Getting my keyboard to display the Spanish accented letters
Can anyone offer any information on how I can get my keyboard to display the Spanish accented letters like ñóé etc when I am not on the SpanishDict site?
Gracias
5 Answers
If you install a different keyboard setting on your OS it will work anytime that you are using that OS and not just on this site. For instance, I use the US-International keyboard. When I use a word processing program like MS Word I have the choice of using that program's keystroke combinations for making the characters or using those on the US-International keyboard.
Be aware though that if you have more than one keyboard installed it may jump from the one that you were using to the default keyboard when you go from program to program, browser to browser, etc.
I used to have the US-international keyboard and the US-keyboard (default) installed. I also used a different browser here on SpanishDict than my default browser. Every time I was on SpanishDict I would select the US-Intl keyboard. Any time that I opened a pop-up program like a English Dictionary, it would open my default browser and switch to the US keyboard. I never knew which keyboard that I was using. I eventually just removed the US keyboard and now only use the US-Intl. no matter which browser, program, online, offline, etc. that I am using.
Hi, Jerry. Vikingo, a fellow SD user, created a nice little program that I really like. You have to run it again every time you restart your computer, but you can just leave it in your downloads folder or create a link on your desktop to it. in this program, the basic format for getting a Spanish character (letter with accent, ñ, ü, or ¿ ¡) is to hold down the Windows logo key while touching the relevant key. I find it very convenient. Here's the link. If that doesn't sound good to you, you can also go to this site which lists several other alternatives, like setting your keyboard to a Spanish input setting, or pressing ALT and then a number code every time you want the special character.
What kind of machine do you have?
If you're running Windows 7, you can install keyboard maps in any language. (I'm pretty sure this is true on XP and later, don't know about before.) I was able to do it like this:
- Open your control panel, and go to "Regions and Languages". (Not "Keyboards!")
- Click on the "Keyboards and Languages" tab.
- Click on the "Change Keyboards" button. (There's also a Help link at the bottom of this panel, if you need it.)
- Click "Add..."
- A list of languages and countries will pop up, with + menus by their sides. Find a Spanish keyboard (I'm using Spanish (Argentina) because I want to communicate with porteños, but I'm not sure what difference it makes in practice). Click the + sign to reveal your options, and keep opening options until you find "Keyboard". Select the check-box by "Latin American", and then click the "OK" button.
- I recommend clicking "Preview"! The letters are mostly in the same place for a Spanish keyboard but the symbols get all moved around. (You can get the map later by selecting the keyboard and clicking "Properties".)
- Before you leave this window, look at the tabs across the top. The "Language Bar" and "Advanced Key Settings" will help you with bouncing between English and Spanish keyboard maps.
It sounds like a lot, but the whole process took me about two minutes. I did have to ask for help on the vowels - it turns out that to get the accents, once you have a Spanish keyboard, you hit the "[" key just before the letter you want to accent (so that "[e" will give you é). The ñ is hiding in the ; key as its own letter.
¡Buena suerte!
Hello:
Go the link below that is in the Reference Library of SpanishDict.com .
I have made a page that you can print for "all" the basic characters, and I also made a 16 page .pdf file that lists every possible combination possible.
Complete list of all possible alt + keybosard letters and symbols
If you only have one keyboard to deal with, and it won't interfere with anyother users, do the keyboard switch as shown in the other answers.
If you get around, if you are using multiple computers, work, friends, school, etc. or if someone won't appreciate the minor changes that are involved in the keyboard switch, then I suggest the ALT code + number.
It seems more complicated than it is. You will use certain characters enough that you can memorize the codes, at least the really common ones, in no time at all.
ñ is as easy as holding down ALT and typing 164. á is 160 (while holding down ALT - use the Alt on the left side) é is 130 í is 161 ó is 162 ú is 163 ñ is 164
The beauty is it doesn't matter what computer you are on (as long as it has a numeric keypad ... doesn't work on some laptops) and you don't interfere with anyone else. The é (130) is kinda out of sequence, otherwise you may only really need to remember to start at 160. To get the others and the special ¡ just google ALT codes.
