Comments on: Keyboard stickers http://golden-zephyr.com/?p=470 "He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own." ~ Goethe Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:51:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Busan Mike http://golden-zephyr.com/?p=470&cpage=1#comment-51 Busan Mike Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:37:57 +0000 http://golden-zephyr.com/?p=470#comment-51 Ah - this whole business of swapping keyboards is a bit more difficult if you're using a MacBook :-) Sorry for being a bit Windows-centric in my thinking... I'm afraid being in Korea tends to beat the non-Windows thinking out of you because it's almost impossible to function here with anything except Windows-based Internet Explorer with its terrible ActiveX plugins! Good luck with learning to touch type in Korean :-) I'm still getting there myself I have to admit, so I often find myself staring at the keyboard when my mind goes blank. I wouldn't rule out the sticker solution, if you can find a product with good reviews (unfortunately I couldn't, but my options in England were very limited). Ah – this whole business of swapping keyboards is a bit more difficult if you’re using a MacBook :-) Sorry for being a bit Windows-centric in my thinking… I’m afraid being in Korea tends to beat the non-Windows thinking out of you because it’s almost impossible to function here with anything except Windows-based Internet Explorer with its terrible ActiveX plugins!

Good luck with learning to touch type in Korean :-) I’m still getting there myself I have to admit, so I often find myself staring at the keyboard when my mind goes blank. I wouldn’t rule out the sticker solution, if you can find a product with good reviews (unfortunately I couldn’t, but my options in England were very limited).

]]> By: admin http://golden-zephyr.com/?p=470&cpage=1#comment-50 admin Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:23:27 +0000 http://golden-zephyr.com/?p=470#comment-50 Ahh thank you SO much for your reply. I am currently using a MacBook, so switching between Korean and English is really simple. My problem is just not being able to see the letters on the keys. I can pull up a *keyboard viewer* which shows the keys and corresponding letters, but it seems so awkward still (the viewer is relatively small and I don't know if I can make it larger). But, like you say, I don't want to waste my money on buying something that won't work. I guess I'll persevere with the viewer or rig-up some kind of sticker system myself. Hopefully it won't take that long to memorize!! Ahh thank you SO much for your reply. I am currently using a MacBook, so switching between Korean and English is really simple. My problem is just not being able to see the letters on the keys. I can pull up a *keyboard viewer* which shows the keys and corresponding letters, but it seems so awkward still (the viewer is relatively small and I don’t know if I can make it larger). But, like you say, I don’t want to waste my money on buying something that won’t work. I guess I’ll persevere with the viewer or rig-up some kind of sticker system myself. Hopefully it won’t take that long to memorize!!

]]> By: Busan Mike http://golden-zephyr.com/?p=470&cpage=1#comment-49 Busan Mike Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:09:39 +0000 http://golden-zephyr.com/?p=470#comment-49 I definitely sympathise having once been in exactly the same situation. Personally I reached a point where my inability to type Korean words in a simple way was hindering the speed of my learning the language, and sapping my motivation as well. I think stickers can work, but when I looked into this my research suggested they can be a bit hit and miss - some were surprisingly difficult to apply and some apparently came off too easily, so it might be better to avoid the cheapest/non-recommended ones. I couldn't find anything I trusted when I was in England, so eventually I just printed out a mock-up Korean keyboard in Word and stuck it to the bottom of my monitor. Not ideal but better than nothing. I considered buying a Korean keyboard locally, which I think would have been the best solution despite the extra expense, but then I moved to Korea so that solved the problem. When I moved back to England for a while, I made sure I took a Korean keyboard with me. If you're a Windows user, unlike the sticker solution, a real Korean keyboard has extra keys for switching between English and Korean, which are invaluable - however, I use Korean Windows so I can't say whether this switching key would be supported under English Windows with a Korean IME - if that's what you're using. I definitely sympathise having once been in exactly the same situation. Personally I reached a point where my inability to type Korean words in a simple way was hindering the speed of my learning the language, and sapping my motivation as well.

I think stickers can work, but when I looked into this my research suggested they can be a bit hit and miss – some were surprisingly difficult to apply and some apparently came off too easily, so it might be better to avoid the cheapest/non-recommended ones. I couldn’t find anything I trusted when I was in England, so eventually I just printed out a mock-up Korean keyboard in Word and stuck it to the bottom of my monitor. Not ideal but better than nothing.

I considered buying a Korean keyboard locally, which I think would have been the best solution despite the extra expense, but then I moved to Korea so that solved the problem. When I moved back to England for a while, I made sure I took a Korean keyboard with me.

If you’re a Windows user, unlike the sticker solution, a real Korean keyboard has extra keys for switching between English and Korean, which are invaluable – however, I use Korean Windows so I can’t say whether this switching key would be supported under English Windows with a Korean IME – if that’s what you’re using.

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