Answers
Nov 17, 2013 - 08:15 AM
You can access the full extended ASCII character set this way. Note you must use the number pad, not the numbers above the keyboard, which makes it sometimes difficult for a laptop. If you are going to be using special characters a lot, in Word documents, you can map the keystrokes to a macro so, for example, ^m always gives you greek "mu."
Nov 17, 2013 - 12:23 PM
Hi James, thank you for your reply. I have been using this method successfully for some months as you describe. I know that my explanation was a little long and might not have made my question clear. For example, if I want to type " à " I hold down alt key and on the number pad type 0224. If I am in Word or some other non-browser program it works fine. However if I am in Firefox as I am now typing this, as soon as I type the 4 in that sequence my browser does a page back. So in order for me to actually type " à " here in this window, I had to first type it in notepad and then copy and paste it here. The funny thing is that some times, I can type the special characters inside a browser (the same thing happens in Chrome) So my real question is why do I have this problem when using a browser and trying to type special characters?
Nov 17, 2013 - 05:20 PM
There are shortcuts for use in Microsoft Word that are defined here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/keyboard-shortcuts-for-inter... They are basically CTRL+(the desired accent mark) followed by the letter it modifies. For example CTRL+, (comma) followed by c gives you ç. They also work at other places within Windows such as Wordpad and Communicator. I don't know what was causing your problem but using these shortcuts instead will prevent you from having to use the number pad (and from having to remember a bunch of numeric codes for each letter).
Sep 13, 2017 - 12:41 PM
I am having trouble finding the basic keyboard shortcuts for special characters for French in the Fluenz software. Can someone point me toward the info, please?
Sep 13, 2017 - 04:00 PM
Check out the Accents & Shortcuts menu on the upper right while in a writing exercise. Alternatively, there's a pop-out keyboard on the bottom right you can use with a mouse
Sep 20, 2017 - 09:39 AM
there is a button that says "keyboard" on the right bottom of the screen. if you click on it, all the accents come up.
Sep 21, 2017 - 07:00 PM
I think I originally posted this question two or three years ago. Quite some time ago I found a great solution. I use the US International keyboard on all of my devices, PC, Mac, and my iOS devices. Then it's like having the Fluenz shortcuts for any app I use. When I'm writing my penpals in France, pas de problème :) Once I used it for a few days, it was easy to get used to and I can type as fast using accents as with out. ' + c = ç, ' + e = é, `+ a = à, etc.
Sep 27, 2017 - 02:47 AM
We're here in France for a month on vacation.One 'souvenir' I wanted to come home with was a french keyboard. So I just bought one at the Carrefour here in Sete for 8 euro. It seems to work well, but going back & forth is a pain so I probably won't use it for work or other english uses. I have an older PC at home that I plan to put it on and use just for french lessons. Of course, I'm sure you can get one of these online as well.