MUCH easier than the alt system is the one where, remember on typewriters, if you typed the accent the carriage didn't advance till you'd typed the letter under it? The *only* think this can't do is the long umlaut in Hungarian/Turkish, Jack Campin, how did you do what I see above?

Ctrl and , = cedilla, then you type the c
Ctrl and `= accent grave on whatever you type next
Ctrl and ' = accent aigu "
Ctrl and ^ (Shift and 6) = circumflex accent "
Ctrl and ~ (Shift and `) = tilde "

Most of these just get ignored if you type a letter Word doesn't think you should put that accent on. I think it's the * and the / to do the circle and slash for Nordic languages, but I've not needed them.