Russian keyboards

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Jules Levin wrote:

> On 2/27/2011 5:02 PM, Nola wrote:
>
>> But for students who want to seriously study the language, using
>> the modified keyboard would be useless. They should start out with
>> the true keyboard and learn it from the beginning. Why waste time
>> and end up having to un-learn the modified one and then learn the
>> proper keyboard?Just do it right from the beginning.
>>
> This ritualization of the "true" keyboard is unbelievable! I have
> yet to read one logical practical reason for learning the Russian
> keyboard layout if one is already a fast typist on qwerty. The whole
> thing comes down to time/cost evaluation. If you already can type
> and know Russian, it takes 10 or 15 minutes to learn the Russian
> QWERTY. Most adults do not have two weeks of daily practice time to
> master a skill that will not pay off calorically, musically, or
> financially. Do you want to get a job as a secretary in Russia? Learn
> the Russian keyboard. Are you going to Russia for an academic year
> and will NOT bring your own computer, but will need to do Russian
> word processing there? Isn't it possible you will also need
> occasionally to write English in Russia? If you will have access to
> someone else's computer for word processing, chances are you can also
> install the student keyboard in addition to the keyboard on the
> computer. If not, go to town and learn the Russian keyboard, that
> seems so essential a part of Russian civilization that you will be as
> helpless as Tolstoy must have been, not knowing it. To get a better
> perspective about this, assume you are a native English speaker who
> knows QWERTY, and you meet a visiting Russian scholar who uses a
> Russian keyboard layout for English to type English--she doesn't know
> QWERTY! What is your reaction? Are you horrified? Mine is a big
> yawn.
>
>> So: if serious about Russian, use the Russian keyboard. If not,
>> then go ahead with the modified one.
>>
> Yeah, right.

I'm often surprised at what "issues" evoke passionate responses on this 
list. I understand that people often believe firmly in the rightness of 
their positions, but if someone else sees it differently, well, nobody's 
life is on the line.

I happen to prefer the native Russian keyboard, because of my personal 
learning style and taste (and I find it easier to type Russian without 
interference from my brain's English module). But if I were magically 
transported out of my current situation and put in charge of a basic 
Russian class, I wouldn't force that preference on my students. Rather, 
I would offer the best information I could find on reasons for choosing 
one or the other, and let them make up their own minds. One size will 
not fit all.

And let's remember that the younger the student, the more malleable the 
mind. I would have a harder time today picking up the Russian keyboard 
layout than I did 20 years ago, and I would include that tidbit in my 
advice to a class of mixed ages.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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