Доброе утро! and all hail my ghetto fabulous keyboard. =0P

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

I finally solved my typing-in-Russian problems. I painted an old keyboard with black nail polish. I still type slowly, but at least I can tell which letter goes with which key now. =0P

In other news, I put up a few reviews of teach-yourself Russian courses on my website, if anybody's interested:
Barrons Express Track to Russian
Language/30: Russian
A Simplified Russian Grammar

Comments

[jejuneraccoon.livejournal.com]

That's badass.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

hehe, thanks. it's not very pretty, but it serves its purpose.

[malaya-zemlya.livejournal.com]

I prefer to write letters on the front side of the keys, not on top. That way they dont rubbed off.

As of Russian textbooks, the all-time favorite among us native russians is
A Russian Course by Alexander Lipson and Steven J. Molinsky (http://www.belomors.ru/russian/lipson.htm) Slavica Publishers, 1981

It's hard for me to tell how good is his exposition but his examples are surely entertaining :)

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

yeah, i did that on my other keyboard but i had too much trouble seeing them. these aren't rubbing off, they're in nail polish with top coat over them.

thanks for the recommendation. =0)

[malaya-zemlya.livejournal.com]

If you have a DjVu viewer (which is available for free at http://www.lizardtech.com/), you can download Lipson's textbook here:
http://newstar.rinet.ru/~goga/biblio/lipson/lipson.djvu

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

thanks. =0)

[danvolodar.livejournal.com]

Isn't it a bit easier to buy a set of stickers with cyrillic letters for the keyboard? I've seen such sets several times, and I can asure you, they look much better then black nail polish, and don't rub off.

[littledetails.livejournal.com]

The stickers are really nice. I bought a set on eBay for just a dollar last summer. And that way I can see both the English and Cyrillic letters.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

i'm not too worried about how it looks. it's an extra keyboard i am only going to use to type in russian. i don't think the nail polish is going to rub off anytime soon anyway, i've tried several different ways of painting it.

[danvolodar.livejournal.com]

Are you going to restart your compruter any time you'd use cyrillic letters? PS/2 slot don't allow hot-change.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

no, this computer just lets me switch the plugs. the keyboard is usually attached to my other computer.

[dimon37.livejournal.com]

If there is a Russian bookstore near you, you could have bought Russian keyboard stickers. They are placing the russian letter at the bottom half of the key, so the english is not obstructed. BUt your way works too.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

i've never seen a russian bookstore in this country, much less near me. =0) but anyway, it's on my other keyboard, i only use it for typing in russian. also, i don't need to look at the keys unless i'm typing in russian. =0)

[dimon37.livejournal.com]

There are quite a few russian bookstores in the US. Granted, they might not be near you, but in New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, LA they do exist.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

ah, a damn sham then, since i don't drive. i'll be on the lookout someday.

[oleg-ka.livejournal.com]

It is very easy to buy those stickers on web
here (http://www.latkey.com/keyboard_stickers.asp?SubCat=6)
or here (http://www.google.com/search?hs=xE2&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aru-RU%3Aofficial&biw=1280&q=keyboard+stickers+cyrilic&btnG=Search)

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

my point is, i don't want any stickers. thanks anyway.

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm just here to say that that keyboard is so ghetto awesome.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

my point exactly. at least somebody appreciates my ghetto-fabulous keyboard. =0P

[dzhozef-derfler.livejournal.com]

Omg, your keyboard is hilarious. I tried making those little stickers myself, and it worked! But other people use my computer and the stickers annoyed them, so they had to come off.

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

yeah, i tried writing them with markers and that didn't work. i didn't know there were stickers, and anyway it's easier to paint them on.

[mjhelol.livejournal.com]

You do know that you can get Russian typing programs online that phonetically assign the Russian letters to the standard US keyboard, right?

It takes some getting used to, but it's much easier than using the keyboard that you have...

Just an FYI

[nur-ein-tier.livejournal.com]

i really, really don't want a keyboard that phonetically mixes up the cyrillic and latin alphabets, that's why i just changed my settings. i've gotten to use this setup pretty well already.

[lizphiz.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling I'd learn faster on that than I will with the stickers I've finally gotten.

I mean, little yellow letters competing with little white stickers or BIG BLACK LETTERS, MWA HA HA?

I think big black letters would win.

[giggle-chick.livejournal.com]

wow... that's awesome. how inspirational :)