French: practical hints for typing accents

When you tutor French, a student might ask how to produce the accents on an English keyboard.  Here are a couple of options:

On a Microsoft product, every French accent has its own Alt+(4 digit code).  For instance, this ç was typed using Alt+0231.  You need to hold down the Alt key, then type 0231 using the numeric keypad to the right – not the numbers across the top. Here are some codes that, once memorized, can really speed up your French typing:

é:     Alt+0233

è:     Alt+0232

à:     Alt+0224

ç:     Alt+0231

î:     Alt+0238

ô:    Alt+0244

Another way to produce accents is to use the character map.  Look under All Programs→Accessories→System Tools and you should see it.  It’s a grid of different characters which you can copy and paste to your work – really a great tool.

If you’re in Word, of course, you can go Insert→Symbol to find everything you need.  Word has its own shortcut sequences; my wife uses them all the time.  However, the sequences above will work in Word as well.

If you like the copy and paste method, here’s a time saver:  Copy and paste all the accents you’ll need when you first start, like so:

à  ç  è  é  î  ô

Now, you don’t have to flip back and forth between a menu and your work; you can just copy and paste from the list.

I hope this helps:)

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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