So, it's a little ridiculous, but for several years now, when translating into Spanish on my computer, I have just been copying and pasting accent marks I searched for in Google. In Word, thankfully, I could insert symbols and get what I needed, but everywhere else, and especially with the dreaded upside-down exclamation and question marks, I continued to waste seconds of my life copying and pasting accent marks. I know there are those alt + 3-digit codes, but I could never make them work, especially when I'm trying to make sure I translated the first person, imperfect subjunctive conjugation of ser correctly at the same time.
So, last night I downloaded this free Spanish Accents Caps lock from here.
The website was a little obscure, but so far I'm really enjoying it. After you download the program, you get a little lower-case a icon on the bottom of your screen. Then, just by holding down caps lock + the accent mark symbol you want, you have an automatic accent mark without wasting time. For capital letters, you just hold down the tab key + the accent mark symbol. So far, it's worked everywhere I've tried it. My website, facebook, and let's see... ¡even here!
This program will block the function of your caps lock key, but if you just click on the a icon, it will stop the program from working, and your caps lock key will function as normal. And you can still produce capital letters by holding down the shift key.
So... here's to not wasting time and letting that tilde get the best of us!¡!
Or you can change your computer's keyboard by following these instructions...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.studyspanish.com/accents/typing.htm
Or you can change the format of your keyboard to look like a keyboard you would find in a Spanish-speaking country. It is much easier once you learn where all the characters are. Then, your hands never have to leave the keyboard as you type.
ReplyDeleteHere are the instructions...
http://www.studyspanish.com/accents/typing.htm
...and this is where the keys are located.
https://4f5dfa80-a-4d3accf5-s-sites.googlegroups.com/a/cpsc.k12.in.us/spanish/typing-accents-in-spanish/Spanish%20Keyboard.bmp?attachauth=ANoY7coUnU8WdCV93fOahZEOMPAMouDpQhg1pu9XzRMct4xQ8r-I_0F0fNSp1ZW_K_rApzHwmW-kmlOMCU2_Oq-ZX_FzM936NvqkVYSFoW42v5BiMWGhi7lC-hSMVXMrMKz3mfabbVAYsRdoM5wTRYHngTz69GfcGzV-0wUBeyVoZO2ebVRvqL9ZyErStok402qz-XgfxKfLuRX9csq9UqcG1jBvclw2cilNk0FGUjuKsv36aVY3gKLTnrL2J5sXWzxbiJXy1gFo&attredirects=0
Another suggestion... http://spanish.typeit.org/
ReplyDeleteI use if for typing French emails quite often. In Word, I actually have a totally different way of tying accents that I've used for years, but sadly it's not universal, so I'm learning to deal with the French keyboard layout (although it's tough when it's not actually marked on my keyboard!) and this web site is one of my alternatives.
Mme Aiello @ Teaching FSL