Spell check in OpenOffice 3.2/Ubuntu 10.04LTS not working

When running spell check (F7) on a document, the spell check window opens with a pop-up saying "The spellcheck is complete". The spell check window is entitled "Spelling: [None]" and the "Text language" is empty. I have tried selecting the text language in the menu Tools>Language>For All Text. I have also tried numerous dictionaries in Options>Language Settings>Languages. The available language modules are checked (Hunspell, etc).

Nothing works !

I would like to use the French spell checker because it automatically corrects for the unaccented letters which I do not have on my keyboard.

Help gratefully accepted.

JJ