They do. Saysettha
font I believe is the most widely used font as its been around for
a while. It's a clean and simple font also. Although there are many
kinds of styles/fonts available now, many still predominantly use
Saysettha (especially in books and websites). Many Lao people are
proficient in typing in Lao even if it is on an English keyboard.
At LCW we've
sampled probably every available Lao font. There isn't any font,
software or keyboard software that replicates specific equivalent
sounds/letters based on the English key pressed. However we came
across something you're suggesting years ago but haven't been able
to find it again.
One of our LCW
contributors played around with the Saysettha OT font using Font
Creator 4.5. He wanted to be able to do what you're asking - key
for key Lao/English letters. He simply used the program to rearrange
the font keys so that when he typed on his English keyboard, for
example, "b" then it would yield the Lao consonant for
that letter. Hit shift + "b" and it yielded the long "b"
consonant and so fourth. This is most useful to those who are accustom
to the standard English keyboard layout. Indeed we all noticed how
much faster he could type in Lao after making the adjustments.
Spreading the
use of an altered form that wasn't originally created by him would
be unfair to the original creators and perhaps confusing to those
who would come to use it as the original font name would still be
used, not to mention it may infringe on copyright laws. However
you could do what he did for your own personal use.
Contradictions
From: Canada
- I read a previous LCW Advice Column topic entitled First Impressions
that said Laos is full of contradictions. Aside from what was written
in that piece, I'd like to know what other contradictions you would
say exist in Laos.
Reply:
Laos does have
a more laid back feel to it and it is a huge part of the charm of
the country, in addition to the friendly faces.
Having said
that, there's this docile side to it: Not to lose face and rarely
arguing or raising your voice, drinking and spending time with family
and friends, large community/town parties, unwritten adoptions (typically
any child who needs a place to live will find one), donations to
the temple, temple centered life/community, helping each other in
school (even though it is cheating), family oriented, not promscious,
going to special occasions even when your not personally invited
but you go to show your support.
But on the flip
side: there's ramped corruption which the government (and the people)
recognize, there is a sort of everyone for him/herself attitude
in business and in life when it comes to money, only sometimes do
people donate money outside of the temple, the strong division between
the poor/middle/rich classes, the strong division that is felt among
the public and the government, widespread use of drugs, prostitute
houses, sense of hopelessness felt by many, and contrary to what
people may think, many Lao people are quite well educated although
some of them may hold low jobs. Also contrary to what people say
about Lao lethargy when it comes to work, I would say the Lao are
quite hardworking. Think of the long hours or hard labor by contruction
workers, seamstresses, rice farmers, textile makers, wood carvers,
etc. And think of the medeocrity they put up with at their work
places - negative things that if a Westerner were in his/her place,
would have already left that job. Although this can't be said for
all, the Lao worker typically has a great deal of perserverance
also.
Your perception
of these things will depend on what you experience or who you talk
to you in Laos. Note however these same contradictions can be easily
applied to many other countries also.
