diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 943a1d0..cadb31e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,16 +5,6 @@
 
 This package scans your project for missing translation keys and then writes them into individual json files for you to fill in.
 
-## Usage
-
-Scan your project for missing translations:
-
-```
-php artisan langscanner
-// outputs the translations
-// writes them to translation files: en.json. nl.json, de.json, etc.
-```
-
 ## Installation
 
 You can install the package via composer:
@@ -23,6 +13,18 @@ You can install the package via composer:
 composer require druc/laravel-langscanner
 ```
 
+## Usage
+
+Scan your project for missing translations:
+
+```
+// outputs and writes translations for the specified language (dutch)
+php artisan langscanner nl
+
+// outputs and writes translations in the existing {language}.json files
+php artisan langscanner
+```
+
 ## Credits
 
 This package is based on [joedixon/laravel-translation](https://github.com/joedixon/laravel-translation) and [themsaid/laravel-langman-gui](https://github.com/themsaid/laravel-langman-gui)
diff --git a/src/Commands/LangscannerCommand.php b/src/Commands/LangscannerCommand.php
index 5ae5702..c1e6dde 100644
--- a/src/Commands/LangscannerCommand.php
+++ b/src/Commands/LangscannerCommand.php
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 class LangscannerCommand extends Command
 {
-    protected $signature = 'langscanner';
+    protected $signature = 'langscanner {language?}';
     protected $description = "Finds keys without a corresponding translations and writes them into the translation (json) files.";
 
     public function handle()
@@ -20,12 +20,6 @@ public function handle()
         $headers = ["Language", "Key", "Path"];
         $rows = [];
 
-        $languages = new RequiredLanguages(
-            new Filesystem,
-            config('langscanner.languages_path'),
-            config('langscanner.excluded_languages')
-        );
-
         $requiredTranslations = new RequiredTranslations(
             new Filesystem,
             config('langscanner.paths'),
@@ -33,7 +27,17 @@ public function handle()
             config('langscanner.translation_methods')
         );
 
-        foreach ($languages->toArray() as $language) {
+        if ($this->argument('language')) {
+            $languages = [$this->argument('language')];
+        } else {
+            $languages = (new RequiredLanguages(
+                new Filesystem,
+                config('langscanner.languages_path'),
+                config('langscanner.excluded_languages')
+            ))->toArray();
+        }
+
+        foreach ($languages as $language) {
             $missingTranslations = new MissingTranslations(
                 $requiredTranslations,
                 new ExistingTranslations(
diff --git a/src/ExistingTranslations.php b/src/ExistingTranslations.php
index cdd5459..f8ff060 100644
--- a/src/ExistingTranslations.php
+++ b/src/ExistingTranslations.php
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class ExistingTranslations
     private string $language;
     private string $languagesPath;
 
-    public function __construct(Filesystem $disk, string $languagesPath, string $language)
+    public function  __construct(Filesystem $disk, string $languagesPath, string $language)
     {
         $this->disk = $disk;
         $this->language = $language;
diff --git a/src/FileTranslations.php b/src/FileTranslations.php
index 1cbe328..b39fa61 100644
--- a/src/FileTranslations.php
+++ b/src/FileTranslations.php
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@ public function __construct(string $path)
 
     public function update(MissingTranslations $missingTranslations)
     {
-        $existingTranslations = file_get_contents($this->path);
-        $existingTranslations = json_decode($existingTranslations, true);
+        try {
+            $existingTranslations = json_decode(file_get_contents($this->path), true);
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            $existingTranslations = [];
+        }
 
         // Sets keys to an empty string: ['needs translation' => '', etc]
         $unfilledTranslations = array_fill_keys(array_keys($missingTranslations->toArray()), '');