Turkish typing practice
Learn to touch type in Turkish, free in your browser: lessons built from real Turkish words, Turkish books to type, and the keys for ç, ğ, ö, ş, ü and both kinds of i on any keyboard.
What you can practise
Smart Lessons in Turkish
Real Turkish words, built around your slowest key. You start on six keys, and Turkish's own letters join as the others come up to speed.
The Turkish alphabet
Every letter in order against the clock, with how to type each Turkish letter on your keyboard.
Typing games in Turkish
Pilot and Spaceship: steer through the gaps or shoot down enemy ships by typing Turkish words.
6 Turkish books
Classic Turkish books, out of copyright, typed a passage at a time.
Turkish letters
Turkish adds six letters to a to z, ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü, and splits i in two: dotted i and dotless ı are different letters, with the capitals İ and I. They turn up in almost every sentence: "güzel" (beautiful), "çok" (very), "ışık" (light), "değil" (not), "şimdi" (now).
Most Turkish keyboards are Turkish Q: QWERTY with ş and i to the right of L, ğ and ü to the right of P, and ö and ç to the right of M, while the I key types dotless ı. On a US or UK keyboard, Windows' United States-International gives ö and ü as " then the letter and ç as AltGr with comma, but has no ğ, ı or ş, so add the Turkish Q layout; macOS ABC – Extended and Linux type each one as a mark, then the letter.
On a Turkish keyboard
Windows: Turkish Q · macOS: Turkish-QWERTY · Linux: Turkish
Add it in Windows under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, in macOS under System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources, in Linux under Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources.
| Letter | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| ç | Ç | Option C | Ç |
| ğ | Ğ | Option G | Ğ |
| ı | I | Option I | I |
| ö | Ö | Option O | Ö |
| ş | Ş | Option S | Ş |
| ü | Ü | Option U | Ü |
On a US or UK keyboard
Windows: United States-International · macOS: ABC – Extended · Linux: English (US, intl., with dead keys)
Add it the same way. On US-International ' and " become dead keys: type a space after one for the mark itself.
| Letter | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| ç | AltGr , | Option Cthen C | AltGr Shift 5then C |
| ğ | Not on this layout | Option Bthen G | AltGr Shift 9then G |
| ı | Not on this layout | Option Wthen I | AltGr .then I |
| ö | Shift 'then O | Option Uthen O | Shift 'then O |
| ş | Not on this layout | Option Cthen S | AltGr Shift 5then S |
| ü | Shift 'then U | Option Uthen U | Shift 'then U |
Tips for typing Turkish
Mind the two i keys
On Turkish Q the key where English has I types dotless ı, and dotted i sits two keys right of L. Type "bir" with the wrong one and you get "bır", so drill words such as "bir", "ılık" and "için" until the right key comes without thinking.
The right little finger works hard
Ş is the right little finger's home key, and i, ğ and ü are all its reaches. Keep the index finger anchored on J and stretch without lifting the hand.
Ö and ç take the punctuation keys
Ö and ç sit where English has the comma and the full stop, under the right middle and ring fingers. The full stop moves one key right, beside Right Shift, and the comma moves to the key above Enter or beside it.
Dotted capitals
Shift with the i key gives İ, and Shift with the I key gives I. Names such as "İstanbul" and "İzmir" start with the dotted capital, so hold the left Shift for it, as the key is under your right hand.