How can I change the language of a block of text

Question

Hi,
Working in a bilingual environment, I am constantly switching languages as I write e-mail. Using Mail 3.5, if I forget to change the dictionary language before I start writing, Mail logically marks most words as spelled incorrectly. After having written a paragraph, I'd like to be able to change dictionary language, and then continue writing.
But Mail doesn't seem to change the language for the text that was already entered -- the words that were "misspelled" according to the old dictionary language are still underlined in red after the new dictionary is chosen, and after I've told it to "Check document now".
How can I get it to re-evaluate the text as now being in the language of the dictionary, so that all those incorrect red underlines will disappear?
Thanks,
Eric Peters

Answer 1

"It's not a bug or a feature; it's just something you can't do..."
Phooey! I accept that Mail is limited to one language at a time. I don't accept that the spell checking fails to work if I switch which dictionary is in use after having already written some text.
"I know of no email client for Mac than can do it, either."
Er, I hate to say it... MS Entourage does do it, perfectly.
I recently gave up Entourage and switched to Mail, because I decided to stick to all Apple software so that syncing would be smoother. The syncing does work much better now that I've eliminated Entourage from the equation...
...but why can't I switch languages and get the dictionary to evaluate the text in the language I've chosen?! Otherwise, can someone explain to me the meaning of allowing the user to select a new language from the popup in the "Show Spelling and Grammar" dialog, if that new language won't then be used for spell-checking, whether for all the text, or the selected text? What is the purpose of allowing use of an interface control which doesn't then do what it obviously is supposed to do? It seems like Apple has broken its own HIG here.
Thanks for listening... maybe someday it will work as it obviously should!
Eric Peters