The University of Akron
Department of Modern Languages





USING ACCENTS WITH WINDOWS

If you use MS Word and you typically create or edit text in a language other than English, you probably need to use accent marks. There are several methods of inserting accent marks in Word, including inserting symbols from the Insert menu, or even recording macros and assigning them to toolbar buttons for the accent marks you use frequently.

However, the easiest way to add accent marks is to add a new keyboard layout.

Adding a New Keyboard Layout

To add a new keyboard layout:
      1. Open Control Panel.
      2. Open Keyboard.
      3. The Keyboard Properties dialog box will appear.

        4.  

         
         
         


         

      4. Click the Language tab at the top of the screen.
      5. Click the Add button.
      6. Select the language you want.

        7. If you'll be using Spanish, you can choose Spanish (Modern Sort).
      7. Click OK.

        8. At this point you may be prompted to insert your Windows 95 CD-ROM so that Windows can copy the necessary files.
      8. After the files are copied, the new language will appear in the list.
      9. Select the new language by clicking on it.
      10. Click the Properties button.
      11. From the Keyboard Layout dropdown list, select United States-International.
      12. Click OK.
      13. The new keyboard layout will appear in the list to the right of the language.
      14. Select a shortcut key combination you can use to switch from one keyboard layout to the other (optional).
      15. Click a check in the checkbox to place a keyboard indicator on the Windows 95 taskbar (optional, but recommended).

        16. The indicator will appear in the lower right corner of the desktop where the clock and other icons are located.
      16. Click OK.

Switching to the Spanish Keyboard

While creating or editing text, you can easily switch back and forth between the Spanish and English keyboard layouts.

To switch to the Spanish keyboard:

  1. Select En in the Windows 95 tray.
  2. A list of available languages will appear.
  3. Click Es Spanish (Modern Sort).
  4. The En in the tray will change to Es to represent the new keyboard layout.

Using the Spanish Keyboard

While this layout is selected, the following keys will behave differently:
 
  • tilde (~)
    		•
  • apostrophe (')
    		•

    When you type one of these characters, nothing will happen at first. However, if the next character you type is one associated with the accent mark, they will appear as the same character. For example, if you type a tilde (~) followed by n, you'll get ñ. You can also use the apostrophe with all 5 vowel keys to produce accent marks.

    Additionally, when you hit the right "alt" key and the "1" key, you get the beginning exclamation mark (¡); the left "alt" key and the "?" will get you the beginning question mark (¿).
     

    NOTE

    The U.S. International keyboard layout also lets you insert:
     
  • the French accent grave (`) with vowels
    		•
  • the cedilla (ç) when you type an apostrophe followed by a c
    		•
  • the German umlaut (ü) when you type quotation marks (") followed by a vowel
    		•

    Some information in this article originally appeared in PC World, March, 1998.

    Keyboards and Foreign Characters--Helpful Sites


    Thanks to Pioneer Training for permission to use their page.

    Page last updated 18 Aug 1999 by Dr. Matt Wyszynski