title: Alternative way to determine if a CultureInfo uses a specific language?
body: <p>I need a way to detect if the <code>Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture</code> uses a specific language.</p>
  
  <p>In particular, I need to detect if the <code>CurrentCulture</code> <code>CultureInfo</code> object supports/uses/is "English", regardless of the country/region -- but, there is a possibility I would want to check for other languages, also.</p>
  
  <p>I know that any English language <code>CultureInfo</code> objects' <code>Name</code>s will be prefixed with <code>en-</code> and then the region (<code>US</code>, <code>GB</code> etc.) - according to <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/ee825488(v=cs.20).aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MSDN's Table of Language Culture Name and Codes</a>.</p>
  
  <p>So I could simply check if the current culture name "starts with" the <code>en-</code> prefix:</p>
  
  <pre><code>var currentCultureName = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name;
  if (currentCultureName.StartsWith("en-"))
  {
      // We have an English language culture
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT</strong>: Similarly (as <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/users/5311735/evk">Evk</a> pointed out) - if I were to use the <code>TwoLetterISOLanguageName</code>, I could end up with the same result:</p>
  
  <pre><code>var twoLetterISOLanguageName =
                            Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.TwoLetterISOLanguageName;
  
  if (twoLetterISOLanguageName.Equals("en", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
  {
      // We have an English language culture
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>Is there an alternative, or more type-safe way of checking for this, with the possibililty of needing to detect other languages (e.g. French, German etc.)? - in order to save having to write a potentially large <code>switch</code> statement?</p>
  
  <p>Or, is what I'm using above - and using a <code>switch</code> statement the best approach?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions :)</p>