Most foreigners have no idea how to type in Russian on their computer. For those who study Russian, a Russian keyboard would be very helpful. But you do not need to buy a Russian keyboard in order to have a Russian keyboard layout and type Russian symbols. Making your computer type in Russian is easy because all modern computers include keyboard layouts for most languages.

       A Russian keyboard layout includes a number of Cyrillic letters and symbols. What you need to do is to turn the Russian keyboard layout on which will make your computer type Russian symbols.

       The settings can be changed with the help of “Regional and Language Options” in the Classic View of the Control Panel (Start->Control Panel->Classic View->Regional and Language Options). The settings are approximately the same for XP, Vista and Windows 7. While in “Regional and Language Options” window, click on the “Language” tab to access the keyboard settings. You will see that you will be able to change the input languages of your computer. Click on “Details”. Then by clicking on the “Add” button you will be able to add another input language to your keyboard layout. Most computers have layouts for all common languages, including a Russian keyboard layout. After you add Russian to your keyboard, you will be able to switch between English and Russian languages in the Language bar which appears in the bottom right corner of your screen.

       After you turned the Russian keyboard on, you will also need to have Russian letters on your keyboard. They sell little stickers with Russian letters, which are incredibly hard to find in a country where people don't speak Russian. So you may make and stick Russian letters by yourself, write them on your keyboard with a bright felt-pen or red nail-polish. Use the picture of the Russian keyboard below as a guide.