[SOLVED] Websites Appearing In A Foreign Language

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Chris N

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I have a problem because some websites are appearing in a foreign language; specifically Sinhala (As an example www.muo.com appears in Sinhala). I have been trying to troubleshoot this problem for a while but to no avail. My main browser is Chrome. All the settings in Chrome point to English as my first language. After a lot of troubleshooting, I am convinced the problem is not with Chrome, but with Windows 10 and my Microsoft account. I have a Sinhala keyboard installed on my PC but it is at the bottom of the language list. Occasionally, I need to use it but I am not fluent in this language.

Internet Explorer shows these websites in English
Chrome shows them in Sinhala
Edge shows them in Sinhala
Opera shows them in Sinhala
My Android phone shows them in English (Google account, not Microsoft account)

In privacy settings I have disabled the option, "Allow websites to provide locally relevant content by accessing my language list".

The problem must be related to the fact that in my language list on my computer I have the following order:

English UK
English US
Greek
Sinhala

Now English is at the TOP of the list, so logically all websites should be displaying content in English. But for some reason these sites are detecting from my browser or my Microsoft user account that I have a Sinhala keyboard installed and are insisting of displaying information in Sinhala.

This is a mystery to me. Is there another Windows 10 setting I have missed that may help me to solve this problem? Do I need to make some changes to my Microsoft account? Your advice would be appreciated.

Kind regards
Chris

Screenshots of Windows 10 language settings:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2nupg7cacu7r1bn/Language Order.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wshtf03vnlwiqsr/Security Options.JPG?dl=0
 
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Chris N

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Thank you for your reply. I am sure its not my IP address location. Sinhala is spoken in Sri Lanka which is the other side of the globe. I just tried using my wife's Win 10 laptop which has a local account and it shows these sites in English.

I suspect that the problem with my PC is somehow related to my Microsoft account which is alerting specific websites that I have a Sinhala keyboard installed. In the past, and unknown to me, the default setting was checked which allowed Microsoft to send websites information about which keyboards I have installed. I have since unchecked that setting but the problem persists. That's why I wonder if there is another privacy setting I have overlooked.

Kind regards
Chris
 
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Chris N

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Thanks for the useful link. I didn't know about those settings. The location is set correctly. I tried turning "location" off but the problem persists. Also my region and regional format is set correctly. It's possible, that there is something stored in the cloud that relates to my keyboard settings. It's still a mystery.

Kind regards
Chris
 
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Chris N

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For Chrome, there is a sign in option to my Google account but most of the time I am signed out. The problem occurs with Chrome if I am signed in or out. For edge, I guess that its automatically signed in to my Microsoft account by default. I just installed Opera as a test, so I don't know what sign in options it has.

The only browser that doesn't have this problem is Internet Explorer. I guess the reason is because it's based on older code which is incompatible with spyware or cookies on newer sites! Its weird!

Kind regards
Chris
 
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Chris N

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Thanks for the suggestion. I just tried an incognito window in Chrome and it still happens. I only have a couple of extensions on Chrome that I installed recently, but it still happened before I installed them. But why does edge and Opera also do it? I have no idea about VPN proxy settings.

I did contact two of the sites by webform where this problem occurs and asked them if they knew what was going on; as predicted they never bothered to reply. The only internet protection I have is daily use of Ccleaner pro to delete all cookies etc and Windows defender.

Kind regards
Chris
 
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Chris N

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Thanks rdg1101 and Colif. Both Chrome and Edge are set exclusively to English. Sync is turned off on my PC. I also tried unsyncing Edge and logging out of Edge but the problem persists. These websites have somehow been informed that I have a Sinhala keyboard installed on my machine and they will not let go of that information and insist on displaying content in a language I don't understand. Although its not a serious issue, and there are work-arounds, I hope I can get to the bottom of the problem.

Kind regards
Chris
 
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Colif

Colif

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Chris N

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Thanks for mentioning this Colif and sharing the useful link. As you say, it must be related to specific browsers because IE doesn't do it, but Chrome, Edge and Opera do. I have tried the suggestions in the article but the problem is still there. All my Chrome settings relate to English and no other language. I can't find any way of stopping it on this PC.

Chrome Language Settings Screenshot:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dqkz0kwioieagak/Chrome Language Settings.JPG?dl=0

By coincidence, today I received an e mail advertisement for an anti spyware software that says the following in its sales pitch.
__
"Thanks to all this tracking, your browser knows more about you than your own mother, spouse, boss, and even your doctor. And it’s exposing everything to advertisers, data miners, hackers and identity thieves.

  • Banking & Credit Card Info
  • Medical Data
  • Family & Personal Info
Did you know?
Every time you visit a website, trackers collect information on you to build a unique online profile that advertisers and hackers use to identify you..

A recent report showed that trackers already have over 3,000 pieces of information on nearly EVERY U.S. CONSUMER. Just by browsing the web, you're exposing your personal details."
____

Its scary, but probably true. And the browser developers are probably getting paid for sharing this information.

In the meantime, I will keep on trying to solve this language problem. I appreciate all the help I have received.

Kind regards
Chris
 
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Colif

Colif

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Chris N

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Colif, thanks for your reply. I tried Firefox and as you suspected, it doesn't happen. So as you correctly mention it appears to be an issue only with Chromium based browsers (Edge, Chrome and Opera). I installed "Unblock Origin". It appears to be a neat add-on but it didn't stop the language problem with Chrome.

I can't find the Chrome settings mentioned in the second link. He says in his instructions:
Settings/Manage your Google accounts/Make Google yours/Data & personalization/General preferences for the web/Languages/Not all programs are using English' Click the tab saying CHANGE ALL

I only have Settings/Languages and everything is set to English.


Kind regards
Chris
 
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Colif

Colif

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Well, the 2nd link is 2 years old, hardly my fault google changed everything. I do see what you mean though.

I don't have an answer, I would suggest using Firefox since it doesn't do this, and check up on chrome every once in a while and see if its fixed.
 
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