Abstract: A method of constructing a multi-lingual database includes the step of defining metadata to describe fields of a record as being either language-dependent or language-independent. The fields of the record are so described by flagging descriptions of columns associated with the fields in the metadata. A composite table, including a parent table and a child table, is then automatically generated. The parent table includes columns for the language-independent fields of the record, while the child table includes columns for the language-dependent fields of the record.