My mum’s side of the family is nearly all French (aside from a Scottish line). As a result, I find myself writing in French occasionally. Living in Canada probably contributes to this as well. Most of my French correspondence is usually with my maternal grandmother.
When writing in French, I include accented characters where appropriate. The name of two of my children (Sinéad, Siobhán) are Irish and have an accent. Creating accents on the computer is not difficult.
On a Windows-based PC, you can usually bring up the character map (Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools in Windows XP), which will give you access to all available accented characters. Mac users can access a similar application by going to Edit>Special Characters in the Finder. This brings up the Character Palette.
Each system offers the ability to type in key combinations for individual letters as well. I find this method much easier than bringing up the Character Map/Palette each time I need a character. Below are some of the most common letters I use and what key combinations to use. The character is followed by the Windows shortcut and then the Mac shortcut.
| Letter | PC shortcut | Mac shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| é (as in Sinéad) | Alt+0233 | Option+e, e |
| è (as in fève) | Alt+0232 | Option+`, e |
| à (as in voilà ) | Alt+0224 | Option+`, a |
| ô (as in bientôt) | Alt+0244 | Option+i, o |
| ï (as in naïve) | Alt+0239 | Option+u, i |
| ç (as in leçon) | Alt+0231 | Option+c |
My sons both attend a French-immersion school and have learned the Alt-number key combinations for the common accented characters they encounter. They also know how to get the Alt-number key combinations from the Character Map.
Thank you for the advice! This confession will make me look like an idiot, but I feel handicapped on a PC because I seem to not be able to press the four- or five-key shortcut simultaneously … or consecutively. Either way, I need a character map.
You don’t need to press the numbers simultaneously, Stalina.