diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index ddff8fa21..b97d1df4f 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ gem 'roxml', :git => 'git://github.com/Empact/roxml.git'
 gem 'addressable', :require => 'addressable/uri'
 gem 'json'
 gem 'mini_fb'
+gem 'http_accept_language', :git => 'http://github.com/iain/http_accept_language.git'
 
 #Standards
 gem 'pubsubhubbub'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index dc26a8bf9..d4e0cf1c1 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -67,6 +67,12 @@ GIT
       capistrano (>= 2.5.5)
       highline (>= 1.4.0)
 
+GIT
+  remote: http://github.com/iain/http_accept_language.git
+  revision: 0b78aa7849fc90cf9e12586af162fa4c408a795d
+  specs:
+    http_accept_language (1.0.1)
+
 GEM
   remote: http://rubygems.org/
   specs:
@@ -367,6 +373,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   em-websocket
   factory_girl_rails
   haml
+  http_accept_language!
   json
   launchy
   magent!
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index e581613f3..3e32d4c27 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 #   the COPYRIGHT file.
 
 class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
-
   protect_from_forgery :except => :receive
 
   before_filter :set_friends_and_status, :except => [:create, :update]
   before_filter :count_requests
   before_filter :set_invites
+  before_filter :set_locale
 
   def set_friends_and_status
     if current_user
@@ -33,4 +33,13 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
       @invites = current_user.invites
     end
   end
+
+  def set_locale
+    I18n.default_locale = DEFAULT_LANGUAGE
+    if current_user
+      I18n.locale = current_user.language
+    else
+      I18n.locale = request.compatible_language_from AVAILABLE_LANGUAGE_CODES
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 79d33940a..45182cd88 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
     else
       params[:user].delete(:password) if params[:user][:password].blank?
       params[:user].delete(:password_confirmation) if params[:user][:password].blank? and params[:user][:password_confirmation].blank?
+      params[:user].delete(:language) if params[:user][:language].blank?
 
       if params[:user][:password] && params[:user][:password_confirmation]
         if @user.update_attributes(:password => params[:user][:password], :password_confirmation => params[:user][:password_confirmation])
@@ -36,6 +37,12 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
         else
           flash[:error] = "Password Change Failed"
         end
+      elsif params[:user][:language]
+        if @user.update_attributes(:language => params[:user][:language])
+          flash[:notice] = "Language Changed"
+        else
+          flash[:error] = "Language Change Failed"
+        end
       end
 
       redirect_to edit_user_path(@user)
diff --git a/app/helpers/language_helper.rb b/app/helpers/language_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..20a0db902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/helpers/language_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+module LanguageHelper
+  def available_language_options
+    options = []
+    AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES.each do |locale, language|
+      options << [language, locale]
+    end
+    options.sort_by { |o| o[0] }
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 5946727d8..0e16880f1 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -42,11 +42,16 @@ class User
 
   key :getting_started, Boolean, :default => true
 
+  key :language, String
+
   before_validation :strip_and_downcase_username, :on => :create
+  before_validation :set_current_language, :on => :create
+
   validates_presence_of :username
   validates_uniqueness_of :username, :case_sensitive => false
   validates_format_of :username, :with => /\A[A-Za-z0-9_.]+\z/ 
   validates_with InvitedUserValidator
+  validates_inclusion_of :language, :in => AVAILABLE_LANGUAGE_CODES
 
   one :person, :class_name => 'Person', :foreign_key => :owner_id
   validate :person_is_valid
@@ -76,6 +81,10 @@ class User
     end
   end
 
+  def set_current_language
+    self.language = I18n.locale.to_s if self.language.blank?
+  end
+
   def self.find_for_authentication(conditions={})
     if conditions[:username] =~ /^([\w\.%\+\-]+)@([\w\-]+\.)+([\w]{2,})$/i # email regex
       conditions[:email] = conditions.delete(:username)
diff --git a/app/views/users/edit.html.haml b/app/views/users/edit.html.haml
index 5317a5095..2f0c899d4 100644
--- a/app/views/users/edit.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/users/edit.html.haml
@@ -45,6 +45,16 @@
       or
       = f.submit 'Change password'
 
+  %h3 Change language
+  = form_for @user do |f|
+    = f.error_messages
+
+    %p
+      = f.select :language, available_language_options
+      = f.submit 'Change language'
+
+  %br
+
   %h3 Export Data
   = link_to "download my xml", users_export_path, :class => "button"
   = link_to "download my photos", users_export_photos_path, :class => "button"
diff --git a/config/environment.rb b/config/environment.rb
index bf2896fc6..9afe20c52 100644
--- a/config/environment.rb
+++ b/config/environment.rb
@@ -18,6 +18,18 @@ if File.exists?(File.expand_path("./config/fb_config.yml"))
 else
   FACEBOOK   = false
 end
+
+if File.exists?(File.expand_path("./config/languages.yml"))
+  languages = YAML::load(File.open(File.expand_path("./config/languages.yml")))
+  AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES = (languages['available'].length > 0) ? languages['available'] : { :en => 'English' }
+  DEFAULT_LANGUAGE = (AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES.include?(languages['default'])) ? languages['default'] : AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES.keys[0].to_s
+  AVAILABLE_LANGUAGE_CODES = languages['available'].keys.map { |v| v.to_s }
+else
+  AVAILABLE_LANGUAGES = { :en => 'English' }
+  DEFAULT_LANGUAGES = 'en'
+  AVAILABLE_LANGUAGE_CODES = ['en']
+end
+
 # Initialize the rails application
 Diaspora::Application.initialize!
 
diff --git a/config/languages.yml b/config/languages.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..510b10090
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/languages.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+default: 'en'
+available:
+  cs: 'Lietuviškai'
+  cy: 'Cymraeg'
+  de: 'Deutsch'
+  en: 'English'
+  es: 'Español'
+  fr: 'Français'
+  id: 'Bahasa Indonesia'
+  it: 'Italiano'
+  nb: 'Norske'
+  nl: 'Nederlandse'
+  pt-BR: 'Português'
+  ro: 'Română'
+  ru: 'Россию'
+  sv: 'Svenska'
+  tr: 'Türk'
diff --git a/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
index 93790c681..5b15e3b3f 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/users_controller_spec.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ describe UsersController do
   let!(:aspect) { user.aspect(:name => "lame-os") }
 
   let!(:old_password) { user.encrypted_password }
+  let!(:old_language) { user.language }
     
   before do
     sign_in :user, user
@@ -47,5 +48,15 @@ describe UsersController do
         user.encrypted_password.should == old_password
       end
     end
+
+    describe 'language' do
+      it 'should allow user to change his language' do
+        user.language = 'en'
+        user.save
+        put("update", :id => user.id, "user" => {"language" => "fr"})
+        user.reload
+        user.language.should_not == old_language
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index d0c1d5b22..032422538 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -119,6 +119,19 @@ describe User do
         duplicate_user.should_not be_valid
       end
     end
+
+    describe "of language" do
+      it "requires availability" do
+        user = Factory.build(:user, :language => 'some invalid language')
+        user.should_not be_valid
+      end
+
+      it "should save with current language if blank" do
+        I18n.locale = :fr
+        user = Factory(:user, :language => nil)
+        user.language.should == 'fr'
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe ".build" do