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Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

User avatar
Ollyfer
Germany

Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by Ollyfer »

Good evening everyone!

I am pretty new to this forum as I haven't joined it since it was shut down on Duolingo, and also couldn't find the above-mentioned subject on this forum yet, but if it already exists, please link me to it and I will close this one in case the already existing one answers my question.
Mine is the following: In order to not be bound solely to the Android app when it comes to writing answers myself rather than ordering word tiles, I have installed the keyboard available via Windows. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an image online that would exactly represent the layout as applied by Windows. Or so I think. The problem is that I don't know how to type certain letters, specifically those that are theoretically homographic to one another, such as the vowels "a" and "o", which are both written as an aleph with a "diacritic" below them. On the phone (via SwiftKey), that's easy: just press and hold the button and select the one you wish tp type.
Thinking that they were available via AltGr, I typed the letter P (on the QWERTY keyboard) to see if I could type the letter pej, but the diacritics that appear after holding the AltGr key and pressing the letter P twice are different from those I learnt on Duolingo, but seem to match those used by publications like the Forverts. (As seen here, e.g.: https://forward.com/yiddish/539819/mala ... m-yiddish/)
Are there different typefaces in Yiddish and Hebrew that also represent certain diacritics differently?

Technically, I have now asked two questions, and both may reek from ignorance on my behalf. I admit I have still very little knowledge about this language, I know that I still need to read up a lot about it, but at the moment, I am rather disoriented as to what I am even looking for. I thus welcome every little bit of help, and want to thank you all in advance!

-- Ollyfer

Ollyfer

C2: DE; EN | B2: ES; FR | B1: PL | A2: CZ; SE; NL | A1: RU; UA

DavidHefer
Israel

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by DavidHefer »

It is not an answer to your question but it is a solution.
When you answer in Yiddish, in each question you can choose between using the keyboard and using a WORD BANK. There is a sign of a keyboard which is a toggle. You can press on it to switch to the word bank option. Then in Windows you can choose the words of the Yiddish answer with your mouse.
No typing in Yiddish is needed. Both on your phone and on your computer.
I am in the Yiddish course from the first day (April 6, 2021), every day, and I didn't type yet even one word in Yiddish.
Good luck.

User avatar
Corinnebelle

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by Corinnebelle »

Since Hebrew and Yiddish share the same alefbet, I thought I'd look into it. The keyboards are slightly different though.

https://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/yiddish.htm

I found this typing tutor
https://play.typeracer.com/?universe=lang_yi

Couldn't find anything else. Maybe someone who's learning Yiddish will be able to help you more.

🇺🇸 L1 🇮🇱 Advanced beginner Duolingo levels

Languages without borders, languages bridging gaps, the Red Cross are my heroes.

Deleted User 5957

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by Deleted User 5957 »

I tried out the lexilogos yiddish keyboard, and am impressed with the possibilities. You can type yiddish letters directly, or you can enter transliterated yiddish words, which works quite well, but some of the text needs corrections. It's possible to save your output to a text file (.txt) and use it to paste into other texts.
I'm going to experiment with the yiddish fonts offered at the site.

Good find, CB

User avatar
Ollyfer
Germany

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by Ollyfer »

DavidHefer wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:22 am

It is not an answer to your question but it is a solution.
When you answer in Yiddish, in each question you can choose between using the keyboard and using a WORD BANK. There is a sign of a keyboard which is a toggle. You can press on it to switch to the word bank option. Then in Windows you can choose the words of the Yiddish answer with your mouse.
No typing in Yiddish is needed. Both on your phone and on your computer.
I am in the Yiddish course from the first day (April 6, 2021), every day, and I didn't type yet even one word in Yiddish.
Good luck.

Thanks for your answer, David! I am familiar with the choice one is often given, between typing oneself and just picking the tiles to string the sentence together. (Depending on what one is able to see from a forum member's profile, you should see that I have already been through some courses). It seems as if the creators disabled the option that one had to write anything by oneself, at least for some harder exercises. (Perhaps it's linked to the new UI)

Ollyfer

C2: DE; EN | B2: ES; FR | B1: PL | A2: CZ; SE; NL | A1: RU; UA

User avatar
Ollyfer
Germany

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by Ollyfer »

djlimburg wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:10 pm

I tried out the lexilogos yiddish keyboard, and am impressed with the possibilities. You can type yiddish letters directly, or you can enter transliterated yiddish words, which works quite well, but some of the text needs corrections. It's possible to save your output to a text file (.txt) and use it to paste into other texts.
I'm going to experiment with the yiddish fonts offered at the site.

Good find, CB

Thanks for the recommendation, DJ Limburg! I will have a look into it, but also try to learn to use the Yiddish keyboard used by Windows, in order to eventually be able to use it just as I use the Cyrillic keyboards. In the end, that's how I would the Yiddish language outside of reading. (Or listening to audiobooks, music, &c.)

Ollyfer

C2: DE; EN | B2: ES; FR | B1: PL | A2: CZ; SE; NL | A1: RU; UA

DavidHefer
Israel

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by DavidHefer »

Hi Ollifer,
As you realized, adding the diacritics is different on the phone and in Windows.
On the phone you press the letter that has the same first letter of the diacritics, and choose.
On the computer to add the diacitics you press the Alt key to the right of the space bar (or AltGr) and at the same time another letter and get the diacritics.
For example in Windows when you write פ and then immediately Alt+פ you get פַ (פתח, patach), when you write פ and then Alt+ד you get פּ (דגש, dagesh),
ו and Alt+ד gives וּ (shuruk), ו and Alt+ו gives וֹ (cholam), etc.
A table of all these shortcuts is found for example in
https://www.safa-ivrit.org/alphabet/howto_win.php
It is in Hebrew, but you can see there a table, and in the middle column you will see on which letter to press together with the Alt on the right of the spacebar.
On the phone you write פ and then press a long time on פ to get the ַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַ , etc.
It is much easier on the phone. I use only the phone for duolingo.

Before I started learning Yiddish I thought that I will need a Yiddish keyboard. On my phone I installed Gboard from Google Store. Gboard has many keyboards, and is very good. And in Gboard I chose 4 language keyboards: English, Hebrew (my native language), Russian, and Yiddish.
Only later I realized that for the Duolingo Yiddish course the Hebrew keyboard is enough, because they chose in the course not to use the Yiddish letters בֿ and פֿ which exist in the Yiddish keyboard but not in the Hebrew keyboard.
For example, I saw these letters (that are not needed in Duolingo) in this sentence:
די גאָלדענע פּאַווע און דאָס ווײַסע ציגעלע טרעפֿן אַ נײַעם חבֿר
The advantage of using the Yiddish keyboard of Gboard is that when you start writing a word on your phone, the keyboard suggests you Yiddish words to choose from (and Spanish words when you write in Spanish using the English keyboard).
Eventually I realized that I need only the English keyboard for the Yiddish course.
Regards

User avatar
Corinnebelle

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by Corinnebelle »

Rapid typing tutor teaches you the Hebrew keyboard including all those quirky keys.
https://rapidtyping.com/

🇺🇸 L1 🇮🇱 Advanced beginner Duolingo levels

Languages without borders, languages bridging gaps, the Red Cross are my heroes.

Deleted User 5957

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11 - Gboard for PC

Post by Deleted User 5957 »

Thanks to David for bringing gboard, a google creation, to our attention. Created for the android platform, it's probably designed with the phone in mind. But, for Windows PC users like me, there exists a version of gboad the allows you to install it on windows. For more info, check this out:

https://appsforwindowspc.com/download-g ... c-windows/

I plan to try gboard soon, so I'll report my impressions later.

User avatar
Ollyfer
Germany

Re: Yiddish Keyboard on Windows 11

Post by Ollyfer »

DavidHefer wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2023 5:32 pm

Hi Ollifer,
As you realized, adding the diacritics is different on the phone and in Windows.
On the phone you press the letter that has the same first letter of the diacritics, and choose.
On the computer to add the diacitics you press the Alt key to the right of the space bar (or AltGr) and at the same time another letter and get the diacritics.
For example in Windows when you write פ and then immediately Alt+פ you get פַ (פתח, patach), when you write פ and then Alt+ד you get פּ (דגש, dagesh),
ו and Alt+ד gives וּ (shuruk), ו and Alt+ו gives וֹ (cholam), etc.
A table of all these shortcuts is found for example in
https://www.safa-ivrit.org/alphabet/howto_win.php
It is in Hebrew, but you can see there a table, and in the middle column you will see on which letter to press together with the Alt on the right of the spacebar.
On the phone you write פ and then press a long time on פ to get the ַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַַ , etc.
It is much easier on the phone. I use only the phone for duolingo.

Before I started learning Yiddish I thought that I will need a Yiddish keyboard. On my phone I installed Gboard from Google Store. Gboard has many keyboards, and is very good. And in Gboard I chose 4 language keyboards: English, Hebrew (my native language), Russian, and Yiddish.
Only later I realized that for the Duolingo Yiddish course the Hebrew keyboard is enough, because they chose in the course not to use the Yiddish letters בֿ and פֿ which exist in the Yiddish keyboard but not in the Hebrew keyboard.
For example, I saw these letters (that are not needed in Duolingo) in this sentence:
די גאָלדענע פּאַווע און דאָס ווײַסע ציגעלע טרעפֿן אַ נײַעם חבֿר
The advantage of using the Yiddish keyboard of Gboard is that when you start writing a word on your phone, the keyboard suggests you Yiddish words to choose from (and Spanish words when you write in Spanish using the English keyboard).
Eventually I realized that I need only the English keyboard for the Yiddish course.
Regards

Hello, David!

I'm terribly sorry for only now coming back to answer your comment, but I started a new job by the time you answered me, and therefore was temporarily busier.
Thanks a lot for the link above with the chart, that's exactly what I needed but couldn't find on the Anglophone webspace. I now saved that and will try to learn it by heart when I am also more advanced in Yiddish, so that I can actually make use of the language other than just learning the keyboard layout. (Reminds me a lot from my professional training, when I had to do the same, but for the QWERTZ layout) I also just realised that some letters seem to have been omitted, with the word "khaverte", which used a diacritic on the second letter, which I only realised when I googled it because upon first appearance, it was not translated, and i could not derive its meaning from German, nor RU/PL/UA.
Concerning the advantages, those seem similar to SwiftKey, and I also had benefited from it in writing some basic terms in Yiddish. This also applies for the press-and-hold features as I wrote above. the "interlingual word forecasts" are more of a hindrance for me, although I just have too many languages activated at once, so that with them, my messages become more of a European גיבריש. (Hope that this is indeed a word in Yiddish)

Again, thanks a lot, and have a nice rest of your weekend!

Oliver

PS: It raises my spirits to see that I understand good parts of your example sentence in Yiddish. While I still struggle to distinguish some letters from one another, I experience a little progress.

Ollyfer

C2: DE; EN | B2: ES; FR | B1: PL | A2: CZ; SE; NL | A1: RU; UA

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