All Russian learners at some point face the necessity of typing in Russian. No matter if you just want to practice your Russian or would like to explore the Russian part of the Internet, Cyrillic alphabet is required. But Standard keyboards outside of Russia obviously don’t have the Cyrillic alphabet, so which solution can be found? Let’s find out in today’s article.
Use your smartphone
It’s very easy to install a new language on your smartphone, moreover, once you install a new language package, your phone will be correcting your spelling. Such a wonderful option! Of course, it won’t magically correct all the склонения and спряжения, but will help you to avoid many mistakes for sure.
While setting a keyboard, you will be asked to choose between the “phonetic” and “standard” keyboard. Phonetic keyboard puts the letters that sound similar to English in the same place. It may be helpful in the beginning, however, if you are planning to use “real” Russian keyboards that are used inside the country, it is better to choose a “standard” keyboard. With time, you will get used to it and the order of the letters won’t be a problem for you.
For Android Users:
Start to type a message in any messenger and look for the “settings” icon. Then choose languages and just add Russian. Choose between the “phonetic” and “standard” keyboard.
For iPhone users:
You will need to open “Settings” and then proceed to “General” –> “Keyboard” –> “Add New Keyboard”. Find Russian language and choose between “phonetic” and “standard” keyboard.
Add Russian to your PC
It is certainly possible to add a Russian language package to your PC. You should open Control Panel –> Language and Region (or Time and Language) –> Add a new language. Then you look for Russian, and that’s it. Then you can choose Russian and start typing!
However, you may notice, that it is not that easy to type when you don’t see the letters on the keyboard. There can be 3 possible solutions:
- You can buy some special stickers (or even make them on your own) with Russian letters on them. This will be very helpful at first, and with time, especially if you type a lot, you won’t even need to look at them.
- If you are not into stickers, you can print an image of a Russian keyboard and take a look at it from time to time. This is not that convenient, but still better than nothing.
- You can buy a keyboard with Russian letters. This option is not that great for laptop users, but it seems to be the best solution if you have a PC. There are many international shops now, so it won’t be difficult to order a keyboard that already has Russian letters.
Bonus. How do Russians cope with the Latin alphabet then?
All Russian keyboards and devices already have an English keyboard and language package preinstalled, so Russians don’t really struggle.
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