The Office Natural Language Team Blog has news for users of Office 2007 who want to create and edit files in languages that are not provided by default with their version of Office, or to change the Menus/User Interface to another language. In this version of Office, there is no need to buy the complete set of proofing tools for dozens of languages, as was the case before. Single Language Packs, which include the proofing tools for one given language (spell-checker, thesaurus, grammar checker, etc.) are now available from 10 Online stores worldwide (with more to come). Check this out:http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/suites/FX102113661033.aspx

You can click on the link “Buy a single language pack now”. You then just have to pick your country from the drop-down list and you will be directed to the most appropriate store, as a function of your location. Some of the stores are localized for the market or the region. You can then select the language you are interested in and click the “Buy Now” button.

Remember that, if you have an English version of Office, it comes with the French and Spanish proofing tools, so you don’t need to buy a speller, a grammar checker or a thesaurus for these languages. Every version of Office comes with a set of “companion languages” (see http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/suites/HA102113701033.aspx for more information about which proofing tools come with what language version of Office). But if you wish to write and spell-check a document in German, in Dutch, in Japanese, in Russian, or in Italian, for instance, you are now able to directly purchase and download the tools from Office Online for a single language for $24.95 only.

If you want to know more about Language Packs for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, check out the Frequently Asked Questions on the Office site.