Faculty of Arts & Science
Modern Languages

Method 1:To use a language setting for the keyboard

Windows 7 (all applications)

From the Start Menu, open the Control Panel, double-click on Region and Language*, and go to the Keyboards and Languages tab. Click on Change Keyboards... and there click on Add. Under Input Language select "Spanish (Traditional Sort)" or "French (Canada)" or "German (Germany)" or any other language. Click OK, then again and again until you exit the language settings. 

You should now have a language tab showing as either ES (Spanish), or EN (English), or FR (French) on the right side of your taskbar at the bottom of your screen. To switch between keyboard layouts, either left click on the tab and select the language or press Left Alt + Shift.

Example: In the Spanish layout, to type the character "é", strike what in the North American keyboard would be the apostrophe key and then, afterwards, the "e" key: é. Do the same for all of the accented vowels.

Method 2: Alt + Code

To use the codes that make accented characters: make sure the NUM LOCK is on ; hold down the ALT key; using the number keyboard on the right, enter the 3 or 4 digit code of the desired character; release the ALT key.

Here is a table of accented characters: