Typing foreign language accents in a word processor

So I've been trying to study the (Brazilian) Portuguese language for some time now -- still need to learn a LOT! The masculine/feminine articles makes it confusing but interesting. So also is the placement of nouns before adjectives.

I however had a problem when I needed to type Portuguese text in a word processor, until a couple of days ago.

In this post, I share some keyboard short cuts one can use to type accents without resorting to inserting symbols and such.

To do that, one has to use the modifier keys, Ctrl and/or Shift, plus the character that represents the accent, plus the letter which needs the accent.

This is also helpful to those who also study other languages like French, and wish to type words in such languages seamlessly.

Enough said, here are some examples:
Ctrl + , + c = ç.
Ctrl + ' + e = é
Ctrl + Shift + ^ + u = û
Ctrl + ` (under the Esc key)  + e = è
Ctrl + Shift + ~ (under the Esc key) + a = ã
Ctrl + Shift + : + i = ï
Ctrl + / + o = ø

I would like to know your experience. If you have any tricks up your sleeves, do comment below.
I will also like to know your experience with respect to studying a second language.

Obrigado!

PS: I also stumbled upon this tutorial that has more information on the typing of accents in word processors. Enjoy

The Ideal Man

Yesterday, I stumbled on a video of Dr. Myles Munroe, in which he outlined and explained 5 characteristics of the Ideal man.

The Ideal man needs to:

1. Be in the presence of God
2. Have a job
3. Be able to cultivate (i.e. bring out the best in everything around him)
4. Be able and ready to protect (his wife)
5. Share the knowledge in the WORD of God, with his wife (and family)

Here is the video:

Priest for Self or Priest for Christ?

As a young boy, he was attracted to the priesthood. The reverence that came with it, and the cars the priests rode in. He had seen old women who couldn't walk, 'crawl' to greet young priests.
"These folks wield a lot of power", he said to himself. Invincible creatures.
But then he thought to himself, "Am I going to be a priest for self, or a priest for Christ?
A priest for self is the individual who enters the priesthood because of personal gains, or because people tell him, the 'profession' fits him.
A priest for Christ, on the other hand, is an individual with a burning passion for God's kingdom. He seeks to win souls while he works in the Lord's vineyard. This individual had a call from God.
The priest for self had no call  from God, but wants to be part of His workforce regardless.
He's still contemplating which of these personas to choose.

Measure of sprituality?

I then saw the woman move swiftly out of her line, and join the queue going to the Bishop for communion! "A christian mother!", I thought to myself.
This wasn't the first time I've seen such a move in a Catholic Church. Folks abandon queues that lead to people they feel are 'less spiritual'. It seems to me they have a hidden metric for measuring spirituality: Eucharistic Ministers < Priests < Bishops < Arch Bishops < Cardinals < The Pope.
I only wonder if spirituality can be measured. Can it?

The 'Sin' of inaction...

Are you afraid of failure? Me too -- at least until I had a sober introspection recently. I've always been reluctant to make a move,and follow up on an idea, simply because I feel I'm not 'perfect'/well prepared yet. "When at all would you be ready?",I asked myself during my reflection. Let me share a couple of my inaction with you.

In my senior year at the university, we took a course in Entrepreneurship. One of our mini projects was to write a business plan for any business of our choosing. My teammates and I targeted the transport sector, and decided to write a business plan for the cab (taxi) business. It included online booking and other such features. We FAILED to follow up on the plan and implement it -- we felt we were not ready yet (at least i thought so). Imagine the ambivalent feeling I had when I learnt of a similar idea being implemented in Nigeria now -- TaxiPark.

Another inaction of mine was not following up on an idea to develop a web/SMS-based results (grade) notification for students in my alma mater. This idea I got while doing my national service. I was not however surprised when mFriday came out with a similar app.

I can go on and on. The point I'm trying to make is that we should try even when we are not sure of the outcome. Face our fears. Inaction is devastating -- very devastating. No wonder the Confiteor (said during the Catholic Mass), has a line that goes thus, "..., in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, ..."

Join me this Saturday at the Methodist University campus in Accra, for the mother of all Barcamps in Ghana -- Barcamp Accra. Let's pledge to make efforts and thus fail so much that failure has no other choice than to let us be.

Register for Barcamp Accra here: http://barcampaccra12.eventbrite.com/

Think Ghana...

Do we have an official language in Ghana?
Yes we do -- English.
Do we have a national language?
No we don't -- errm -- yes we do.
No because all Ghanaians do not have ONE mother tongue. We have beautiful languages though.
Yes because, we have GHANA as the national language -- ONE Ghana.
So in all you do, remember our national language Ghana. Celebrate the beauty we have in our diversity.
You. Yes You. Think Ghana.

Quando eu votei :: When I voted

In the past couple of weeks, I have been intrigued by the Portuguese language. After 21 hours of studying the basics, I've decided to share a summary of my voting experience with you -- in Portuguese. Enjoy.

Na manha do dia sete de Dezembro, dois mil e doze, eu votei. Eu fui à estaçao a cinco minutos para sete horas. Eu tive que ligar uma fila longa. Votando comercou a sete horas e onze minutos. Depois de vinte minutos, nós tivemos que formar duas filas novas, usando nossos nomes. Teve muito caos, porque pessoas estiverem nas filas desde quatro horas horas na manha, mas depois disso, todo mundo ficou calmo e votando continuou.

You can read the full report -- in English -- on the GhanaDecides website.

The Vim Series!

I got a wish of mine fulfilled last Wednesday, when I partook in the Vim Series for the first time.
Vim Series is a meeting of individuals interested in technology (its challenges, prospects, application et cetera) in Ghana. It's held every Wednesday evening (6:30pm - 8:30pm) at Esoko.
I met a number of cool folks from diverse disciplines. Exchange of ideas is real fun!
Brett Nakatsu from StartupWeekend was there to share what the organisation is about and the upcoming StartupWeekend to be held in Accra this weekend. Follow #SWAccra on Twitter for updates.
Present also were guys from Open University of West Africa -- an institution taking open source education to a different dimension, by making use of MOOCs.
I enjoyed myself and felt inspired as well. If you are in Accra, and can spare 2 hours of your evening to meet cool folks and form alliances, check out the Vim Series. You will be glad you did.