It is not that it starts with the wrong language. The problem is that we cannot change it by cell, as it should be expected to happen when selecting one particular cell and changing the language only for it ([CTRL]+[1]). The language for a particular cell changes for formats such as currency, but not for text (for whichever reason).

But, if we change the language for the entire document using the Options dialog, the new language takes effect (on the whole workbook, in every worksheet) and the spell checking is correct for that language.

Even within the spell checking dialog, we could change the language for a specific term, but the dialog is already set to spellcheck according to a specific language, so it will keep showing suggestions from the default language for the entire document. Once the spell check is finished, words in other languages will be recognized correctly.

* It should be easier to set a cell, or even a term, to pertain to a certain language (different than the default for the document).

* If a specific cell (range) is set to use a different language than the default language for the document, probably the text within it should also be considered to pertain to that language; unless it is changed in the spell checking tool.

In other words, there should be:
* document language
* worksheet language
* cell (range) language
* text (words, terms, strings) language.

Hugh, can you please share an example document?

Ady, the status bar shows the language for the document, but it is possible to set a cell's language via direct formatting: right-click > Format Cells... > Font > Language.
Spellcheck should respect that "direct formatting" language, but if it is not set, it will use the default document language.

Hugh, please also:
- update to a version currently supported (7.4 or 7.5)
- test again to see if the issue remains
- share you version information copied from Help > About LibreOffice.

Thank you!

(In reply to Stéphane Guillou (stragu) from comment #2)
> 
> Ady, the status bar shows the language for the document, but it is possible
> to set a cell's language via direct formatting: right-click > Format
> Cells... > Font > Language.
> Spellcheck should respect that "direct formatting" language, but if it is
> not set, it will use the default document language.

* The status bar shows the language for the whole document, and it also allows to go directly to the Options dialog.

* There is no way to set different languages for each worksheet separately (i.e. changing the status bar setting will change it for all worksheets / entire workbook at once).

* The spell check tool allows to set a different language for each word / expression, but the spell check dialog is always for the document’s language.

* Each cell has _font_ language, but also _number_ format language.

* Each word / term within each cell could be set to a different language than the cell when running the spell check tool.

All these amount to some confusion for common users. In other words, users need to have "enough experience" with all these features in order to overcome the impression that some of these don't work, and then to be able to use them "correctly".

We can agree that spreadsheets might not be ideal tools for handling a mix of multiple languages, but when there is some need for it, the current UX might not be so intuitive / evident as some of us might think.

(Side note: an example of this confusion could be seen in bug 154374 posted by the same reporter, Hugh. That report should/will be NAB, but it is not so clear for a common user how to use the language features in Calc "correctly".)

(In reply to ady from comment #3)
> That report should/will be NAB

I meant either NAB or INVALID or WFM.

I agree with you that the situation is not ideal in Calc, but let's focus on Hugh's specific issue: if there's a bug with spellcheck not using the correct language. For that, we need more information from Hugh.

I think your input might be more useful in a ticket like bug 149429, where there are some ideas to make the situation better.

Dear Hugh Stewart,

Please read this message in its entirety before proceeding.

Your bug report is being closed as INSUFFICIENTDATA due to inactivity and
a lack of information which is needed in order to accurately
reproduce and confirm the problem. We encourage you to retest
your bug against the latest release. If the issue is still
present in the latest stable release, we need the following
information (please ignore any that you've already provided):

a) Provide details of your system including your operating
   system and the latest version of LibreOffice that you have
   confirmed the bug to be present

b) Provide easy to reproduce steps – the simpler the better

c) Provide any test case(s) which will help us confirm the problem

d) Provide screenshots of the problem if you think it might help

e) Read all comments and provide any requested information

Once all of this is done, please set the bug back to UNCONFIRMED
and we will attempt to reproduce the issue. Please do not:

a) respond via email 

b) update the version field in the bug or any of the other details
   on the top section of our bug tracker

Warm Regards,
QA Team

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