How to Change the Language of OpenOffice Spell Checker

Like its rival Microsoft Word, OpenOffice offers a wide variety of document editing features. Although all users will appreciate its customizable spell checker, foreign language students and international users will especially like its ability to spell check a document in a language other than English. You'll need to change the language settings in OpenOffice before doing this, however.

Instructions

1. Launch the OpenOffice Writer. Unless you've created a shortcut on the desktop or in the Quick Launch menu, you'll need to look in OpenOffice's "Programs" menu folder in the Start Menu to run the Writer.

2. Open the document you want to spell check. If you worked on it recently, look for it in the "Recent Documents" folder of the File Menu. If not, use the "Open..." command in the File Menu to search for it on your hard drive.

3. Run the spell checker by clicking its icon in the Standard Toolbar.

4. Select a new language from the "Dictionary Language" drop down menu. The number of available languages depends on which language packs you've installed.

5. Allow the spell checker to finish scanning the document in the new language.

6. Save the document once you've scanned it to preserve the spell checker's changes.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to switch the spell checker back to English after you've finished working on your foreign language document.

Resources

• Download more OpenOffice language packs
• Check out the OpenOffice Support page