Note that the directives do not work as the apache documentation says they should. Test results that lead to Gunnar's change above: Server = 12.04 (Apache 2.2): Browswer = no language preference list: 1.) No .htaccess file at all: Result: English 2.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority en". Result: English 3.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority zh-CN". Result: Chinese 4.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority zh-CN" and "ForceLanguagePriority Fallback". Result: Chinese 5.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority en" and "ForceLanguagePriority Fallback". Result: Chinese 6.) .htaccess with only "ForceLanguagePriority Fallback". Result: Chinese 7.) No .htaccess file at all: Result: English (Sanity check) 8.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority en". Result: English 9.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority zh-CN". Result: Chinese 10.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority en". Result: English 11.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority de". Result: German 12.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Fallback". Result: Chinese 13.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback". Result: German 14.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority zz" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback". Result: Chinese 15.) .htaccess with only "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback". Result: English Now, .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback": 16.) Language preference French. Result: French 17.) Language preference Afrikaans. Result: German (Note: we do not have this language). 18.) Language preferences en then en-US (my original settings). Result: English 19.) No .htaccess at all and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: English 20.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority de" and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: German 21.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer" and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: Firefox doesn't know what to do and asks me. Click O.K. to open with firefox and get a mess, albeit an English mess. 22.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback" and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: German Server = 14.04 (Apache 2.4): Browswer = no language preference list: 1.) No .htaccess file at all: Result: English 2.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority de". Result: German 3.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Fallback". Result: Chinese 4.) .htaccess with only "ForceLanguagePriority Fallback". Result: Chinese 5.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority zz" and "ForceLanguagePriority Fallback". Result: Chinese 6.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority zz" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback". Result: Chinese 7.) .htaccess with only "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback". Result: English Now, .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback": 8.) Language preference French. Result: French 9.) Language preference Afrikaans. Result: German (Note: we do not have this language). 10.) No .htaccess at all and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: English 11.) .htaccess with only "LanguagePriority de" and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: German 12.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer" and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: Firefox doesn't know what to do and asks me. Click O.K. to open with firefox and get a mess, albeit an English mess. 13.) .htaccess with "LanguagePriority de" and "ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback" and Language preference Afrikaans. Result: German