Typing in Arabic
If you plan to do a lot of writing in Arabic, or even just create study tools like digital flashcards, it's worth learning to type. Setting up Windows to handle Arabic is not especially difficult, but it's a bit tricky at first, and you can use a number of helpful tricks to make the process easier. You can find a detailed list of instructions at this website, but these basics should get you going:
1. Enable Arabic in Windows: This is the first step and varies slightly between Windows XP and Vista. Go to Control Panel and find the icon "Regional and Language Options." This will open a dialog box, where you will find a tab that allows you to add or change keyboard input languages. Select "Add" and choose one of the Arabic keyboard layouts. It doesn't really matter which one; I have been using the Jordanian layout and it seems to work fine.
2. To Toggle Between Languages: once you've installed Arabic support, you'll notice something new has appeared on the bottom-right of your screen: the letters "EN", which stand for English. If you click on this, you can switch to "AR" (Arabic) and back. Note that each program will "remember" what the active keyboard is; if you select Arabic in Microsoft Word and then switch to Internet Explorer, the current language will switch back to English.
3. Pull up the Windows on-screen keyboard: now that you have Arabic support installed, you need a way to type in Arabic. In Windows XP, go to Start-->Run and type "osk", which stands for On-Screen Keyboard. A virtual keyboard will appear on the screen, which displays characters for whatever language you selected in step #2. Simply use your mouse to "type" in Arabic.
4. Consider buying: either (1) Arabic stickers for your keyboard or (2) an Arabic keyboard. If you plan to do a lot of Arabic writing, you don't want to strain your eyes trying to use the on-screen keyboard. I spent the $30 for an English-Arabic keyboard and don't regret it a bit. It has both English and Arabic characters on the keys and simply plugs into a USB port. My only complaint is that the diacritical marks (which are accessed with the SHIFT key) aren't labeled, but it didn't take long to memorize where they were. Amazon.com sells a variety of stickers and keyboards.
5. Consider buying: the Microsoft Word Arabic Language Pack. For $24.95 you can download this pack online and install it in a few minutes. The pack gives you the ability to convert Word to an Arabic interface (menus, dialog boxes, etc. in Arabic), which I do not intend to use. More importantly, you'll get Arabic spell-checking and grammar-checking. The grammar-spelling is useless to me right now, because I can't understand the feedback it gives me. The spell-check is difficult to use, because the "suggested alternatives" are small and hard to read. The biggest benefit is the angry red underline that appears when I spell something wrong. It gives me instantaneous feedback and tells me to go get out the dictionary. Just as in English, the spell-checker will only catch some of your mistakes, but it's one more tool that's nice to have on hand.
1. Enable Arabic in Windows: This is the first step and varies slightly between Windows XP and Vista. Go to Control Panel and find the icon "Regional and Language Options." This will open a dialog box, where you will find a tab that allows you to add or change keyboard input languages. Select "Add" and choose one of the Arabic keyboard layouts. It doesn't really matter which one; I have been using the Jordanian layout and it seems to work fine.
2. To Toggle Between Languages: once you've installed Arabic support, you'll notice something new has appeared on the bottom-right of your screen: the letters "EN", which stand for English. If you click on this, you can switch to "AR" (Arabic) and back. Note that each program will "remember" what the active keyboard is; if you select Arabic in Microsoft Word and then switch to Internet Explorer, the current language will switch back to English.
3. Pull up the Windows on-screen keyboard: now that you have Arabic support installed, you need a way to type in Arabic. In Windows XP, go to Start-->Run and type "osk", which stands for On-Screen Keyboard. A virtual keyboard will appear on the screen, which displays characters for whatever language you selected in step #2. Simply use your mouse to "type" in Arabic.
4. Consider buying: either (1) Arabic stickers for your keyboard or (2) an Arabic keyboard. If you plan to do a lot of Arabic writing, you don't want to strain your eyes trying to use the on-screen keyboard. I spent the $30 for an English-Arabic keyboard and don't regret it a bit. It has both English and Arabic characters on the keys and simply plugs into a USB port. My only complaint is that the diacritical marks (which are accessed with the SHIFT key) aren't labeled, but it didn't take long to memorize where they were. Amazon.com sells a variety of stickers and keyboards.
5. Consider buying: the Microsoft Word Arabic Language Pack. For $24.95 you can download this pack online and install it in a few minutes. The pack gives you the ability to convert Word to an Arabic interface (menus, dialog boxes, etc. in Arabic), which I do not intend to use. More importantly, you'll get Arabic spell-checking and grammar-checking. The grammar-spelling is useless to me right now, because I can't understand the feedback it gives me. The spell-check is difficult to use, because the "suggested alternatives" are small and hard to read. The biggest benefit is the angry red underline that appears when I spell something wrong. It gives me instantaneous feedback and tells me to go get out the dictionary. Just as in English, the spell-checker will only catch some of your mistakes, but it's one more tool that's nice to have on hand.
posted by Reach 364 at
7:10 AM
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