French AZERTY keyboard connected to laptop?

[stevensfo]

Hi,

I know on a desktop, it's a matter of just plugging in a different keyboard and changing the language settings, but will that work with a laptop?

There are times when I want to type in French and having the 'real' keyboard is ten times easier than all the other work-arounds.

So if I buy an AZERTY (French layout) keyboard and just plug it into my laptop and change the language setting, will it work?

Sorry, I know I could test this for myself, but the AZERTY keyboard and desktop are at work and I'm not allowed to bring my personal laptop in and vice versa!

Steve

PS I once experienced a Flemish keyboard. Never again!!

[Breelander]

I know on a desktop, it's a matter of just plugging in a different keyboard and changing the language settings, but will that work with a laptop?

Should work the same. I have one laptop with an 'almost' UK keyboard layout. It has a US keyboard with sticker on some of the keys to make it look like a UK keyboard - "/2 replacing @/2 and ~/# for "/' for example. Unfortunately there is no suitable key for \ backslash, I have to switch to using the US keyboard to type that.

In the language settings I have just the UK English language with an 'English UK' keyboard, but have added to it a second 'English US' keyboard. I can switch input methods from the Language Bar icon in the system tray, or by pressing WinKey+Space.

[Bminusrob]

I think you need to tell the laptop which IME (Input Method Editor) you are using. The current setting should be shown at the bottom right in Windows, and will probably say "END UK". You can click on this and select "Language preferences" to tell the computer you may want to use a French IME. Then you can switch between English and French by clicking on this lower right menu, or by using Alt and Shift.

[Breelander]

I think you need to tell the laptop which IME (Input Method Editor) you are using. The current setting should be shown at the bottom right in Windows, and will probably say "END UK". You can click on this and select "Language preferences" to tell the computer you may want to use a French IME. Then you can switch between English and French by clicking on this lower right menu, or by using Alt and Shift.

You and my post before it are basically saying the same thing, but using different words. Rather that try to use even more words to explain, here is a tutorial that tells you exactly how to do it.

The language of your keyboard layout controls the characters that appear on your screen when you type. By using the different layouts, you can type all the characters for the language, including diacritics such as the umlaut (ä) in German and the tilde (ñ) in Spanish.

This tutorial will show you how to add and remove keyboard layouts for your account in Windows 10.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/102 ... ml#option1

[SteelCamel]

The only limitation I can think of - as far as I'm aware, Windows only allows one keyboard layout at once, no matter how many keyboards you have connected. So if the internal keyboard is QWERTY and the external one is AZERTY, only one of them can be set up to match the correct layout at a time. You'll have to switch layout to use the other keyboard.

The other option is to just switch layout and use the internal keyboard. You'll have to remember which key is which, or add stickers to the keys, but it will work fine - press "Q" and you'll get an "A".

PCs don't actually know what's printed on the keys, which is why you have to select the layout yourself. When you press "Q", the keyboard doesn't send a code for "Q", it sends a code for the location of the key on the keyboard - the system then looks up what that key is supposed to mean. So if you can touch-type (or have plenty of stickers), you can set the layout to whatever you like and it will work fine. Though some layouts have extra keys, which obviously won't work.

[Breelander]

Sorry, I know I could test this for myself, but the AZERTY keyboard and desktop are at work and I'm not allowed to bring my personal laptop in and vice versa!

There's no reason you cannot switch to using the AZERTY layout with your laptop's own UK keyboard, you'd just need to know which keys to press. There's a good layout image here you could print out and use as a reference (or maybe even make an overlay you could place over your keyboard).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZERTY

[stevensfo]

Thanks everyone. Experiment completed. All is fine. Plugged AZERTY keyboard into laptop, installed French etc and it all works a treat.

Sorry, I know I could test this for myself, but the AZERTY keyboard and desktop are at work and I'm not allowed to bring my personal laptop in and vice versa!

There's no reason you cannot switch to using the AZERTY layout with your laptop's own UK keyboard, you'd just need to know which keys to press. There's a good layout image here you could print out and use as a reference (or maybe even make an overlay you could place over your keyboard).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZERTY

Yep, done that, got the teeshirt etc. I even made small stickers for the keys that are different. Pain in the proverbial! Much easier to get an extra keyboard.

The only limitation I can think of - as far as I'm aware, Windows only allows one keyboard layout at once, no matter how many keyboards you have connected. So if the internal keyboard is QWERTY and the external one is AZERTY, only one of them can be set up to match the correct layout at a time. You'll have to switch layout to use the other keyboard.
The other option is to just switch layout and use the internal keyboard. You'll have to remember which key is which, or add stickers to the keys, but it will work fine - press "Q" and you'll get an "A".

Yep, I know that now, and I also learned the hard way at work, to CHANGE BACK to the original keyboard settings and don't expect the computer to do it for you. I've been locked out a few times now due to my passwords not working. The computer still thought it was in Rene's cafe with Madame Edith, Michelle of the Resistance and Fifi Le Bonq!

Steve

PS I also recently discovered that what I thought was a French keyboard is actually a Belgian keyboard! Fortunately, only one or two differences.

PPS Now then, a few questions about Chinese keyboards.....

[ReformedCharacter]

PPS Now then, a few questions about Chinese keyboards.....

No problem there, you just need one of these:



https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3092

RC

[stevensfo]

PPS Now then, a few questions about Chinese keyboards.....

No problem there, you just need one of these:



https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3092

RC

I love the photo in the link of Wally looking back, exhausted.

Maybe a good caption: "Wh...what was that? Something about Ctrl- Alt- Delete? You're f*****g kidding, right?"

Steve

PS I remember on the underground in Singapore, watching Chinese kids texting on their mobiles. Not sure how they did it, but they had some amazing system of using a simple keyboard to produce the symbols they wanted.

[Infrasonic]

...PS I remember on the underground in Singapore, watching Chinese kids texting on their mobiles. Not sure how they did it, but they had some amazing system of using a simple keyboard to produce the symbols they wanted.

Probably emojis and numbers as codes (like 555! being ha ha ha! in Thai slang as the number 5 is pronounced ha). That all came out of the far east because of the complications around the various alphabets/character sets being so big (even the simplified ones like Chinese).
Korean is taking off and one of the reasons is it's easier for foreigners to learn their alphabet as they took the wise decision to cut it down to a very basic number (24).

[Breelander]

Thanks everyone. Experiment completed. All is fine. Plugged AZERTY keyboard into laptop, installed French etc and it all works a treat.

Great news....

PPS Now then, a few questions about Chinese keyboards.....

good luck with that...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_i ... rd_layouts