User's Manual

Keyboard Input Methods
An input method is a way to handle complex situations where typing goes beyond an alphabetical issue. In some cases,
input methods are used to get a phonetic approximation of a word based on the keyboard you are using. Your device can
then suggest a character or diacritic based on the sound you've chosen. In other cases, input methods provide gestures
and key combinations for languages. There are some keyboard input methods that are common to all supported
languages, such as word prediction and flick typing to select predictions or using the press-and-hold method to access
accented characters.
All keyboard input methods also support using the sym key to access symbols.
Your BlackBerry device can be used in many different languages, regardless of the default language you select. However,
the differences between the languages you use may mean that you need specific tips and tricks to use your BlackBerry
Keyboard with a language that is different than the default keyboard layout. For example, if you are using a language that
has more characters in the alphabet than the the language than your keyboard supports, you need to know how to access
those additional characters.
Typing in Other Languages
You can set up your BlackBerry device to recognize three different input languages when you type. As you type, your device
makes predictions based on each of the languages. When you've got more than one typing language set up, you may need
to consider the following:
• Some languages, such asThai and Arabic, have more characters in the alphabet than there are keys on the keyboard.
You need to use a keystroke combination to access the second or third character on a particular key. For information
about how to access these types of characters, see the help for typing in that language.
• Different languages may have different keyboard layouts. For example, American English uses a QWERTY keyboard
layout, but French uses an AZERTY keyboard layout. You need to adapt to the changed locations of some keys.
• Similar languages may have slightly different keyboard layouts. For example, many languages use a QWERTY keyboard
layout; however, Danish, Spanish, and Romanian include different characters on the basic keyboard that are not
included on other QWERTY keyboards.
• Some supported languages, such as Hebrew, Farsi, and Arabic, read right-to-left. If you change to one of these
languages from a left-to-right language in the middle of a sentence, your device automatically places the characters
you type on the left side of the cursor. When you want to change back to the left-to-right language, you'll need to move
your cursor back to the right side of the text.
Typing in Arabic or Farsi
The Arabic and Farsi keyboards support the following features:
• The Arabic language has more characters in the alphabet than there are keys on the keyboard. As a result, there are
more than one native character on one physical key. You might need to use the keyboard mapping guide to determine
how to access the second and third characters on each physical key.
• The Farsi language has a few characters that are different from the basic Arabic alphabet. These characters are listed
on the keyboard mapping guide.
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