diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ec5b91e..374f0f0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## [0.3.4a1](https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/ovos-utils/tree/0.3.4a1) (2024-10-16)
+## [0.3.5a1](https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/ovos-utils/tree/0.3.5a1) (2024-10-16)
 
-[Full Changelog](https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/ovos-utils/compare/0.3.3...0.3.4a1)
+[Full Changelog](https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/ovos-utils/compare/0.3.4...0.3.5a1)
 
 **Merged pull requests:**
 
-- fix:standardize\_lang [\#281](https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/ovos-utils/pull/281) ([JarbasAl](https://github.com/JarbasAl))
+- fix:standardize\_lang [\#283](https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/ovos-utils/pull/283) ([JarbasAl](https://github.com/JarbasAl))
 
 
 
diff --git a/ovos_utils/lang/__init__.py b/ovos_utils/lang/__init__.py
index 439d30b..e9d89c5 100644
--- a/ovos_utils/lang/__init__.py
+++ b/ovos_utils/lang/__init__.py
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 from os import listdir
 from os.path import isdir, join
-from langcodes import tag_distance,  standardize_tag as std
+from typing import Optional
+
+from langcodes import tag_distance, standardize_tag as std
+
 from ovos_utils.file_utils import resolve_resource_file
 
 
-def standardize_lang_tag(lang_code, macro=True):
+def standardize_lang_tag(lang_code: str, macro=True) -> str:
     """https://langcodes-hickford.readthedocs.io/en/sphinx/index.html"""
     try:
-        return std(lang_code, macro=macro)
+        return str(std(lang_code, macro=macro))
     except:
         if macro:
             return lang_code.split("-")[0].lower()
@@ -17,7 +20,7 @@ def standardize_lang_tag(lang_code, macro=True):
         return lang_code.lower()
 
 
-def get_language_dir(base_path, lang="en-US"):
+def get_language_dir(base_path: str, lang: str ="en-US") -> Optional[str]:
     """ checks for all language variations and returns best path """
     lang = standardize_lang_tag(lang)
 
@@ -33,11 +36,12 @@ def get_language_dir(base_path, lang="en-US"):
                 # 1- 3 -> These codes indicate a minor regional difference.
                 # 4 - 10 -> These codes indicate a significant but unproblematic regional difference.
             if score < 10:
-                candidates.append((f, score))
-
+                candidates.append((f"{base_path}/{f}", score))
+    if not candidates:
+        return None
     # sort by distance to target lang code
     candidates = sorted(candidates, key=lambda k: k[1])
-    return candidates[0]
+    return candidates[0][0]
 
 
 def translate_word(name, lang='en-US'):
diff --git a/ovos_utils/version.py b/ovos_utils/version.py
index 94bf32b..67bb1b7 100644
--- a/ovos_utils/version.py
+++ b/ovos_utils/version.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # START_VERSION_BLOCK
 VERSION_MAJOR = 0
 VERSION_MINOR = 3
-VERSION_BUILD = 4
-VERSION_ALPHA = 0
+VERSION_BUILD = 5
+VERSION_ALPHA = 1
 # END_VERSION_BLOCK