How to Switch My Computer to English
By Eric Pederson
The world is awash in computers and electronic devices. Fortunately, computer manufacturers had the foresight to include options to alter the default language of their machines. This option opens the computer to people from all over the globe. For someone who spends a great deal of time on the computer, switching the default language is a useful tool to become fully immersed in a language.
Open the "Start" menu, select "Control Panel" and then click on "Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options."
Click "Add Other Languages." A new window titled "Regional and Language Options" will open.
Select the "languages" tab along the top. Click on the "Details" button. A new window titled "Text Services and Input Languages" will open.
Select on the "Settings" tab and click "Add."
Click on the "Input Language" drop-down menu. Select the language you would like to install. The keyboard layout also can be changed to a preferred language by selecting a language layout from the "Keyboard Layout" drop-down menu.
Click "OK" to return to the "Text Services and Input Languages" window. Select the desired language from the drop-down menu beneath the "Default input language" category. Click "OK" to return to the "Regional and Language Options" window.
Select the "Regional Options" tab. Choose the desired language from the drop-down menu beneath the "Standards and Formats" heading.
Select the country from the drop-down menu beneath the "Location" category. Click "OK" when finished to save the settings.
Windows Vista and Windows 7
Open the "Start" menu and click on "Control Panel."
Select "Clock, Language, and Region" to open the "Regional and Language Options" window.
Click on the "Keyboards and Languages" tab. Choose the desired language from the drop-down menu beneath the "Display Language" heading.
Click "OK" to save the settings and close the window.
Eric Pederson has been professionally writing stories, poetry and technology review articles since 2008. He won two national young authors awards and has been published in the online poetry magazine The Sketchbook. He received his Bachelor of Science in secondary English education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.