Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 2:22 pm Post subject: spell checking in other languages
Hey,
Does anyone know how to spell check in a language that isn't English? I'm trying to write assignments in French. Whenever I spellcheck I have to change the dictionary for every word that the spellchecker finds. That is, the spellchecker autimatically reverts to English with each new word. This is very frustrating when tying in French. Anyone know how to keep it from doing that?
Thanks for all your help.
Joined: Apr 25, 2006 Posts: 2315 Location: Montpellier, France
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 2:49 pm Post subject:
First, you should select all the French text, and then choose Format > Character from the Menu Bar, and under the "Font" tab, select French (France) from the "Language" drop-down menu, and click OK.
Then, as long as you have the French dictionary installed (it's not part fo the French language pack, and instead has to be installed from the File> Wizards > "Install new dictionaries..." wizard), NeoOffice should spellcheck the selected text in French.
There may be an easier way to change the default language for the entire document, without having to select all the text, but right now I can't remember.
Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 2051 Location: Midwest, USA
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 6:25 pm Post subject:
Samwise wrote:
There may be an easier way to change the default language for the entire document, without having to select all the text, but right now I can't remember.
Go to NeoOffice>Preferences>Language Settings>Languages
(or Tools>Options>Language Settings>Languages)
In the middle third of the dialogue box, change the "Western" language to the appropriate form of French (Belgium, France, etc.)
Check the box that says "For the current document only."
Another option, that doesn't require changing the default language:
NeoOffice>Preferences>Language Settings>Writing Aids
In the bottom "sub-window" (labeled "Options"), scroll down to "check in all languages" and click put a check in the box.
This will only check the French spelling if you have a French dictionary--see Samwise's post for how to do this.
This is a good option if you will be using both French and English in a document. If you are a native English speaker writing in French for class assignments, you might want to uncheck this box, so that words you accidentally type in English get flagged.
Bonne chance!
[edited by Lorinda to fix a very garbled sentence. Too much stream of consciousness--especially when one gets interrupted--is not a good thing in writing!]
Last edited by Lorinda on Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:11 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 2051 Location: Midwest, USA
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 6:52 pm Post subject:
I forgot to mention: if you use the "check all languages" option, Neo will check your words against all installed dictionaries, but will "classify" all the words as English (or whatever is the default language for the document). In other words, if you go to Format>Character and look at the Language box, it will say "English" (or the default language) unless you change it to "French." A minor technical point, really, but one I thought I should mention.
Working in a multi-lingual international office, we've set-up a single document template with multiple paragraph styles which share all the same font choices (e.g. Times, 9pt, space before or after, as you like) except for the associated language. So we can now have Text Body FR, Text Body ES, Text Body IT, Text Body DE etc. available in the same document as the original Text Body which we have set language as English. So, subject to the supported language dictionaries being installed, it is now as simple to create a multi-language document as it is to create a document in any one of the supported languages. Just choose the appropriate language paragraph style for each paragraph as you go...
Spell checking is automatically associated with the appropriate dictionary by the language setting in the paragraph style.
This has all the advantage of not having to invoke the 'check all languages' option, something which my colleagues have generally found unhelpful and even confusing, for the reasons outlined above by Lorinda. _________________ Ray Saunders
World Scout Bureau
Working in a multi-lingual international office, we've set-up a single document template with multiple paragraph styles which share all the same font choices (e.g. Times, 9pt, space before or after, as you like) except for the associated language.
That's a stellar tip, Ray! I've added a link to it in the Activating Dictionaries article for now....
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
Ah Thanks a lot, works like a acharm with the makros. A little bit sad that something easy like this isn't predefined as I assumed it would be for the "extras -> language" menu, but ok as it works now I can live with that.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
