Patent ID: 7653529

Claim:
A system for providing multiple language support for at least one application program, comprising: a plurality of language resource bundles, stored on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising associations between language keys and displayable language-sensitive elements, at least some of the plurality of language resource bundles corresponding to different languages, wherein at least one of the associations is specific to a particular application and at least one of the associations is applicable to a plurality of applications, such that each of the plurality of language resource bundles includes both application-specific and generic associations; a language resource manager, stored on a computer-readable storage medium, configured to receive a first language key, locate a first language resource bundle corresponding to a first selected language, identify within the first language resource bundle a first language-sensitive element associated with the first language key, provide the first language-sensitive element to an application program for display in a graphical user interface, receive a second language key, locate a second language resource bundle corresponding to a second selected language, identify within the second language resource bundle a second language-sensitive element associated with the second language key, and provide the second language-sensitive element to the application program to replace the first language-sensitive element in the graphical user interface; and a language switching component stored on a computer-readable storage medium and configured to preempt application programs, discard a currently displayed graphical user interface, generate a new graphical user interface comprising at least one new language-sensitive element for a received language key, and resume execution of preempted application programs.