Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

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Paul_Moechner2022
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Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby Paul_Moechner2022 » Fri Jan 06, 2023 8:09 pm

I realized that the longer I live in Mexico, the more I'm going to need to purchase a second keyboard for my PC (a spanish keyboard). I went to amazon.com.mx to look for a spanish keyboard and quickly realised that I don't know what I'm doing due to never shopping for a non-english keyboard before, lol. So I made this post to ask for help.

Can someone show me an example of what a spanish keyboard looks like? All I need is an image or a link so I can have a frame of reference and then I can browse the internet for a good deal from there. :)

oh, and if it helps, I am using a windows based PC, not mac.
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby lavengro » Fri Jan 06, 2023 8:58 pm

Hi Paul,

I am sure you have considered this already as an alternative to purchasing a specific Spanish keyboard, but if not, you may want to try installing a Spanish language pack from Windows at no cost - there are several, including a specific Español (México) option, and it is very easy switching between English and Spanish. Depending on what version of Windows you have, just go to Settings, then Language, and select a language pack to install.
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby Herodotean » Fri Jan 06, 2023 9:07 pm

I second Lavengro's suggestion, but here's a Spanish keyboard from Amazon Mexico. I have no complaints about the English version of it (I have one at home and one at work).
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby iguanamon » Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:16 pm

lavengro wrote:Hi Paul,

I am sure you have considered this already as an alternative to purchasing a specific Spanish keyboard, but if not, you may want to try installing a Spanish language pack from Windows at no cost - there are several, including a specific Español (México) option, and it is very easy switching between English and Spanish. Depending on what version of Windows you have, just go to Settings, then Language, and select a language pack to install.


I use the free windows "US International" keyboard which is easy to use. I've used it for years. It is simple to switch back and forth between English and Spanish on your pc. Even though it isn't Spanish specific, the single "quote ' " key makes it easy to type accents áéíóú by typing the quote mark and then the letter; or by alt + letter. The tilde can be typed by alt + n = ñ; alt + 1 =¡; alt + ? = ¿; alt + y = ü. It looks more complicated than it is but it will quickly become second nature to you the more you use it. As they say in England- "Easy peasy lemon squeezey".
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby rdearman » Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:38 pm

In case you aren't part of the hive mind, you can install a Spanish keyboard in Linux by just adding Spanish to your supported languages in system settings. :lol:
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby Le Baron » Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:39 pm

The Spanish keyboard layout would have to be installed whether or not a hardware keyboard is used. I have a French AZERTY keyboard (though I barely use it) and it's a lot easier seeing the keys you're going to use than memorising combinations and alternative keys.
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby rdearman » Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:43 pm

Le Baron wrote:The Spanish keyboard layout would have to be installed whether or not a hardware keyboard is used. I have a French AZERTY keyboard (though I barely use it) and it's a lot easier seeing the keys you're going to use than memorising combinations and alternative keys.

I installed Korean as a supported language on my Linux machine. I printed out an image of a Korean keyboard which I taped to the wall near my computer. After a lot of practice I am now at the point of touch typing in Korean. Hopefully soon I will throw away the paper. I don't look at the keys when I type in English and soon not in Korean. :D
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby Le Baron » Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:47 pm

rdearman wrote:I installed Korean as a supported language on my Linux machine. I printed out an image of a Korean keyboard which I taped to the wall near my computer. After a lot of practice I am now at the point of touch typing in Korean. Hopefully soon I will throw away the paper. I don't look at the keys when I type in English and soon not in Korean. :D

Yes, that's a good way if you're touch-typing. It's what I do now and I have it memorised for French, though not Spanish. I suspect you're also a better touch typist than I am, I spend 3, 4, 5x longer correcting a text than writing it.
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby Paul_Moechner2022 » Sat Jan 07, 2023 1:31 am

lavengro wrote:Hi Paul,

I am sure you have considered this already as an alternative to purchasing a specific Spanish keyboard, but if not, you may want to try installing a Spanish language pack from Windows at no cost - there are several, including a specific Español (México) option, and it is very easy switching between English and Spanish. Depending on what version of Windows you have, just go to Settings, then Language, and select a language pack to install.


oh wow I didn't know there was such a thing! I will explore this option. Money is real tight for me at the moment so I will try this. If it works, I'll have a way to practice my spanish interacting with folks on social media as well as when I go on long walks. thank you! :D
Last edited by Paul_Moechner2022 on Sat Jan 07, 2023 1:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Paul_Moechner2022
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Re: Need to purchase my first spanish keyboard for my PC

Postby Paul_Moechner2022 » Sat Jan 07, 2023 1:46 am

Ok, I just finished learning how to go to settings in my Windows 10 OS and I installed the "Spanish (Mexico) Latin American Keyboard" and I'm able to create letters with the correct punctuations.

Anybody know where I can find the layout of this new setting? so far I discovered that if I hit the ";" key in the spanish mode it creates "ñ" but I discovered that on accident haha.

again, thanks for telling me about this!
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