Article: You do not need to open any file with it, since you are only changing the settings. From the options in the upper section of the window, choose Tools. This will open a dropdown menu. From the dropdown menu, choose Preferences. A new window should pop up with a list of options. Alternatively, press CTRL + P to get to this same Preferences window. From the two options in the bottom left of the Preferences window, be sure that Simple is selected. This should be the default setting, but just make sure. From either the left side of the window or from the top of the window, choose the Audio tab. it should look like a traffic cone with headphones on. Near the bottom of the audio settings, look for the Tracks header. In the input field next to "Preferred Audio Language," enter in your language code. A list of codes can be found at this link: http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php. Try using the 639-2 codes first, then the 639-1 codes if those don't work. English: eng Japanese: jpn Spanish: spa If you also want to set the default subtitle track, you can do it from the same preferences window. You will also see other options to customize the subtitles, such as font, font size, shadows, etc. Click on the subtitles tab from the top or left section of the window. Enter in your language code in the input field next to "Preferred Subtitle Language." The link for the codes is here: http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php Click on the Save button in the bottom right of the screen. This should confirm your changes. In order for the changes to take effect, you may need to restart VLC.

What is a summary?
Open up VLC. Select Tools. Choose Preferences. Choose Simple settings. Select the Audio tab. Enter in preferred audio language. Set subtitle preference. Click on save. Restart VLC.