by Charles Miller

A question I am asked on a regular basis is included in an email I received recently. "Is there a way to set the internet to always be in English?" Though not explicitly stated, I am quite sure the asker of the question would have added "without moving from San Miguel to an English-speaking country."

The answer to that question is definitely maybe. While there is no way to set the internet to always be in English so that your computer and/or smart phone only displays that language, there are some options that might help. None of the options are perfect, but you might find one or more of the following suggestions to be worth trying.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can provide you an IP address in an English-speaking country, and that can be effective in making your internet experience almost all English. You can expect the free or low-cost VPNs to bombard you with advertising, the reputable VPN providers do not do this but do charge upwards of $100 USD per year. The downside of a VPN is that it usually slows your connection speed a bit, and it makes your network less reliable by creating a new point of failure. There is also the problem that no VPN is 100% effective at hiding your location.

Another option is to translate web pages from Spanish to English, and the popular Google Chrome web browser has a built-in translation feature that can do this. When a web page in a language different from your local computer's language loads, next to the address bar you usually get a translation prompt. Click on "English" and Google Translate will translate the contents of that web page. This feature can be turned off in the Chrome settings. Microsoft's Edge browser also has built-in translation tools that may be turned on or off, as does Apple's Safari browser.

Speaking of turning things off, something in the settings you might try turning off as an experiment is "location permissions" for your particular web browser. You can enable or disable location access for individual websites in Google Chrome. Likewise, Microsoft's Edge browser can block sharing your location with websites. Apple's Safari browser as well as its iPhones and iPads also offer ways to disable location services.

The reason this might work is that some web sites change automatically to Spanish when your location is seen to be San Miguel de Allende, but when the web site cannot see where you are it will often use the default language of your computer or smart phone. Turning off location services signals to web pages that you prefer not to divulge your location, but while many web sites will honor this the fact of the matter is that if a web site wants to know your location it will just ignore that you have turned off location services and proceed to use one of many other methods to determine your location. Most of these other methods you will not even know of or be able to avoid.

There is a potential downside to disabling location services because it is now common for banks to require location services be enabled on your computer or smart phone so that they can see where you are located. Using a VPN as described earlier is not necessarily the answer because while your bank might not know exactly where you are they will know you are using a VPN to attempt to hide your real location and for security reasons they may block your login. Policies vary from bank to bank.

So, the bottom line is that there is no easy or one-size-fits-all solution to the question "Is there a way to set the internet to always be in English?" because the internet is not all English. The worldwide reach of the internet brings immense benefits by connecting people across the globe, enabling instant communication, access to vast information, and collaboration regardless of location or language. There is little doubt that on balance this global connectivity has improved all our lives, no matter where we are.

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Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant with decades of IT experience and a Texan with a lifetime love for Mexico. The opinions expressed are his own. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.

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