Have you added another language pack for that language in admin languages yet.  The computer only knows what you tell it. So if it only has an english version installed as its only option then that is how the emails will be. 

All you have to do is add the language pack for the language you want and then just make it the default. 

Yes. The language pack is there and other emails work in the language of the user. The issue occurs only for the welcome email.

FYI the variables:

base+welcome_letter_template_text

base+welcome_letter_template_html

I am checking the code now... is that lang text in the correct language?

What i mean is those key values you showed, are they in the language you want or are they in english.  I want to be sure the code is grabbing the right values. 

Yes they are in the correct language. See screenshot.

I dont see any issue with the code that sends the email. It does appear to pull the language first.  

Would you be willing to post your language zip file so i can load it on my test site and try it to see what i get?

Here is what happen for me..

I uploaded the lang zip you gave me

I activated it

I then registered and while in registration form i selected french option in top right corner of page. (this must be what they are not doing)

I then registered and this is what i received. 

So everything works as it should.  I think maybe the user is not selecting french lang option when registering. Or you have a plugin that is messing with your email output.

Hi Dave,

The email in your screenshot is the activation email. 

There should be a second welcome email with quick links. That is the one that always renders in English for me.

It should read something like this:

Hi and thanks for joining {SiteName}! Here are some quick links that may help you to find your way around:
- Main page- Change avatar- Upload Photos- Change profile details- Look who's in
Best Regards,--{SiteName}

oh my bad sorry about that, yes i got that and it was in english, one sec let me see if i still have it... When i got it i thought it was for the other test that i did on the same person, as an english test but i did not do an english test ...  My mistake sorry its been a long day... 

here it is and yes it is in english and should be in french... 

Yes, guys, this is a bug we are aware of, it's been already reported and will be fixed asap. 

Cool, thanks!

Hi guys, this is still occurring in 1.8.4. Can you confirm whether the fix was included in the update?

No, it's not. it is still on our roadmap