diff --git a/assets/js/Ioda/components/header/Header.js b/assets/js/Ioda/components/header/Header.js
index df7fb401..21470058 100644
--- a/assets/js/Ioda/components/header/Header.js
+++ b/assets/js/Ioda/components/header/Header.js
@@ -83,10 +83,9 @@ import {
 } from "../../utils/storage";
 import { CloseOutlined, MenuOutlined } from "@ant-design/icons";
 
-const languageOptions = [
-  { value: "en", label: "English" },
-  { value: "fa", label: "Farsi" },
-];
+import languages from "../../constants/strings/languages.json"
+
+const languageOptions = Object.entries(languages).map(([label, value]) => ({ label, value }));
 
 const Header = () => {
   const [language, setLanguage] = useState(getSavedLanguagePreference());
diff --git a/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/es/app.json b/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/es/app.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 8f12a48a..00000000
--- a/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/es/app.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "home": {
-    "title": "ES - IODA",
-    "subheader": "ES - A platform for Applied Network Data Analysis"
-  }
-}
diff --git a/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/index.js b/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/index.js
index 404e0a1d..10de2c9c 100644
--- a/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/index.js
+++ b/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/index.js
@@ -39,24 +39,17 @@ import T from "i18n-react";
 // let language = window.navigator.userLanguage || window.navigator.language;
 
 export const changeLanguage = (language) => {
-  let languageString = "";
-  switch (language) {
-    case "en":
-      languageString = "en";
-      break;
-    case "fa":
-      languageString = "fa";
-      break;
-    default:
-      languageString = "en";
-      break;
-  }
-
-  // ToDo: would like to change json files out for yml files eventually
-  let strings = Object.assign({}, require(`./${languageString}/app.json`));
-
+  let strings;
   let defaultStrings = Object.assign({}, require(`./en/app.json`));
 
+  try {
+    strings = Object.assign({}, require(`./${language}/app.json`));
+  }
+  catch (err) {
+    console.log(err)
+    strings = defaultStrings;
+  }
+  // ToDo: would like to change json files out for yml files eventually
   T.setTexts(strings, {
     notFound: (key) => {
       const defaultStringLocation = key.split(".");
@@ -68,6 +61,6 @@ export const changeLanguage = (language) => {
     },
   });
 };
-changeLanguage(localStorage.getItem("lang") != null ? localStorage.getItem("lang") :"en")
+changeLanguage(localStorage.getItem("lang") != null ? localStorage.getItem("lang") : "en")
 
 export const CUSTOM_FONT_FAMILY = "Inter, sans-serif";
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/languages.json b/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/languages.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40ab3c1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assets/js/Ioda/constants/strings/languages.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+    "en": "English",
+    "fa": "Farsi"
+}
\ No newline at end of file