I have found that even after installing the "English (UK)" language packs on Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 with GNOME 3.20 that I must set it in the settings for LibreOffice Writer and the majority of the other ones in the suit require this. Though I think it would be much easier if if one has the needed language packs installed for the only thing to really need doing to be setting the "Text language" thing at the bottom. Currently if I try and do that without setting it in the main settings in several places it just jumps back to "English (US)" immediately without giving me any hint of what I should do to achieve what I want. I originally filed a report on this issue here however I thought I should also do so upstream: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libreoffice/+bug/1607042
Text can be marked with any language, it doesn't have anything to do with langpacks. If you want to force the default language for typed text on a deficient Linux OS that cannot define it automatically, use "Default languages for documents" option.
Well that is strange then because I came across a problem where it did not allow me to change to "English (UK)", every time I tried to type using it or spell-check something using it it would just instantly change back to "English (US)", maybe this is a bug?
Which version of LibreOffice are you using ? Did you try menu Tools > Language ? Best regards. JBF
(In reply to Jean-Baptiste Faure from comment #3) > Which version of LibreOffice are you using ? > Did you try menu Tools > Language ? > > Best regards. JBF Dear Reporter, Could you please answer the question above? I have set the bug's status to 'NEEDINFO'. Please change it back to 'UNCONFIRMED' once the question is answered
Sorry, too many bugs reports, I just kind of lost track of a few. Anyway, I am now on Arch Linux with LibreOffice version 5.4.2 and the issue still remains. Even the menu "Tools > Languages" has no effect, in fact, it appears that the correct dictionary is set there as it is in the bar below now, but it doesn't appear to have any effect nonetheless.
Language is an attribute of the text. You can define the language in font tab for character or paragraph. Available dictionaries are viewable in Tools > Options > Language Settings > Writing Aids Additional dictionaries are provided as extensions, see Tools > Language > More Dictionaries Online... For me, knowing that (which is described in the help and guides) it is easy to switch from a dictionary to another -> don't use manual formatting and tweak the language for the default style. I propose to close this enhancement request as WorksForMe : not a bug, it works as expected and is easy to use. Best regards. JBF
JBF is right: if the status bar says "English (UK)" after setting it "For all text" etc., then the setting works. Dictionary extensions have to be installed separately.