Word dictionary (Word 2002)

[kiazd]

Is there a way to have the spell checker automatically check for both English and French spelling at the same time? We could create a custom dictionary for the French words, but it would be much simpler if Word could check both languages at the same time.

Thanks

[HansV]

Word can't use English and French dictionaries for the same bit of text, but it can spell check different parts of a document in different languages. You can select part of a document and set the language in Tools | Language | Set Language...
The same dialog also has a check box to automatically detect the language. If you tick this check box, Word will try to decide which language to use.

[kiazd]

Thanks, Hans. Is there a way then to copy the French dictionary over to a custom dictionary? Thinking that this may create an unusually large custom dictionary, but as I work for a bilingual organization there is a need to be able to spell check both languages and having to highlight sections just slows the process down.

[HansV]

No, the French dictionary is in a special binary format, while a custom dictionary is a plain text file. I think "Automatically detect language" is your best option.

You can also create macros that set the language for the selection to English or to French, and assign these macros to custom toolbar buttons and/or keyboard shortcuts.

[StuartR]

Another option is to use a different set of Styles for each language. e.g. Body Text English, Body Text French etc. It is then very easy to apply and change these styles as required.

StuartR

[kiazd]

I'm not sure how this would work with the spell checking. Wouldn't I still have to change dictionaries to French in order for the spell checking to take place in the Body Text French style?

[StuartR]

No, you wouldn't have to "change dictionaries". You need to have both the English and French dictionaries installed. Word will then use the correct dictionary, as specified by the language attribute for each word.

StuartR

[kiazd]

Thanks very much. I played around with your suggestion and works great.