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• Change the language of your keyboard

• Changing your keyboard language with the Language bar

• Setting the language of a portion of a document

• Using Proofing Tools with multiple languages

• Using keyboard shortcuts and the On-Screen Keyboard to help you type in another language

• Using the Research tool with a new language

• Using the Translate tool with a new language

• More information

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Change the language of your keyboard

Scenario: Rolf is at school in Germany and is taking a Russian class. His main computer is a laptop with a German keyboard and with the German version of Microsoft Office 2007 and Russian Language Pack installed. He normally writes documents in German but sometimes he needs to write papers in Russian for his class using a Russian language keyboard layout.

Solution: Rolf needs to add the input keyboard language for a Russian keyboard.

In Windows XP (Category view)

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options.

 Note   In Classic View, double-click Regional and Language Options.

2. In the Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options dialog box, under Pick a task, click Add other languages.
3. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, on the Languages tab, click Details.
4. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, on the Settings tab, click the Default input language down arrow, and then select the default language that you want to use.

 Note   If the language that you want to use is not listed in the Default input language dialog box, then you need to add that input language using this process.

5. In the Installed services box, select the language that you want to add to the Language bar.

  Notes  

1. If the language that you want to use as a secondary language is not listed in the Installed services box, click Add.
2. In the Add Input Languages dialog box, click the language that you want to expand the list, click Keyboard to expand the Keyboard list, click the check box next to the keyboard layout that you want, click OK, and then click Apply.

If there is more than one keyboard available for that language, you can see the keyboard by clicking Preview.

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In Windows Vista (Category view)

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Under Clock, Language and Region, click Change keyboards or other input methods.

    Note   In Classic View , double-click Regional and Language Options.

3. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, under the Keyboards and Language tab, click Change keyboards .
4. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, on the General tab, click the Default input language down arrow, and then select the default language that you want to use.

5. If the language that you want to use as a secondary language is not listed in the Installed services box, click Add to open the Add Input Languages dialog box, click the language that you want to expand the list to expand the list, click Keyboard to expand the Keyboard list, click the check box next to the keyboard layout that you want, click OK, and then click Apply.

 Note   If there is more than one keyboard available for that language, you can see the keyboard by clicking Preview.

You can also see the keyboard by using the On-Screen Keyboard (OSK). For information about the OSK, see Using keyboard shortcuts and the On-Screen Keyboard to help you type on another language.

To switch between the input languages, click the Language bar, and select an input language.

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Changing your keyboard language with the Language bar

Scenario: Rolf also added the English input language keyboard to his computer (see Change the language of your keyboard). Now he wants to be able to change the input language easily from his desktop.

Solution: Display the Language bar on Rolf’s desktop taskbar. With it, he has easy access to all the input languages he has added and he can change the input language by clicking the Language bar and selecting the new input language.

In Windows XP (Category view)

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options.

    Note   In Classic View, double-click Regional and Language Options.

2. In the Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options dialog box, under Pick a task, click Add other languages.
3. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, on the Languages tab, click Details.
4. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, click Language Bar.
5. In the Language Bar Settings dialog box, check if the Show the Language bar on the desktop is selected. If the option is not selected, select it, and then click OK.

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In Windows Vista (Category view)

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Under Clock, Language and Region, click Change keyboards or other input methods.

    Note   In Classic View , double-click Regional and Language Options.

3. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, under the Keyboards and Languages tab, click Change keyboards .
4. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, click the Language Bar tab, and then select Docked on the taskbar. This displays the Language bar with the current keyboard language on the taskbar.
5. Click the Language bar on the taskbar and select the language that you want to change the keyboard to, for example, Russian (Russia).

 Important   Changing the input language only enables you to use type in that language. To check for spelling, grammar, or hyphenation errors, the proofing tools for the language that you are typing in must be enabled and a Language Pack or Language Interface Pack may be required. For example, if Rolf wanted to start typing in Arabic, he could enable the input language but the Arabic proofing tools would not be available, he would need a Language Pack for the proofing tools.

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Setting the language of a portion of a document

Scenario: Rolf wrote a paper for his science class in German but he wants to add a relevant quotation from a Russian journal and he wants to be able to edit the spelling and grammar of the quote.

Solution: Select that section of the document that is written in Russian and set the language for that portion so that the spell checker can identify the quote as Russian.

1. Select the portion of the document that is in Russian.
2. On the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Set Language , and then select Russian from the list of languages.

You can also select the Detect language automatically option in this dialog box so that you don't have to identify the language of sections of your document as being in a different language.

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Using Proofing Tools with multiple languages

Scenario: Rolf most frequently uses German as his primary language but sometimes he uses other languages to create and edit documents. When he uses the proofing tools, such as the spell checker, he needs the dictionary language to change to reflect the language that is being used

Solution: Add additional languages to the Enabled editing languages list so that their proofing tools can be used and set the Automatically detect languages feature. Depending on: (a) which language of Microsoft Office you installed on your computer, (b) the companion language tools that are part of that version, and (c) which language’s proofing tools that you want to use, you may need to install and configure additional Language Packs or Language Interface Packs.

1. In an Office 2007 product, click the Microsoft Office Button , click Options , and then click Language Settings .

Where is the Options button?

To find the Options button for:

• Access
• Excel
see Switch between different languages by setting the language.

To find the Options button for:

• PowerPoint
• Word
see Turn on automatic language options.
2. In the Microsoft Office 2007 Language Settings dialog box, click the Editing tab, select the language in the Available editing languages list, and then click Add to add it to the Enabled editing languages list.
3. Select your Primary editing language—that sets the default language used for the proofing tools.
4. On the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Set Language .
5. In the Language dialog box, make sure that the Do not check spelling or grammar option is clear, and select Detect language automatically so that you don't need to identify the language of portions of your document as being in a different language.

 Note   In some situations when there are multiple languages in a single document or the text in a different language is too short to be identified as a particular language, the Detect language automatically feature may cause spell checking problems. If you are having problems checking spelling or grammar when using multiple languages in a single document, clear this check box, select the text that is in a different language, and then manually set the language for that portion of the text.

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Using keyboard shortcuts and the On-Screen Keyboard to help you type on another language

Scenario: Rolf is practicing typing in Russian and keeps forgetting which keyboard key is which Russian character.

Solution: Use the On-Screen Keyboard (OSK) to see the keyboard language that he is typing. The OSK reflects the language of his keyboard. If Rolf uses the Language bar on your taskbar to change his input language, the OSK changes to reflect the keyboard layout for that language and the text that he enters is also marked as that input language.

Or you can use the On-Screen Keyboard (OSK) to enter the accents and special characters.

1. Click Start, Run, and then type

   osk

   in the text box.
2. Click the on screen “keys” on the OSK to enter text, accents, or special characters.


See Insert ASCII or Unicode Latin-based symbols and characters, ASCII character chart, or Using the Windows Vista Character Map to enter special characters FAQ for information about special characters and how to insert them. Additionally, there's a small list of Western European language accent keyboard shortcuts in the Office discussion group.

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Using the Research tool with a new language

Scenario. Rolf’s Russian class assignment is to write a paper in Russian describing his trip to St. Petersburg.

Solution. Use the Research tools in the Proofing group to help with his paper.

1. On the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Research .
2. In the Research pane near the bottom of the pane, click Research options .
3. In the Research Options dialog box, click Update/Remove .
4. In the Update or Remove Services dialog box, select the service category that you want installed, for example, Translation (Installed Dictionaries), click Update , follow the installation instructions, click Close, and then click OK.
5. Select the reference materials that you want to use, for example, Thesaurus: Russia, type the word that you want to research into the Search for text box , and then click Start .

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Using the Translate tool with a new language

Scenario. Rolf’s Russian class assignment is to create a resume in Russian for a position. Rolf already created his curriculum vitae in German and can use the Translate tool to help him translate it into Russian.

Solution. Either translate his whole curriculum vitae using a machine translation or only translate those words in German that he doesn't know in Russian. Rolf decides to only translate those words that he doesn't know.

1. On the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Translate .
2. In the Research pane, in the Search text box, type the word you want translated, and then click the down arrow and select Translation .
3. In the Translation section, in the From list box, select the initial language, for example, German.
4. In the To list box, select the language that you want to translate the word into, for example, Russian.
5. Click Start .

 Note   To translate an entire document, click Start , and then follow the instructions.

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More information

On-Screen Keyboard (OSK). The OSK reflects the language of your keyboard. If you use the Language Bar on your taskbar to change your input language, the OSK changes to reflect the keyboard layout for that language and the text that you enter is also marked as that input language. Get more information about how to use the OSK at Type without using the keyboard with the On-Screen Keyboard (OSK).

More scenarios

• Change the language of your computer for work
• Change a keyboard language to send an e-mail message while traveling
• Use different languages on your computer at home

Language Packs. See Language Packs for the 2007 Microsoft Office system product overview.

 Important   You must install the LP version that matches your version of Office. For example, if you are using Microsoft Office 2007, you must install the Microsoft Office Language Pack 2007. The 2003 version of a Language Pack will not work with Office 2007.

If you do not have the Language Pack installed for the language that you are trying to use the proofing tools with, an error message is displayed.

Language Pack companion languages. See The 2007 Microsoft Office suites localized versions.

Language Interface Packs. See Microsoft Office 2007 Language Interface Pack overview.

 Important   You must install the Language Interface Pack version that matches your version of Office. For example, if you are using Microsoft Office 2007, you must install the Microsoft Office Language Interface Pack 2007. The 2003 version of a Language Interface Pack will not work with Office 2007.

If you do not have the Language Interface Pack installed for the language that you are trying to use the proofing tools with, an error message is displayed.

More information about Office at School. See Office at School.

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