Typing In Thai

[Briggsy]

I'm sure this one has come up before. There are many websites teaching typing in Roman letters. learn2type.com is one, for example. There must be at least one for the Thai script. Does anybody know?

Please note I am not talking about learning the Thai alphabet. I can write fairly well already. I just want my fingers to memorise where the Thai letters are positioned on the keyboard.

[siamesekitty]

There's one available for free download from the Thaiware site, but doesn't really teach typing, the "lessons" seem better suited for practice.

Haven't really seen any sites dedicated to teaching Thai touch-typing. If you're in Thailand I suggest you find a program from a bookstore or software shops (legal ones of course ) Have seen quite a few that look interesting and fun!

Edited January 12, 2008 by siamesekitty

[Tod Daniels]

I downloaded a freeware version aptly called "Thai Typing Tutor". Unfortunately now I can't find the website which has it. I believe I actually got the link here, so if you search the T/V Forum you may find it.

It has built in lessons for learning the keys with exercises for 'shifty words', and also uses some material from both Glen Slayden's site; www.thai-language.com as well as stories from the www.learningthai.com site.

You can copy and paste thai into a notepad text file, save it in the 'advanced' folder to improve your skills. It will chart percentage of accuracy, and words per minute on a graph after you've typed something completely so you can see if you’re improving. If you don't have thai letters on your keyboard it has a 'hint' feature to show you what english letter represents the correct one in thai. This feature can be toggled on and off or set to continuously on. It may not have the bells and whistles of a program you'd buy, but for a freeware program, I found it very good.

When I first started to learn I was a little put off (okay a LOT really) that so many frequently used thai characters are in what a person who types english would consider 'out of the way' places. After all how many times do you type the hyphen which is ข, the equal sign; which is ช, the [ which is บ, or the ] which is ล? These are all high frequency thai characters used over and over in words. After the first day of learning to type, my right pinky finger was aching so badly I contemplated doing 'pinky curls' to strengthen its endurance. Now I am able to type by-touch thai quite easily. Although other than the simpler high frequency thai words, I tend to transcribe more than I write at this point.

Take care; good luck,

[wasabi]

I learned through chatting with Thai buddies on MSN and camfrog. It was extremely slow going at first and I doubted I would ever be able to touch type,but now a few years into it I'm getting close.

[Briggsy]

Thanks for the replies. I will follow up.

[jayenram]

I'm not sure I understand precisely what you wish to do, however, this site may be interesting for you:

http://english-thai-dictionary.com/thai_keyboard.php

It helps me considerably as my eyesight is not good and the Thai symbols on my keyboard are very difficult to see.

Cheers

J

[insideleft]

I found this site:

http://www.learningthai.com/thaikeyboard/

very helpful...

I just use one of my pemjuwan books and write type to the keyboard on the screen...learnt to type fairly accurately in about two-weeks...my speed is still slow, but this will improve...

Ed

I'm not sure I understand precisely what you wish to do, however, this site may be interesting for you:

http://english-thai-dictionary.com/thai_keyboard.php

It helps me considerably as my eyesight is not good and the Thai symbols on my keyboard are very difficult to see.

Cheers

J

[Wizzard of Oz]

I found this site:

http://www.learningthai.com/thaikeyboard/

very helpful...

I just use one of my pemjuwan books and write type to the keyboard on the screen...learnt to type fairly accurately in about two-weeks...my speed is still slow, but this will improve...

Ed

I'm not sure I understand precisely what you wish to do, however, this site may be interesting for you:

http://english-thai-dictionary.com/thai_keyboard.php

It helps me considerably as my eyesight is not good and the Thai symbols on my keyboard are very difficult to see.

Cheers

J

Have you ever noticed when someone is good at typing, they don't look at the keyboard at all? Their hands tend to know where the keys are.

They use all fingers across the keyboard - not like typing 'fast' with 2 fingers. This is called TOUCH TYPING. It is something that is specifically learned - people aren't born with some gift to automatically be tuned into the keyboard. I know this musty come as a shock

You use specialised computer programs to learn how to do it - and after the initial effort, you are far more productive at typing.

What the original poster is asking - is there such programs for learning TOUCH TYPING using the THAI keys/letters.

[Tod Daniels]

The keyboard finger position in typing thai is the same as in typing english (your index fingers on the keys with the bumps on them called; "home keys" F & J). Touch typing thai can be learned in the same fashion as english; thru drills, repetition and restraint in not looking at the keyboard once the layout is understood.

The program I referred to in my previous post called "Thai Typing Tutor" has exercises in the beginner, novice and intermediate folders which teach exactly the kind of typing drills to use all your fingers, or as people refer to “type by touch”.

When I learned to type by touch in American high school they had covers which went over the typewriter keys shielding it from our sight, forcing us to learn the skill.

I have found people quite adept at what in america is referred to as "two-finger” typing, (NOT to be confused with “hunt-&-peck” typing which is a different “skill” entirely) cannot type with the w/p/m rate of even a mediocre touch typist. With no home key reference points a two finger typist loses w/p/m speed looking at the keyboard. This is especially apparent in typing anything they are not making up on the fly or from their thoughts. Typing a letter from a form is NOT the same as making up a correspondence in your head. Many people can “two finger” type quite well in say; MSN or Yahoo’s chat function, but their speed decreases measurably when they are forced to type pre-written material.

I am far from a speed demon typing thai. At straight transcribing though I can beat the two of the three “two-finger-typing” thai office girls who work above my apartment; even though they can remember a complete sentence at a time. The advantage of not needing to look at the keyboard every few seconds becomes a real time saver in the long run.

That Thai Typing Tutor program allowed me go from “hunt-&-peck” to “type by touch” in a matter of weeks. Then again, I am retired, have nothing to do, and practiced several times a day for 20-30 minutes each time.

Just as an example to the degree of difficulty. Here is a sample sentence saying;

I am (a) person from America but reside (in) Thailand;

ผมเป็นคนจากอเมริกาแต่อยู่ที่เมืองไทย

These are the english characters needed to type that same sentence;

z,gxHo8o0kdvg,ibkc9jvp^jmujg,nv'wmp

As is evident even in this simple (albeit poorly constructed) sentence; many of the english characters not all that frequently used are needed.

Good Luck; your results may vary. ..