diff --git a/common/src/choices.ts b/common/src/choices.ts
index 35d173f3..9df18779 100644
--- a/common/src/choices.ts
+++ b/common/src/choices.ts
@@ -178,6 +178,12 @@ export const LANGUAGE_CHOICES = {
   Zulu: 'zulu',
 }
 
+export const LOCALE_TO_LANGUAGE: Record<string, string> = {
+  en: 'english',
+  fr: 'french',
+  de: 'german',
+} as const
+
 export const RACE_CHOICES = {
   'Black/African origin': 'african',
   'East Asian': 'asian',
diff --git a/web/components/filters/use-filters.ts b/web/components/filters/use-filters.ts
index 184522ed..530b5969 100644
--- a/web/components/filters/use-filters.ts
+++ b/web/components/filters/use-filters.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import {LOCALE_TO_LANGUAGE} from 'common/choices'
 import {MAX_INT, MIN_INT} from 'common/constants'
 import {FilterFields, initialFilters, OriginLocation} from 'common/filters'
 import {logger} from 'common/logging'
@@ -11,19 +12,17 @@ import {debounce, isEqual} from 'lodash'
 import {useCallback, useEffect} from 'react'
 import {useIsLooking} from 'web/hooks/use-is-looking'
 import {usePersistentLocalState} from 'web/hooks/use-persistent-local-state'
-import {useLocale} from 'web/lib/locale'
+import {getLocale} from 'web/lib/locale-cookie'
 
 export const useFilters = (you: Profile | undefined, fromSignup?: boolean) => {
   const isLooking = useIsLooking()
-  const {locale} = useLocale()
 
-  // Set French as default language filter if from signup and locale is French
   const getInitialFilters = (): Partial<FilterFields> => {
     const baseFilters = isLooking
       ? initialFilters
       : {...initialFilters, orderBy: 'created_time' as const}
-    if (fromSignup && locale === 'fr') {
-      return {...baseFilters, languages: ['french']}
+    if (fromSignup) {
+      baseFilters.languages = [LOCALE_TO_LANGUAGE[getLocale()]]
     }
     return baseFilters
   }
diff --git a/web/pages/signup.tsx b/web/pages/signup.tsx
index 339191c9..eaa8c65f 100644
--- a/web/pages/signup.tsx
+++ b/web/pages/signup.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import {LOCALE_TO_LANGUAGE} from 'common/choices'
 import {ProfileWithoutUser} from 'common/profiles/profile'
 import {removeNullOrUndefinedProps} from 'common/util/object'
 import {useRouter} from 'next/router'
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ export default function SignupPage() {
   }, [user, holdLoading])
 
   const {locale} = useLocale()
-  const language = {en: 'english', fr: 'french'}[locale]
+  const language = LOCALE_TO_LANGUAGE[locale]
 
   // Omit the id, created_time?
   const [profileForm, setProfileForm] = useState<ProfileWithoutUser>({