issue with accents from a mysql table

Hello, please help me on the following issue. I guess I should understand by myself, but I don`t. I have hacked a function accents_conv(---); to convert a character like à to, say, à. When I feed it by a string - accents_textris('à') - it works fine. The issue is when I get 'à' from a mysql table. I.e., let à the value of the field Field of a mysql table Table, and say $result = mysql_fetch_array($answer, MYSQL_BOTH), where $answer= mysql_query(SELECT * FROM Table). Now accents_textris($result['Field']) is still à (instead of à). Why? Any hint is welcome. Thanks a lot see you tomorrow morning. mario