi. Every technique works for any language: Arabic, Swahili, Japanese, Tamil, Portuguese, or the language of your own town. Swap in your language where you see ours. The structure comes from What a Prompt Really Is: Goal, Audience, Context and Deliverable and The Anatomy of a Good Prompt: Task, Context, Input and Output Format; only the words change. The next page, Translation and Mixed-Language Quality: Meaning, Names, Numerals and Tone, goes deeper on checking quality.

What you will learn

• How to write a clear task in your own language, in its own script, and in romanised or mixed text such as Banglish or Hinglish.
• How to compare native-script, romanised and English instructions on the same task, and what to measure instead of assuming.
• How to state the output language, and why the prompt language and the output language are two separate choices.
• How to ask for natural language instead of word-for-word translation, translate in both directions, keep technical terms in English where it makes sense, and set tone and register.

How to read the examples on this page

Each non-English example is followed by an English gloss, a plain English version of its meaning. You do not need to read Bangla, Spanish or Hindi to follow the lesson. The prompt and reply blocks are identical on the Bangla and English versions of this page. All names, dates and orders are invented, and every reply is an illustrative example written for teaching. If you cannot read the language of a reply, use the checks on this page: the facts, a round trip and a person who speaks the language.

One shared scenario runs through the page. A small online shop must tell customers that an order will arrive late, on 2026-11-04, and that they may cancel for a full refund.

Write a clear task in your own language

A clear prompt in your language needs the same things as in English: a goal, who the reader is, the facts, the limits and the format. Writing in your own script is allowed and normal. Here is the same task in three languages.

Prompt:

একজন গ্রাহককে একটা ছোট ইমেইল লিখুন।
তাঁকে জানান যে তাঁর অর্ডার দেরিতে, 2026-11-04 তারিখে, পৌঁছাবে।
তিনি চাইলে অর্ডার বাতিল করে পুরো টাকা ফেরত পেতে পারেন।
ভাষা হবে সহজ ও ভদ্র। ইমেইলটা 100 শব্দের মধ্যে রাখুন।

English gloss (Bangla): Write a short email to a customer. Tell them their order will arrive late, on 2026-11-04. If they wish, they can cancel the order and get a full refund. The language should be simple and polite. Keep the email within 100 words.

Prompt:

Escribe un correo breve para un cliente.
Dile que su pedido llegará con retraso, el 2026-11-04.
Si lo desea, puede cancelar el pedido y recibir un reembolso completo.
Usa un lenguaje sencillo y cortés. Máximo 100 palabras.

English gloss (Spanish): The same task: a short email, the order is late and arrives on 2026-11-04, the customer may cancel for a full refund, simple and polite language, at most 100 words.

Prompt:

एक ग्राहक को छोटा ईमेल लिखिए।
उन्हें बताइए कि उनका ऑर्डर देर से, 2026-11-04 को, पहुँचेगा।
अगर वे चाहें, तो ऑर्डर रद्द करके पूरा पैसा वापस पा सकते हैं।
भाषा सरल और विनम्र रखिए। ईमेल 100 शब्दों के भीतर हो।

English gloss (Hindi, Devanagari script): The same task again: a short email, the order will arrive late on 2026-11-04, the customer may cancel and get the full money back, simple and polite language, within 100 words.

Look at what is inside each prompt: the action (write an email), the reader (a customer), the facts (late, the date, the refund option), the tone (simple, polite) and the limit (100 words). The words are in another language; the anatomy is the same. The date is written as 2026-11-04, which every reader can read the same way. Here is a short illustrative reply to the Bangla prompt.

Example reply (illustrative; yours will differ):

বিষয়: আপনার অর্ডারের নতুন তারিখ

প্রিয় গ্রাহক,

দুঃখিত, আপনার অর্ডার পৌঁছাতে দেরি হচ্ছে। এখন এটি 2026-11-04 তারিখে পৌঁছাবে।
আপনি চাইলে এই ইমেইলের উত্তর দিয়ে অর্ডার বাতিল করতে পারেন। আমরা পুরো টাকা ফেরত দেব।

ধন্যবাদ।

English gloss: Subject: The new date for your order. Dear customer, sorry, your order is arriving late. It will now arrive on 2026-11-04. If you wish, you can cancel the order by replying to this email. We will refund the full amount. Thank you.

What to verify: the date is exactly 2026-11-04; the refund is full, as you said; nothing was added (a discount, a phone number, a reason for the delay); the address form is polite; and the sentences sound natural to a native reader. If you are not a native reader, ask one.

Write the same task in romanised or mixed-language form

Many people type their language in Latin letters (romanised text) or switch between two languages in one sentence (mixed or code-switched text). Banglish (Bangla in Latin letters) and Hinglish (Hindi in Latin letters) are examples. Chat assistants can usually read such text, but romanised spelling has no single standard, so one word may appear in several spellings. Here is the same task as before.

Prompt:

Ekjon customer ke ekta chhoto email likho.
Take janao je tar order ta deri te, 2026-11-04 e, pouchabe.
Se chaile order cancel kore puro taka ferot pete pare.
Bhasha shohoj ar bhodro rakho.

English gloss (Banglish): Write a short email to a customer. Tell them their order will arrive late, on 2026-11-04. If they wish, they can cancel the order and get all their money back. Keep the language simple and polite.

Prompt:

Ek customer ko ek chhota email likho.
Unhe batao ki unka order der se, 2026-11-04 ko, pahunchega.
Agar woh chahein, to order cancel karke poora paisa wapas le sakte hain.
Bhasha saral aur vinamra rakho.

English gloss (Hinglish): The same task: write a short email to a customer, the order will arrive late on 2026-11-04, they may cancel and get the full money back, keep the language simple and polite.

Prompt:

কাস্টমারকে একটা ছোট ইমেইল লিখুন।
অর্ডার লেট হবে, নতুন ডেট 2026-11-04।
চাইলে ক্যানসেল করে ফুল রিফান্ড নিতে পারবেন।
ভাষা সহজ আর ভদ্র রাখুন।

English gloss (Bangla script with English words): Write a short email to the customer. The order will be late, the new date is 2026-11-04. If they want, they can cancel and take a full refund. Keep the language simple and polite.

The third block is mixed text in Bangla script: English words (customer, late, date, cancel, refund) written in Bangla letters. This is how many people actually talk and type. It is a fine way to write a prompt. Three practical tips for romanised and mixed text:

• Keep your spelling steady inside one prompt. If you write one word two ways, the model may treat them as two words.
• Put the critical facts in an unambiguous form. Dates as 2026-11-04, amounts with digits, names exactly as they should appear.
• Say what the reply should be written in. A prompt in Latin letters does not tell the model whether you want a reply in Latin letters, in the native script or in English. The next sections show how to say it.

Compare native-script, romanised and English instructions

Which of the three forms works best for you? Do not guess, and do not copy a claim from a forum. The answer depends on the model, the task and the language, and it changes when models change. Run a small test on your own work. Use one task, one fixed set of facts and the same output language, and change only the language and script of the instructions.

Then score each reply with the same checklist:

• Facts: date, amount, name, condition (refund) all correct and nothing added.
• Instructions followed: length limit, format, tone, language of the reply.
• Naturalness: would a native reader find it normal and polite? Ask one if you can.
• Effort and cost: how many edits did you need? If your tool shows token counts, note them.

Research note (as of 2026-10-12): two studies from 2023 (Petrov et al., and Ahia et al.) found that the same text in different languages can need very different numbers of tokens, and that speakers of many languages may pay more, or fit less into the context window, for the same content. Those studies used the tokenizers of that time, and tokenizers differ between models and change. So the cost of a given script or of romanised text is something to measure with your own tool, not to assume. The same holds for quality: it can differ by language, task and model, and you cannot read it off the language alone. Test on your own examples. Check the current documentation of your tool for how it counts tokens.

Specify the language of the final answer

If you do not say, the model decides. It often follows the language of the prompt, or of the pasted text, but not always. Here the instruction is English and the customer message is Spanish.

Weak prompt:

Reply to this customer message. The new arrival date is 2026-11-04.

Hola, mi pedido todavía no ha llegado. ¿Pueden decirme cuándo llegará?

English gloss of the customer message: Hello, my order has not arrived yet. Can you tell me when it will arrive?

The reply could come in English (the language of the instruction) or in Spanish (the language of the message). That is a guess on the model's side, and a wrong guess costs you an edit or an embarrassing email. Say what you want, and name the variety if it matters, for example the Spanish used in your market, or the Bangla of your readers.

Better prompt:

Reply to the customer message below.
Reply language: Spanish, the same language as the customer.
Use the polite "usted" form. At most 60 words.
Fact to use: the new arrival date is 2026-11-04. Do not promise anything else.

Customer message:
###
Hola, mi pedido todavía no ha llegado. ¿Pueden decirme cuándo llegará?
###

Example reply (illustrative; yours will differ):

Hola, gracias por escribirnos. Su pedido llegará el 2026-11-04.
Lamentamos la demora y quedamos atentos a cualquier otra duda.

English gloss: Hello, thank you for writing to us. Your order will arrive on 2026-11-04. We are sorry for the delay and remain available for any other question.

Check that the language is the one you named, that the date is right, and that nothing was promised beyond your facts (a refund, a discount, a tracking number).

Separate the prompt language from the output language

These are two independent choices. You can instruct in the language you are most precise in, give the input in whatever language it already is, and ask for the output in the language of the reader. Mixing them is normal work: a manager in Dhaka may read a Spanish customer message through a Bangla note.

Prompt:

Instructions language: English. The customer message below is in Spanish.
Task: write a two-sentence note for our warehouse team saying what the customer
asked and what we must confirm.
Note language: Bangla.
Fact: the new arrival date is 2026-11-04.

Customer message:
###
Hola, mi pedido todavía no ha llegado. ¿Pueden decirme cuándo llegará?
###

Example reply (illustrative; yours will differ):

গ্রাহক জানতে চেয়েছেন তাঁর অর্ডার কবে পৌঁছাবে।
অনুগ্রহ করে নতুন তারিখ, 2026-11-04, নিশ্চিত করুন।

English gloss: The customer asked when their order will arrive. Please confirm the new date, 2026-11-04.

Here the model has read Spanish, followed English instructions and written Bangla. Check the meaning against the original message, and check the date. If you work with people who do not read the output language, ask for a second line in a language they read (for example "then add one line in English that says the same"), but remember that two versions are two things to check.

Ask for natural standard language, not word-for-word translation

Every language has its own word order, its own polite phrases and its own way of saying ordinary things. A word-for-word translation keeps the English structure and often sounds foreign, stiff or unclear to a native reader. Ask for the meaning in natural, standard writing for the situation. Standard language means the form that most readers accept in writing, without slang or one narrow local style, unless you ask for it.

Prompt:

Translate the text below into Bangla for customers.
- Write natural, standard Bangla, as a polite customer-service message is normally written.
- Do not translate word for word. Keep the meaning, the date and the conditions exactly.
- Use the formal register (আপনি). Do not add or remove information.

Text:
###
Your order will now arrive on 2026-11-04. If this date does not suit you, reply to this
email and we will cancel the order and refund you in full.
###

Example reply (illustrative; yours will differ):

আপনার অর্ডার এখন 2026-11-04 তারিখে পৌঁছাবে। এই তারিখ আপনার সুবিধাজনক না হলে এই ইমেইলের উত্তর
দিন; আমরা অর্ডারটি বাতিল করে আপনাকে পুরো টাকা ফেরত দেব।

English gloss: Your order will now arrive on 2026-11-04. If this date is not convenient for you, reply to this email; we will cancel the order and refund you the full amount.

Here আপনি is the formal "you" of Bangla; the register table later on this page explains it. Notice that "does not suit you" became "is not convenient for you" and that the sentence order follows Bangla habits. The structure changed; the meaning did not. That is the aim. Natural does not mean freely rewritten: the date, the refund and the condition must survive unchanged.

Translate your language into professional English

The other direction matters just as much: you write in your language and need English for a customer, a partner or a manager. Ask for professional English in a named register, and tell the model to keep the facts.

Prompt:

Translate the text below into professional English for a business email.
Keep dates, amounts and conditions exactly. Do not add information.
If something in the text is unclear, list it after the translation under "Unclear:".

Text:
###
আপনার অর্ডার এখন 2026-11-04 তারিখে পৌঁছাবে। এই তারিখ আপনার সুবিধাজনক না হলে এই ইমেইলের উত্তর
দিন; আমরা অর্ডারটি বাতিল করে আপনাকে পুরো টাকা ফেরত দেব।
###

Example reply (illustrative; yours will differ):

Your order will now be delivered on 2026-11-04. If this date is not convenient for you,
please reply to this email. We will cancel the order and refund the full amount.

Unclear: none.

This is also a useful round trip. You wrote English, got Bangla, and translated the Bangla back to English in a new conversation. If the returned English says the same as the original (same date, same refund, same condition), the Bangla probably kept the meaning. If it differs, find out where. Round trips are a quick screening, not a proof: a model can quietly repair a mistake on the way back. For anything important, ask a person who speaks the language to read the translation.

Preserve technical terms in English where appropriate

In many fields people keep English words as they are: login, password, API, error code, product names, file names, commands. Whether that is right depends on the language, the audience and the field. A pharmacy notice and a software error message follow different habits. Do not leave it to chance: list the terms to keep, and the terms to translate with the wording you want.

Prompt:

Translate the text below into Bangla for app users.
Keep these terms in English letters exactly as written: login, password, error code.
Translate everything else into natural Bangla. Do not change the numbers.

Text:
###
Your login failed three times. Reset your password with the link below.
If the problem continues, send us the error code.
###

Example reply (illustrative; yours will differ):

আপনার login তিনবার ব্যর্থ হয়েছে। নিচের লিংক ব্যবহার করে আপনার password রিসেট করুন।
সমস্যা চলতে থাকলে আমাদের error code পাঠান।

English gloss: Your login failed three times. Use the link below to reset your password. If the problem continues, send us the error code.

Always keep untouched: code, commands, file names, product and brand names, error messages that a user may search for, and abbreviations such as API or SQL. If you prefer a translated term for some word, give the pair: "translate 'order number' as 'número de pedido'" (for Spanish). A short glossary in the prompt is the most reliable way to keep a whole document consistent.

Adjust tone and register for formal and informal audiences

Register is how formal the language is. Many languages build it into the grammar: there are different words for "you", and verbs change with them. Choose it for the reader and the situation, and say so in the prompt.

English gloss of the last column: "Your order will arrive" in the formal and then the informal form, in each language. English has only one "you", which is why English readers often miss this choice. Greetings, closings and polite request forms change with register too. Here is a prompt that asks for two registers at once.

Prompt:

Write the notice below in Bangla twice.
Version 1: formal register for an older customer. Use আপনি.
Version 2: informal, friendly register for a student club. Use তুমি.
Keep the facts identical in both versions.

Notice: Your order will arrive on 2026-11-04. To cancel, reply to this email.

Example reply (illustrative; yours will differ):

Version 1: আপনার অর্ডার 2026-11-04 তারিখে পৌঁছাবে। বাতিল করতে চাইলে এই ইমেইলের উত্তর দিন।
Version 2: তোমার অর্ডার 2026-11-04 তারিখে পৌঁছাবে। বাতিল করতে চাইলে এই ইমেইলের উত্তর দাও।

English gloss: Both versions say: your order will arrive on 2026-11-04; if you want to cancel, reply to this email. Version 1 uses the formal "you" and the polite verb form; Version 2 uses the informal "you" and the informal verb form.

Which register is right depends on the audience, the culture, your organisation and sometimes the region. The model can follow a register you name, but it cannot know your customers. When the message matters, let a native speaker confirm the choice.

A template that works for any language

Put the language choices in named slots, then fill them for your language. The same prompt serves Arabic, Swahili, Japanese or any other language.

Prompt:

Task: {what to do}
Instructions language: {the language I am writing in}
Input language: {language of the pasted text}
Reply language: {language and variety, in the script I want}
Register: {formal or informal, and who the reader is}
Keep in English: {terms, names, codes}
Facts to use: {dates, amounts, names, conditions}
Limits: {length, format}
Do not add information that is not in the facts.

Where this shows up at work

• Customer messages: replying in the customer's language and register, with facts that are checked and a team that can read what was sent.
• Internal teams: notes and reports written in the language people think in, summarised in the language managers read.
• Building AI features: a product used in several languages needs the reply language and the register as explicit settings, and it needs tests in each language. Differences in cost and quality by language are measured, not assumed.

Common mistakes

• Not naming the reply language. The model guesses and may answer in the wrong language or script. The fix: always write "Reply language: ..." and, if it matters, the script and variety.
• Believing one form is always best. Statements such as "English prompts always win" are folklore. The fix: run the three-version test on your own task and measure.
• Accepting a fluent translation without checking facts. A smooth sentence can change a date, an amount or a condition. The fix: compare facts, do a round trip, and ask a speaker for important text.
• Word-for-word translation. It keeps English structure and sounds odd. The fix: ask for natural, standard writing for the situation, and keep the facts fixed.
• Wrong register. An informal "you" to an elder customer, or a formal one to a close friend, can offend. The fix: name the reader and the register in the prompt.
• Translating things that must stay. Code, file names and error messages break if translated. The fix: list the terms to keep.

Try it yourself

1. Easy. Pick the language you know best (any language). Take the shop scenario from this page (order late, new date 2026-11-04, full refund on request) and write the task in that language, in its own script. Add the reply language, a length limit and a tone. Run it, and check the date and the refund in the reply.
2. Medium. Run the same task three times: instructions in your language in its own script (A), in romanised or mixed text (B), and in English (C). Keep the facts and the reply language identical. Score each reply with the four-point checklist (facts, instructions followed, naturalness, effort and cost). Write two sentences about what you saw. Do not generalise beyond your own test.
3. Hard. Use the template from this page for a task of your own: English instructions, an input text in your language, and a reply in a third language that you can check (or ask a person to check). Ask for a one-line English summary for yourself. Then do a round trip on the reply, list every difference from the original meaning, and name the part of the prompt (from The Anatomy of a Good Prompt: Task, Context, Input and Output Format) that you would tighten.

Answers

Easy. A strong answer is a prompt in your language with: an action (write a short email), a reader (a customer), the facts (late, 2026-11-04, refund for cancelling), a tone and a length limit, plus a line naming the reply language. For example, in Spanish: Escribe un correo breve para un cliente. ... Idioma de la respuesta: español. Máximo 100 palabras. (English gloss: "Write a short email for a customer. ... Reply language: Spanish. At most 100 words.") Pass checklist: the date matches exactly; the refund is full; nothing invented (no discount, no number); the length limit holds; the language and script are the ones you named; the tone is polite.

Medium. Results vary by tool and language, and a single run proves little. Pass checklist: you kept the facts and reply language identical in A, B and C; you scored each reply on the four points with a short note; you did not claim a winner beyond your test; you noticed whether the reply language followed your instruction in all three; you repeated one version a second time to see how much a reply varies on its own.

Hard. Answers vary. Pass checklist: the prompt names instructions language, input language, reply language, register and the terms to keep; the facts section contains only facts you can verify; the English summary matches the reply; the round-trip comparison lists each difference (or says there is none) with the sentence it came from; your improvement is concrete (for example "add a glossary of three terms" or "state the register").

Summary

• You can prompt in your own language, in its own script. Use the same parts as always: goal, reader, facts, limits and format.
• Romanised and mixed text (Banglish, Hinglish and many others) usually works too. Keep spelling steady and give critical facts in an unambiguous form.
• Compare native-script, romanised and English instructions by testing on your own task. Cost and quality differ between languages and models, so measure and do not assume.
• Always name the reply language, and treat prompt language, input language and reply language as separate choices.
• Ask for natural, standard writing instead of word-for-word translation; keep technical terms in English where it suits the audience; name the register. Check facts, use a round trip, and ask a speaker when it matters.

Next: Translation and Mixed-Language Quality: Meaning, Names, Numerals and Tone goes further with conversational and formal language, names and dates, numerals, rewriting mixed messages and judging translation quality with a meaning checklist.