To be able to type your Native language on your computer, you will most likely have to install a special keyboard layout. You may also need to download and install a comprehensive Unicode font to handle all of the special letters your orthography requires.

This new Unicode technology is not the same many of the language-specific fonts that currently exist for Native languages. These older fonts (or legacy fonts) change the values of certain universal characters. If you work in a font named “Cherokee”, “Salish”, “Dine”, etc., chances are you are using a legacy font. Unicode fonts have a distinct advantate: you do not have to change fonts each time you change languages or use numbers and punctuation. In fact, it is possible to have twenty languages on the same page in the same font.

The keyboard layouts and fonts included in ILI workshops are provided free of charge by Languagegeek. Please visit www.languagegeek.com for more information on how to download and install your language’s keyboard layout and some Unicode fonts.