Keyboard Settings

1. Full Keyboard Configuration For those who frequently use Spanish letters and punctuation, I suggest going to your control panel/system preferences and adding the Spanish keyboard configuration. You will need to learn new key positions, but once you get used to it, it’s easy.

For Windows Vista: Go to Control Panel, click "Clock, Language, Region," click "Change keyboards," click "Add," and select "Spanish-International Sort."

For Windows XP: Go to Control Panel, click "Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options," click "Regional and Language Options," select the "Languages" tab, click "Details," click "Add," and select "Spanish-Traditional Sort." Return to the "Languages" tab and select "Switch languages by pressing the left Alt and Shift simultaneously." This way, you can switch between the Spanish and regular keyboards at any time.

For Mac: Go to System Preferences, click "International," select the "Input Menu" tab, scroll down, and select "Spanish - ISO." Remember the keyboard shortcuts to switch languages, or select "Show input menu in menu bar" so you can click and choose the desired keyboard.

Spanish-International Sort Keyboard Layout Spanish-International Sort Keyboard Shortcuts:

' + a = á

' + e = é

' + i = í

' + o = ó

' + u = ú

" + u = ü

After installing the Spanish keyboard, you will find that its response is slightly different from what you are used to.

First, when you type the apostrophe (') nothing happens. This is because if you immediately type a vowel, you will get an accented vowel (á, é, í, ó, ú). To type an apostrophe, press the hyphen key next to the number 0. You can see several other changes in the image below.

The quotation (") key behaves like the apostrophe key, giving a diaeresis (¨) instead of the letter (ü) in words (e.g., “lingüística”). To type regular quotes, simply hold the Shift key and press the number 2.

The semicolon (;) key has also been replaced by ñ. To type a regular semicolon, just hold the Shift key and press the comma key.