language bar in Cinnamon

[axe.gs1]

HI all

Before switching to Cinnamon, gnome 2.x had a panel applet where I could put multilingual characters like french ones so I could just click on them, and it would add the accented 'e' as part of the document I was in without having to spawn a keyboard, or open the character map and copy/paste. It was such an elegant method.
Does anyone know if there is a cinnamon 'spice' or gnome3 applet/extension that mimics that behaviour? or have another option? The result will make my 7 year-old in French immersion very happy. Combination (keyboard Options) keys would be a pain for my 7 year old, which is why I'd rather the panel option.

thanx much