diff --git a/modules/basic/config.nix b/modules/basic/config.nix
index a3e62c2..d510505 100644
--- a/modules/basic/config.nix
+++ b/modules/basic/config.nix
@@ -138,6 +138,10 @@ in {
       ${optionalString (!cfg.enableEditorconfig) ''
         let g:editorconfig = v:false
       ''}
+      ${optionalString (cfg.spellChecking.enable) ''
+        set spell
+        set spelllang=${toString cfg.spellChecking.language}
+      ''}
     '';
   };
 }
diff --git a/modules/basic/module.nix b/modules/basic/module.nix
index 3db8dfe..ade7d10 100644
--- a/modules/basic/module.nix
+++ b/modules/basic/module.nix
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ with builtins; {
         default = 20;
         description = "Set the debug level";
       };
+
       logFile = mkOption {
         type = types.path;
         default = "/tmp/nvim.log";
@@ -20,6 +21,16 @@ with builtins; {
       };
     };
 
+    spellChecking = {
+      enable = mkEnableOption "neovim's built-in spellchecking";
+      language = mkOption {
+        type = types.str;
+        description = "The language to be used for spellchecking";
+        default = "en_US";
+        example = "de";
+      };
+    };
+
     colourTerm = mkOption {
       type = types.bool;
       default = true;