Embodiments of the present technology enable messages including one or more custom characters (and potentially also one or more standard characters) to be communicated between client devices, wherein each of the custom characters includes at least one tag word that enables a meaning of the custom character to be better understood, and wherein such tag words can be translated from one language to another to enable users that understand different languages to better be able to communicate with one another using the custom characters. Beneficially, embodiments described herein overcome many of the drawbacks associated with electronic messages being limited to including only standard characters, such as standard emoji. Embodiments described herein also enable users that speak different languages to more easily and readily communicate with one another using a messaging application.