Stop Word from Changing the Language
The Problem:
Word keeps changing the language, even if I tell it to ignore special characters. I set it to English Australia, and it changes to English US, English UK, or, worse, French!
The Solution:
Turn off automatic language detection: choose Tools 
Language Set Language, then uncheck the "Detect language automatically" box in the Language dialog box.
Tip: Automatic language detection increases the amount of processing power that Word requires, so it's a good idea to turn off detection if you don't need it.
To adjust the languages that Word tries to detect automatically as you work, open the Microsoft Office Language Settings application (for example, for Office 2003, choose Start All Programs Microsoft Office Microsoft Office Tools Microsoft Office 2003 Language Settings) and use the options on the Enabled Languages tab. You'll need to restart all the Office applications before your changes take effect.