Le groupe français 2016 - 2023 Les Voyageurs

[Carmody]

Very grateful to everyone for their speedy response on this. Looks like I am going to have to change what I am currently doing.

[jeffers]

A very, very basic question.

I have started writing a daily French diary to practice my active/writing skills but it raises a question. I have my computer keyboard set up so that when I want to enter French accents in a word, I can do so by typing a certain combination of keys: four keys to be exact. I am running a Windows PC and I believe this "French" keyboard is working the way it should but it does seem to be very laborious when writing my daily diary.

Questions:
1-Do people have a simpler way?
2-Do the French configure their keyboards differently so as to not make typing so laborious?

Please note, I don't think memorization of all the combinations for accents is practical. There are about 18 different accents and each would require a separate combination. Yes, I use a cheat sheet by my keyboard but I can't help but think people have figured out an easier way.

If you're using Microsoft Word there are very simple key combinations which are quick to type and make perfect sense:
Ctrl + ' then the letter gives l'accent aigu (é).
Ctrl + ` then the letter gives l'accent grave (è).
Ctrl + ^ then the letter gives l'accent circonflexe (ê).
Ctrl + : then the letter gives le tréma (ë)
Ctrl + , then c gives la cédille (ç)

Unfortunately, these key combinations are MS Word only, as far as I am aware. I usually type words in Word and then paste them to use them in other places (such as these forums).

[iguanamon]

If you're using Microsoft Word there are very simple key combinations which are quick to type and make perfect sense:
Ctrl + ' then the letter gives l'accent aigu (é).
Ctrl + ` then the letter gives l'accent grave (è).
Ctrl + ^ then the letter gives l'accent circonflexe (ê).
Ctrl + : then the letter gives le tréma (ë)
Ctrl + , then c gives la cédille (ç)

Unfortunately, these key combinations are MS Word only, as far as I am aware. I usually type words in Word and then paste them to use them in other places (such as these forums).

All that needs to be done for windows systems is to activate the US International keyboard. Then the commands are much simpler. Once you become accustomed to it, you don't even notice it and you can type with accents/special characters anywhere on your computer or the internet.

[Carmody]

Well, I have the:

French (France)-Keyboard,
installed which I thought was supposed to help me......

Gulp. Lots to learn....

[tomgosse]

Well, I have the:

French (France)-Keyboard,
installed which I thought was supposed to help me......

Gulp. Lots to learn....

This page has a good explanation on how to use the US International keyboard: techlanguage

[Carmody]

Tom, many thanks, as always. You are incredible.

I'm a bit slow but will try to persevere.......

[Carmody]

So I really tried and did install it, but it is not appearing on the Task Bar...When I go into to the Add Keyboard screens the English US-Intl Keyboard comes up as the default.

Oh, my...

[tomgosse]

So I really tried and did install it, but it is not appearing on the Task Bar...When I go into to the Add Keyboard screens the English US-Intl Keyboard comes up as the default.

Oh, my...

I think that is a good thing. I keep my keyboard set to US-International. Once you get use to it, there is no reason to switch back to the regular US keyboard. Try typing the word résumé. Type the letter r, the type the apostrophe key '. Nothing should show on the screen. Then type the letter e. It should appear with an accent above it: é. Then type the rest of the letters: s, u, m, and repeat the apostrophe -e combination to get the final é. If that works you have correctly installed the keyboard.

[blaurebell]

I type on a physical qwerty keyboard - the only fairly standard keyboard I could get over here -, but I use it with the qwertz keyboard layout on which I learned to touch type many years ago. I actually get confused only when I look at the keyboard, my fingers know where the right keys are supposed to be. The qwertz layout works really well for accents and I can reach all the special characters needed for French and Spanish easily. In general learning to touch type was a great time investment and I've saved so much time with it over the years! That's why I also learned to touch type for the Cyrillic keyboard layout when I started to learn Russian. So, pick a keyboard layout that you like and then learn to touch type on it, it's super helpful. There are many websites out there where you can learn and it doesn't really take more than a few hours to get the basics down.

[smallwhite]

I always learn to use the keyboard layout that natives of my L2s use, so that when I go to their country, I'd be able to type on their computers - public computers in hostels, librarys, airports, internet cafés, etc. If I only know the US-International keyboard layout then I'll have trouble when I go to France, Spain, etc. I learn the ALT-codes by heart as well because that's universal and often quicker. And touch-typing is a given!