ศาลาชุมนุม

[Mint]

Hi, I'm new to all the Thai-typing things. I know how to type a little Thai using my keyboard, some letters like "gor gai" and "nor nuu" and "mor maa" etc. I can type without looking at the keyboard. As I would like to learn how to type Thai "fast" (ie. speed-wise, and without looking at the keyboard like how we type English), I was wondering if there is a program equivalent to the English touchtype or mavis beacon - touchtype has worked quite well for me.

Do you guys know of any Thai typing programs out there online? Does not need to be professionally made whatsoever, can be a simple flash program with letters flying at you and you are under pressure to find and type the word, or like a racing car typing type of game, or the old school typing programs will also do.

Or if not, some program that I can purchase in the bookshop that has also worked well for you? Thank you!

(I'm on a Mac, so I know the resources for Mac will be limited, but just list all you know... whether PC, mac, online, whatever... thank you)

[JingJo Thames]

Hello Mint,

I've actually been shocked how few people can touchtype - be it English or Thai or whatever language you can type in!! Ridiculous. Anywho, a great deal of my Thai friends are shocked that I can touch-type in Thai, none of them claim to be able to (college students, so not hurting for education)... I would say the best way I learned (speed-wise) was MSN [Messenger], but I've also had to type essays and things as I went through my Thai studies. That helps, obviously. Also endless searches through online dictionaries! Lol.

Some people also buy the Thai key stickers for your keyboard, but I don't have those.

Let's see if anyone knows of an actual program because I've been wanting to time my type-speed for a UN application.

โจ้

[Glenn Slayden]

Yeah I once got those stickers at Panthip and had them on my favorite keyboard here at home but soon they started sliding around and then falling off, leaving behind a gooey mess.

[Mint]

Yes, same here Jingjo, I was wondering too... Something like a flash game or like those facebook games where you can train your typing and also can tell you your speed in wpm etc.

I can type slow in Thai now, without looking at the keyboard for the lower caps letters as I have memorised it corresponding to the English letters. ie. gor gai is "d", so ra a is "k", jor jaan is "0" etc. But I want it to be finger memory, so to speak, not corresponding to the English letters.


What I do in place of those stickies is to take a screenshot of the Thai keyboard (from thai-language.com of course!), and put the window "always on top" if you need to type a lot of Thai. If I'm just typing in a dictionary, I don't need to look at the keyboard or any Thai typing reference guide, just that I type slow.

Screenshot of my always-on-top-manually-made-mini-keyboard :|

screen.jpg (38.58 KiB) Viewed 20122 times

[JingJo Thames]

Hahaha

Nice anecdote, there, Glen. I can just imagine...

As per your memorizing by English letters - that must get confusing! I don't consciously think about what letter [i.e. key] everything is for each keyboard I use, but sometimes when typing Thai in Roman letters or trying to think of Khmer [which has some letters which I tie in my mind ot Thai equivalents] I'll suddenly get confused as to where my finger needs to be going!

Anyway, I use a system very similar to your keyboard - except Windows can do it automatically. Your home-made ones are much prettier, though, as all Mac apps are generally wont to be... But yeah, I think that's a great way to learn. It keeps you looking at the screen not your fingers which is key, right?

โจ้

[Mint]

Cool... Windows does it automatically? I'll be sure to tell my best friend that! But how?

[JingJo Thames]

Cool... Windows does it automatically? I'll be sure to tell my best friend that! But how?

I now have Vista, which organizes things slightly differently from XP or wtv it was before. But it's basically the same: Start > Accessories > Ease of Access/Access > On-Screen Keyboard. It should also switch as you change your keyboard (i.e. language of input).

โจ้

[Mint]

Thanks for your info! I'll be sure to let my friend know. And meanwhile... I've also found the on-screen keyboard for mac! (After much searching...) Whee...

[ttthai]

If you want an onscreen keyboard, may be this is a good one for you.

http://hippogo149.site88.net/thaikeyboard.php

[Mint]

Thanks, ttthai! The interface looks really good and promising... Is that programmed by you? Hehe. I'll surely use it when I'm typing longer strings of Thai text. Thanks anyway!