The Vietnamese Telex guide
Telex builds accented Vietnamese letters out of ordinary letters, so your hands never leave the main keys. Two tables cover the whole system.
How Telex works
You type the plain letter, then one more key that turns it into the accented form, and the input method replaces what you typed. Press a then w and you get ă.
Tone marks go last, usually at the end of the syllable, and the input method puts the mark on the correct vowel by itself.
Table 1 — vowels and the letter đ
| Type | You get | Example |
|---|---|---|
| aw | ă | awn → ăn |
| aa | â | caan → cân |
| ee | ê | ddeem → đêm |
| oo | ô | coo → cô |
| ow | ơ | comw → cơm |
| uw | ư | muwa → mưa |
| dd | đ | ddi → đi |
Table 2 — the five tone marks
| Key | Tone | Example character | Example word |
|---|---|---|---|
| s | Sắc (rising) | á | mas → má |
| f | Huyền (falling) | à | baf → bà |
| r | Hỏi (asking) | ả | hoir → hỏi |
| x | Ngã (tumbling) | ã | ddax → đã |
| j | Nặng (heavy) | ạ | mej → mẹ |
| z | Remove the tone | a | maz → ma |
The z key strips the tone you just added. Fixing a wrong tone that way is faster than deleting the word.
Whole words
| Type | You get |
|---|---|
| tieengs Vieejt | tiếng Việt |
| nguwowif | người |
| ddwowngf | đường |
| hoocj sinh | học sinh |
| coong vieejc | công việc |
Practical notes
- To type a real w, press it twice.
- Putting the tone at the end of the syllable is the habit worth building, though most input methods accept it earlier too.
- Turn on your operating system Vietnamese input first: macOS has "Vietnamese — Telex", and Windows users generally install Unikey or EVKey.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between Telex and VNI?
- Telex uses letters to add marks; VNI uses digits. Telex suits long passages because your hands stay on the letter keys, but both produce exactly the same text.
- How do I type an actual letter w?
- Press w twice. Most input methods also work it out from context, for example inside English words.
- How do I fix a wrong tone mark?
- Press z to strip the tone from the syllable you just typed, then type the right one. That is quicker than deleting the whole word.