| How Can I Change My Browser to Spanish? | |
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I read in an article by Mike Moran the mention
of "I've downloaded and installed the Spanish-language interface for Internet Explorer ..."
Do you know what this is and where I can get it?
[Important note: Much of the information in this article may be out of date but is retained here for users with older operating systems. If what you want to do is make Spanish-language articles appear automatically, see this question.] The answer depends on what version of the operating system you have and which version of the browser you wish to use. The short answer is that there is no easy way to "overlay" a Spanish interface on top of just Internet Explorer (but see the update below), although it is possible to download a completely new version of Internet Explorer 6 in Spanish or a multitude of other languages. A related possibility is MSN Explorer, a Microsoft package that includes a version of Internet Explorer as well as other Internet communication tools. MSN Explorer is a available in numerous international versions, including ones for Spain and Latin America. Of course, keep in mind you aren't limited to Microsoft browsers. Both Netscape and Opera are readily available in Spanish versions. Opera can be downloaded and installed in English and then a separate file downloaded later to convert it to Spanish. Once you have Opera and any supplemental language files installed, installed, you can readily switch the browser between the two languages, or others of your choice. A nice feature of Netscape and Opera, regardless of the interface language, is that they can be set to a preferred language for display of Web sites. Some sites are designed so they can tell the preferred language of the browser, and then they'll send pages in that language if it's available. One of them is the Google search engine. If your browser is set to Spanish, for example, you'll get Google in Spanish as its default language.
Update: Here's some more recent information sent by Mike Moran:
When you published my recent email about Spanish learning methods, I
noticed that several readers were wondering how to get the Spanish
interface for Internet Explorer. For whatever reason, it had been
unavailable from Microsoft for some time, but now that have it back at the
Windows Update site. Here's how people can install the Spanish menus and
dialogs for IE:
First, go online and open Internet Explorer. In the Internet Explorer
menu bar, click Tools - Internet Options. Toward the bottom of the
resulting dialog box, click the "Languages" button. The dialog box that
appears will have a line saying that the menus and dialog boxes are
currently shown in English. Click the "Change" button beside this line.
A second, smaller dialog will appear. Click the "Add.." button.
This will take you to the Windows Update site, and the site will spend a
few moments creating a list of suggested downloads. Unless you also want
to download other items, scroll down through the list and un-check any of
the boxes that are checked by default. Toward the bottom of the page,
you'll find the International Language Support section. Look for a
selection that says "Spanish Menus and Dialogs for Internet Explorer," and
click the box beside it to select it. Then go up to the top of the page
and click the blue "Download" arrow.
On the following "Download Checklist" page you'll get a summary of
everything you've selected, it should indicate just the Spanish menus and
dialogs. Click the Start Download arrow and it will download and install
the update. Once it finishes, close the browser window. Return to the
small dialog and click the down arrow beside the "Show menus and dialog
boxes in.." textbox. When the list drops down, Spanish should now be one
of the choices. Click Accept, then click Accept again on the remaining
two dialogs to dismiss them. At some point, you'll get a messagebox
telling you to reboot so the changes can take effect. Once you do that,
the next time you open Internet Explorer the menus and dialogs should be
in Spanish. Because of the integration between IE and Windows, you'll find
Spanish popping up in other places too, like Windows Explorer.
In addition to IE, readers can download the very useful Copernic search
engine with a Spanish interface, which even offers a
default option to search the Web in Spanish. I've found this to be very
handy for locating Spanish-language sites on a given topic.
To do the same in Opera, follow this sequence:
Edit > Preferences > Navigator > Languages
File > Preferences > Languages
Have a question? If you can't find the answer among the FAQ or previously asked questions, feel free to make a query by email. Although you aren't guaranteed a personal response, depending on the volume of mail received, if a question is of general interest, it may be added to the question page. If you need a quicker response, you may be able to get one on the bulletin board.
