Dear Google:
You probably already have a pretty solid self-esteem going, but I will do my best right now to boost it further: you are so spectacular, I would like to buy you flowers, write an epic poem to you, and name my babies after you.* Specifically, I am praising your Google Labs section. More specifically yet, your genius Google Transliteration. – Love, mashunya
All of these years I’ve been very hindered from typing in Russian by my utter inability to use a Russian keyboard. I putter along at the break-neck speed of 2-3 words a minute. Maybe 4, if they’re very short words. It took less time to go to a page with Russian font on it (say, a Wiki entry of some kind) and then just copy-and-paste words and letters from it, though that only made sense if I had to do a quick web search in Russian, or type a phrase or two at max. Anything longer was out of the question.
When I write emails to my parents, there is always a slight dilemma – I want to type in Russian, because it feels a bit odd to write to my parents in English. However, I know that by the time I manage to type out an entire email, our Sun will have turned into a Red Giant and incinerated Earth** and all that effort will have been for nothing.
So, instead I use latin letters – a.k.a. these guys that I’m using right now – but sound out Russian words with them. So, privet, dosvidaniya, da, komunism, etc. Approximate at best – trying to adapt 26 English letters into 33 Russian ones is tricky – and as a result, quite awkward to read. The brain really struggles to read English letters but sound out Russian words… there are neurons crossing that really shouldn’t cross. (Wait, do neurons ever cross? Whatever.)
Until now.
Google Transliteration is my new best friend. I do what I’ve done with the emails – type using English letters – but then it immediately transliterates each word into Russian type. And, what’s best, is it’s scary accurate and intuitive. It takes all that awkward phonetic spelling and somehow knows what word I want, despite the obvious typing constraints. And it’s not only for Russian! You can use it for a whole slew of non-latin-letter-using languages.
Anyway, it still gives me head confusion to type – a lot of Russian letters look like English letters but sound very different (“B” actually makes a “V” sound, “C” is always “S”), so I frequently get all confuzzled and have to retype words. However, it’s still much easier that my old method, and, what’s best, anyone I write to – whether parents, or a letter to grandparents – can now finish the letter without giving up half way through in frustration.
Also, doesn’t transliteration sound like something that’d be taught at Hogwarts? A flick and a swish and “Transliterate!” (Why, yes, I AM a giant nerd. Why do you ask?)
Leave a comment