If you work in Excel 2000 with data in more than one language, you can check the spelling of text in each language. To do this you need to install the spelling and grammar proofing tools for the languages you want to work with, by installing the Microsoft Office 2000 MultiLanguage Pack or Office 2000 Proofing Tools.

Check spelling in another language

Once you've installed the tools for the languages you use, open the workbook you want to check and follow these steps:

1. On the Excel Tools menu, click Spelling.
2. When the spelling checker finds a word in another language, it will display the Spelling dialog box. In the Dictionary language list, click the language for which you want to check spelling.
3. In response to the message, "You must restart the spelling checker for the dictionary change to take effect," click OK.
4. In the Spelling dialog box, click Cancel.
5. Click Spelling on the Tools menu again, and you are checking spelling in the new language.

Return to your default language

To return to your default language, enter a misspelled word in your current dictionary language, and then repeat the previous steps, selecting your default language as the dictionary language in Spelling dialog box.

What to do if the spelling checker cannot be initialized

If you select a spelling dictionary for a right-to-left or Asian language, when you next try to check spelling in your default language, you may see a message that the spelling checker cannot be initialized. If this happens, you can restore your default spelling checker by doing the following:

1. Close Excel.
2. In Windows Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.
3. Click the name of the Microsoft Office 2000 MultiLanguage Pack or Office 2000 Proofing Tools disc that contains the right-to-left or Asian language you were using, and then click Add/Remove.
4. Click Add or Remove Features, and locate the proofing tools under Office Tools for the language you were using.
5. Click Not Available for these tools, and then click Update Now.

When you run Excel again, you'll be able to use your default spelling checker again. If you want to check spelling in the other language again, you can reinstall the proofing tools for the language.