diff --git a/core/modules/locale/locale.bulk.inc b/core/modules/locale/locale.bulk.inc
index ed3d3a6..0e033bb 100644
--- a/core/modules/locale/locale.bulk.inc
+++ b/core/modules/locale/locale.bulk.inc
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@ function locale_translate_import_form($form, &$form_state) {
   // the list of existing and then predefined languages.
   form_load_include($form_state, 'inc', 'language', 'language.admin');
   if (empty($existing_languages)) {
-    $language_options = language_admin_predefined_list();
-    $default = key($language_options);
+    $language_options = array_merge(
+      array('' => t('- Select a language -')),
+      language_admin_predefined_list());
+    $default = '';
+    $required = TRUE;
+    $desc = t('The language will be added automatically.');
   }
   else {
     $default = key($existing_languages);
@@ -37,8 +41,18 @@ function locale_translate_import_form($form, &$form_state) {
       t('Existing languages') => $existing_languages,
       t('Languages not yet added') => language_admin_predefined_list()
     );
+    // Don't set 'required' mark if it doensn't matter anyway.
+    $required = FALSE;
+    $desc = '';
   }
 
+  // Check for existing translations; the overwrite_optinos are unnecessary
+  // if they don't exist. This is unlikely (and the check is imperfect since
+  // we do not check for specific languages) but may still help ease confusion
+  // on new sites.
+  $existing_c = (bool) db_query_range('SELECT 1 FROM {locales_target} WHERE customized = 1', 0, 1)->fetchField();
+  $existing_nc = (bool) db_query_range('SELECT 1 FROM {locales_target} WHERE customized = 0', 0, 1)->fetchField();
+
   $form['file'] = array(
     '#type' => 'file',
     '#title' => t('Translation file'),
@@ -50,28 +64,34 @@ function locale_translate_import_form($form, &$form_state) {
     '#title' => t('Language'),
     '#options' => $language_options,
     '#default_value' => $default,
+    '#required' => $required,
+    '#description' => $desc,
   );
 
   $form['customized'] = array(
-    '#title' => t('Treat imported strings as custom translations'),
+    '#title' => t('Treat imported strings as customized translations'),
     '#type' => 'checkbox',
+    '#description' => t("Until you've actively used the distinction (by e.g. using this import screen), 'customized' is everything entered through the 'Translate' screen. 'non-customized' is everything else."),
   );
   $form['overwrite_options'] = array(
     '#type' => 'container',
     '#tree' => TRUE,
   );
   $form['overwrite_options']['not_customized'] = array(
-    '#title' => t('Overwrite non-customized translations'),
+    '#title' => t('Overwrite existing non-customized translations'),
     '#type' => 'checkbox',
     '#states' => array(
       'checked' => array(
          ':input[name="customized"]' => array('checked' => TRUE),
       ),
     ),
+    '#access' => $existing_nc,
   );
   $form['overwrite_options']['customized'] = array(
     '#title' => t('Overwrite existing customized translations'),
     '#type' => 'checkbox',
+    '#description' => t("One of the situations where you probably want to check the corresponding 'Overwrite' checkbox, is if you are re-importing an updated .po file which was imported earlier."),
+    '#access' => $existing_c,
   );
 
   $form['actions'] = array(