Ok this is a little bit embarrassing. Don't ask me how I have managed here for 2 years without knowing this, but how do you insert the letter 'e' with the accent going the opposite way to this: é directly from the keyboard. e.g. As in: 'é stupido'

I think you have to have a european key board.

It's a catch 22, I've got a european keyboard with american programming... if you think that doesn't make you nuts!

I had to print out an american keyboard to be able to write, lots of things in different places + lost my accents !

on Mac keyboard its OPTION + E (hold down both keys)... then release keys and press E again

If you do have Mac you'll find some software in your applications called Art Directors Toolkit which gives you all the accents you'll need.

You could do it in word and paste into your post. I think the symbol is FOOF which you have to superimpose on the e. Bit of a PITA.

Personally I just have to press down SHIFT while I press the same key as for ´ to get `, and then the letter I want to accent - this way I can get è ì à ò ù. Depends on your keyboard.

There is a way whereby you can load an Italian alphabet, and that is fine until you try to find out which key on your keyboard corresponds to the letter or accent you want.

I gave up in the end and went to my supermarket electronics dept and 'splas hed out' on a 'NORTEK nortekonline.com' keyboard. This cost me a grand total of €12.50 and has a full Italian key board for the following òàèéçù§°#ù - in addition it has a built in calculator, automatic access to e-mail, mute button sound volume control and heavens knows what else. I reckoned that even if it 'claps out' after a short while, at least it's only €12.50

Carole B.

Thx, this has been very informative. Ginger

`e is pretty close, no? The ` is lower case of same key as tilde ~.

I've often wondered if there was a template one could put over the existing keyboard. Anyone know about this? I just bought a mac, and after agonizing over whether to buy in the states or here, I bought in the states (cheaper)....but I forgot about the keyboard thing and now I am wishing maybe I had got it here. Yeah, I know I can substitute keystrokes, but it's kinda cool to have them right there on the keyboard.

They used to have those templates on the old Mac keyboards but they're generally much more compact now and as such don't have the space for the templates.

I use the Art Directors Toolkit that you'll find in your applications folder. Click on the symbols button at the top of the panel and you find a very quick and easy reference guide for all the characters you need.

Hi Kerry,

Controllare questo sito:
http://tlt.psu.edu/suggestions/international/bylanguage/italian.html

Remember to hold down the ALT key while typing the
character code (including the zero), then release the ALT key to send that char. to the app. Also, remember to use the numeric keypad, not the number/character keys above the qwerty
keypad.

hth,
tom

Thanks everyone! Tom, your solution is that one that works for me. I had figured it out in Word (inset symbol) but have been too lazy to create specific shortcuts. But on the internet sometimes I need it and couldn't figure out how to get it. So I got the codes from Accessories -> System tools -> Character map, then follow Tom's instructions. Haven't figured out how to create shortcuts to them without changing everything else on my keyboard.

Tom, does 'dumbmick' refer to your nationality?

Ditto: printed a copy and will practice later!
THANKS!

quote:

Tom, does 'dumbmick' refer to your nationality?

Si, sono di razza mista, ma piutosto irlandeze.

tom

thanks Paul!

Do not use the "insert symbol" function in Word. It inserts a character that seems to be ok, but it's actually a pretty long string of instructions that only works in MS Word and skrews up in most other programs.

This is what I use on Windows XP (in the states):
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306560&sd=tech

It pretty much amounts to setting up the international keyboard. I press the accent I want (either the ` or the ') then the key (a,e,i,o,u etc)

For Mac I use the same technique as Paul

What I have seen that works in Word and Outlook on my American laptop is...
You hit ctrl and ~ at the same time then let up and type the letter you want and you get è(Doesn't work here, but it does in word and outlook!)

Or you hit ctrl and ' at the same type then let up and type the letter you want and it goes the other way é.

I'm not sure why but this doesn't always work when you are replying to someone. I haven't checked exactly why.