Typing Spanish Accents and Symbols in Ubuntu Linux

Typing Spanish characters on a computer keyboard laid out for English speakers can be cumbersome. Thankfully, Ubuntu Linux offers a way to make it easy with little interference to your English typing. The key to easily typing non-English characters—especially those from a language like Spanish—is switching to a different keyboard layout than the default. You can use the Character Map instead, but it is more cumbersome and not recommended if you type in Spanish frequently. How to Switch to a Spanish-Capable Keyboard The procedure for typing Spanish accents, letters, and symbols as explained here is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus). It should work in other distributions using the Gnome desktop. Otherwise, details will vary with the distribution. To change or add the keyboard layout in Ubuntu, select Preferences from the System Tools menu, and then select Keyboard. Click on Text Entry (other versions may say Layouts) to add or change the keyboard layout. For U.S. residents using English as a first language, the best choice (and the one explained here) is the USA International (with dead keys) layout. The USA International (with dead keys) layout gives you two ways of typing Spanish letters (and the letters of some other European languages) with diacritical marks: the dead-key method and the RightAlt method. Using Dead Keys The keyboard layout sets up two dead keys. These are keys that seem to do nothing when you press them, but they actually affect the following letter you type. The two dead keys are the apostrophe/quotation key (usually to the right of the colon key) and the tilde/opening-single-quote key (usually to the left of the one key). Pressing the apostrophe key will place an acute accent (like on the à ©) on the following letter. So to type an à © with the dead-key method, press the apostrophe key and then the e. To make a capital accented É, press and release the apostrophe, and then press the shift key and e at the same time. This works for all of the Spanish vowels (as well as some other letters used in other languages). To type the à ±, the tilde key is used as the dead key. Press the shift and tilde keys at the same time (as if you were typing a stand-alone tilde), release them, then press the n key. To type the à ¼, press the shift and apostrophe/quotation key at the same time (as if you were typing a double quotation mark), release them, and then press the u key. One problem with the use of dead keys is that they dont work well for their original function. To type an apostrophe, for example, you have press the apostrophe key and follow that with the space bar. Using the RightAlt Method The USA International (with dead keys) layout gives you a second method of typing the accented letters, as well as the only method for Spanish punctuation. This method uses the RightAlt key (usually to the right of the space bar) pressed at the same time as another key. For example, to type the à ©, press the RightAlt key and the e at the same time. If you want to capitalize it, you need to press three keys simultaneously: the RightAlt, e, and shift keys. Similarly, the RightAlt key can be used in conjunction with the question mark key to make the inverted question mark, and with the one key to make the inverted exclamation point. Here is a summary of the Spanish characters and symbols you can make with the RightAlt key: à ¡ — RightAlt aà  — RightAlt Shift aà © — RightAlt eÉ — RightAlt e Shiftà ­ — RightAlt ià  — RightAlt i Shiftà ± — RightAlt nÑ — RightAlt n Shiftà ³ — RightAlt oÓ — RightAlt o Shiftà º — RightAlt uÚ — RightAlt u Shiftà ¼ — RightAlt yÃÅ" — RightAlt y Shift ¿ — RightAlt ? ¡ — RightAlt ! « — RightAlt [ » — RightAlt ] If you choose to take this approach, note that this is called the RightAlt method. These techniques do not work with the Alt key on the left side of the keyboard. Drawbacks Unfortunately, the USA International (with dead keys) layout doesnt appear to offer a way to type the quotation dash (also called a long dash or em dash). For those who are more familiar with Linux, you can modify the xmodmap file or use various utilities to remap a key on the keyboard to make that symbol readily available. How to Switch Between Standard and International Keyboards The frequency with which you use Spanish characters when typing will determine what keyboard approach to use. For example, if you spend most of your time writing in English, the dead apostrophe key of the dead-key method can become annoying. One solution is to install two keyboard layouts using the Keyboard configuration tool. To easily switch between layouts, install the Keyboard Indicator in one of your panels. Right-click on a panel, select Add to Panel, and then select Keyboard Indicator. Once its installed, you can click on it anytime to switch layouts. Using the Character Map The Character Map provides a graphical display of all the characters available and can be used to select characters one by one for insertion in your document. In Ubuntu Linux, the Character Map is available by selecting the Applications menu, then the Accessories menu. The Spanish letters and punctuation can be found in the Latin-1 Supplement listing. To insert a character in your document, double-click on it, then click Copy. Then you can paste it in your document in the normal way, depending on your application.