1. A method of identifying language of text in a handheld electronic device having at least one application for receiving text from a source external to the handheld electronic device and having available thereto a plurality of indicator lists with each indicator list comprising a number of linguistic objects which are indicative of a preselected language and which are in a different language from the linguistic objects of the other indicator lists, the method comprising: analyzing the text to at least preliminarily determine an encoding of the text; and comparing linguistic objects of the text to at least some of the linguistic objects of at least some of the indicator lists to identify the language of the text and to verify the encoding of the text.