diff --git a/dialogs/preferencesdialog.cpp b/dialogs/preferencesdialog.cpp
index 2e5e8ef81..b9218eda1 100644
--- a/dialogs/preferencesdialog.cpp
+++ b/dialogs/preferencesdialog.cpp
@@ -384,17 +384,24 @@ void PreferencesDialog::setup_ui() {
 	language_combobox->addItem(QLocale::languageToString(QLocale("en-US").language()));
 
 	// add languages from file
-	QDir translation_dir(QApplication::applicationDirPath().append("/ts"));
-	QStringList translation_files = translation_dir.entryList({"*.qm"}, QDir::Files | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
-	for (int i=0;i<translation_files.size();i++) {
-		QString locale_full_path = translation_dir.filePath(translation_files.at(i));
-		QFileInfo locale_file(translation_files.at(i));
-		QString locale_file_basename = locale_file.baseName();
-		QString locale_str = locale_file_basename.mid(locale_file_basename.lastIndexOf('_')+1);
-		language_combobox->addItem(QLocale(locale_str).nativeLanguageName(), locale_full_path);
+	QList<QString> translation_paths = get_language_paths();
 
-		if (config.language_file == locale_full_path) {
-			language_combobox->setCurrentIndex(language_combobox->count() - 1);
+	// iterate through all language search paths
+	for (int j=0;j<translation_paths.size();j++) {
+		QDir translation_dir(translation_paths.at(j));
+		if (translation_dir.exists()) {
+			QStringList translation_files = translation_dir.entryList({"*.qm"}, QDir::Files | QDir::NoDotAndDotDot);
+			for (int i=0;i<translation_files.size();i++) {
+				QString locale_full_path = translation_dir.filePath(translation_files.at(i));
+				QFileInfo locale_file(translation_files.at(i));
+				QString locale_file_basename = locale_file.baseName();
+				QString locale_str = locale_file_basename.mid(locale_file_basename.lastIndexOf('_')+1);
+				language_combobox->addItem(QLocale(locale_str).nativeLanguageName(), locale_full_path);
+
+				if (config.language_file == locale_full_path) {
+					language_combobox->setCurrentIndex(language_combobox->count() - 1);
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/io/path.cpp b/io/path.cpp
index 1c7ba4b67..dc5b26a89 100644
--- a/io/path.cpp
+++ b/io/path.cpp
@@ -44,3 +44,12 @@ QString get_file_hash(const QString& filename) {
 	QString cache_file = filename.mid(filename.lastIndexOf('/')+1) + QString::number(file_info.size()) + QString::number(file_info.lastModified().toMSecsSinceEpoch());
 	return QCryptographicHash::hash(cache_file.toUtf8(), QCryptographicHash::Md5).toHex();
 }
+
+QList<QString> get_language_paths() {
+	QList<QString> language_paths;
+	language_paths.append(get_app_dir() + "/ts");
+	language_paths.append(get_app_dir() + "/../share/olive-editor/ts");
+	QString env_path(qgetenv("OLIVE_LANG_PATH"));
+	if (!env_path.isEmpty()) language_paths.append(env_path);
+	return language_paths;
+}
diff --git a/io/path.h b/io/path.h
index 2a721c0fd..67771b330 100644
--- a/io/path.h
+++ b/io/path.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ QString get_app_dir();
 QString get_data_path();
 QString get_config_path();
 QList<QString> get_effects_paths();
+QList<QString> get_language_paths();
 
 // generate hash algorithm used to uniquely identify files
 QString get_file_hash(const QString& filename);
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 434a62113..bae67df3e 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 						   "\t--no-debug\t\tDisable internal debug log and output directly to console\n"
 						   "\t--disable-blend-modes\tDisable shader-based blending for older GPUs\n"
 						   "\t--translation <file>\tSet an external language file to use\n"
+						   "\n"
+						   "Environment Variables:\n"
+						   "\tOLIVE_EFFECTS_PATH\tSpecify a path to search for GLSL shader effects\n"
+						   "\tFREI0R_PATH\t\tSpecify a path to search for Frei0r effects\n"
+						   "\tOLIVE_LANG_PATH\t\tSpecify a path to search for translation files\n"
 						   "\n", argv[0]);
 					return 0;
 				} else if (!strcmp(argv[i], "--fullscreen") || !strcmp(argv[i], "-f")) {