How can I use <ul> list instead of <select> dropdown for the languages switcher?

I use msDropDown to convert the <select> to <ul> list for languages switcher. But the problem is that with this jQuery plugin, the select takes a long time to load after page loaded.

So, how can I use a ul list rather than select?

This is my select code:

<select name="lang" class="language" onchange="location.href='index.php?lang='+this.value+''.$trackpage.'">
    <option name="lang" data-image="style/lang/de.png" value="de">Deutsch</option>
    <option name="lang" data-image="style/lang/en.png" value="en" selected="selected">English</option>
    <option name="lang" data-image="style/lang/es.png" value="es">Espanol</option>
    <option name="lang" data-image="style/lang/fr.png" value="fr">Francais</option>
    <option name="lang" data-image="style/lang/it.png" value="it">Italiano</option>
</select>

I tried with:

<ul onchange="location.href='index.php?lang='+this.value+'">
    <li>
        <a href="" name="lang" data-image="style/lang/de.png" value="de">English</a>
    </li>
</ul>

but value and onchange is not supported by ul and a.
Is there a way to make ul works with the select attributes?

Thank you! And sorry for my bad English!

Updated Answer 2015

As this question is still visited very often and due to some requests in the comments, I've revisit my code. You can still find my original answer below.

HTML

<button class="language_selector">Choose Language</button>
<ul class="languages">
    <li><a href="/en">English</a></li>
    <li><a href="/de">Deutsch</a></li>
</ul>

<article>
    <h1>More Content</h1>
</article>

JavaScript

var trigger = $('.language_selector');
var list = $('.languages');

trigger.click(function() {
    trigger.toggleClass('active');
    list.slideToggle(200);
});

// this is optional to close the list while the new page is loading
list.click(function() {
    trigger.click();
});

CSS

.language_selector {
    width: 200px;
    background: #222;
    color:  #eee;
    line-height: 25px;
    font-size: 14px;
    padding: 0 10px;
    cursor: pointer;
}

.languages {
    display: none;
    position: absolute;
    margin: 0;
    background: #dddddd;
}

.languages > li {
    width: 200px;
    background: #eee;
    line-height: 25px;
    font-size: 14px;
    padding: 0 10px;
    cursor: pointer;
}

.languages > li:hover {
    background: #aaa;
}

Demo

Try before buy

Original Answer From 2013

I would do it like this:

var nav = $('#nav');
var selection = $('.select');
var select = selection.find('li');

nav.click(function(event) {
    if (nav.hasClass('active')) {
        nav.removeClass('active');
        selection.stop().slideUp(200);
    } else {
        nav.addClass('active');
        selection.stop().slideDown(200);
    }
    event.preventDefault();
});

select.click(function(event) {
    // updated code to select the current language
    select.removeClass('active');
    $(this).addClass('active');

    alert ("location.href = 'index.php?lang=" + $(this).attr('data-value'));
});

h2 {
    width: 200px;
    background: #222;
    color:  #eee;
    line-height: 25px;
    font-size: 14px;
    padding: 0 10px;
    cursor: pointer;
}
ol.select {
    display: none;
}

ol.select > li {
    width: 200px;
    background: #eee;
    line-height: 25px;
    font-size: 14px;
    padding: 0 10px;
    cursor: pointer;
}

ol.select > li:hover {
    background: #aaa;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<h2 id="nav">Choose Language</h2>
<ol class="select">
    <li data-value="en">English</li>
    <li data-value="de">Deutsch</li>
</ol>

This one adds a class the the selected element. This works, if you stay on that very page after the select and don't use location.href.