Change basic OSx language

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My Macbook pro was bought in Australia and then OSx set up by a Chinese for my Chinese wife in Chinese. She did not like the Macbook - this is how I got hold of it.
Changed the language to English but certain notifications and for example the Wifi selection at boot (EFI) are still in Chinese.
Had the OSx reset in the local Apple Store. Asked for English installation but it is still the same. They do not speak English, guess that is the reason. Had a recovery partition which is gone now!
Can I change the basic OSx language or do I have to travel to a major city to find an apple store with competence?

Michael
 

pigoo3

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Try going to:

- Apple Menu
- System Preferences
- Language & Text

Then make the changes.

- Nick
 
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Thank you pigoo3 (funny name in Chinese). That is what I did and I am working relatively easy with OSX, even getting to like it and consider changing OS.

But underlying things do not change language. An example are the tags in finder. They are still in Chinese where everything else is in English.

Michael
 

chscag

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You can only change the underlying language by doing a complete reinstall and selecting English when asked which language you wish to use? Changing the language from the System Preferences Language and Text does not change the underlying language of use such as the menu items in Finder.
 

pigoo3

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Thank you for clarifying that. Just upgraded to Yosemite. Will consider a clean install when the next update is due.

Edit: The situation has gone worse after installing Yosemite. Now my folders "Documents" and "Downloads" have been renamed into Chinese!

Edit2: Even more weird! The folder is called Documents when I look at its information but displayed in Chinese in Finder. Must be a secret translation tool somewhere hidden.

This is just for the information of interested readers. The solution has been outlined by chscag.

Michael
 
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pigoo3

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This is just for the information of interested readers. The solution has been outlined by chscag.

The solution I posted above does work. After the preferred language is dragged to the top of the list…the computer must be restarted & user relog in.

- Nick
 
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Language swap

Hi Nick,

I'm so pleased to see somebody else has this issue. I took me ages to find this. I have the same issue that randomly all the icons change to Chinese over a week or so. When I do the language change and log-on 90% work but after time they all change to Chinese. I don't even have Chinese as a language in the drop down list.

Is there any other solution that might work before I have to do a clean install as this will take hours.

Cheers,

Peter
 

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