Writing in Bangla has never been easier!


Typing in Bangla has never been easier! The latest version of Avro Keyboard — the robust and versatile Unicode-compliant Bangla writing software — supports phonetic typing. For example, if I type ami banglay gan gai in English I get the corresponding Bangla text! Avro Keyboard 3, free to download and use, has really surpassed all of our expectations and dreams.

Why should I use Avro?
I have seen many of my friends eager to type in Bangla – the language of our hearts – but they think that it is something not feasible and difficult to achieve. But it is not so if you have Avro installed on your computer. Using Avro is child’s play, nothing difficult or anything technical. So what are you waiting for? Go, grab it!

How to use Avro?
1. DOWNLOAD Avro Keyword from Omicron Lab or from the Downloads section of my site.
2. INSTALL it on your computer
3. Now to see the Bangla script properly you have to INSTALL SUPPORT FOR COMPLEX SCRIPT for which you will need the installation CD of your Windows operating system. If you don’t do it, you will still be able to see Bangla text but the vowels will be all jumbled up. In fact, you have to install this for proper viewing of all Indian languages as well, including Hindi.
Windows XP users: Go to Control Panel, Regional and Language Options. In the Language tab, select Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages (including Thai). Click Ok. You may have to restart your computer. (see screenshot)
Windows 2000 users: Go to Control Panel, Regional Options. In the General tab, see the Language settings for the system. Select Indic from the list. Click Ok. You may have to restart your computer. (see screenshot)
4. There is no 4th step. 😀 Fire up Avro and START TYPING. Should you have any query, feel free to ask in the Omicronlab Forum.

Avro Keyboard 3 toolbar

Why do I see on sites like Google, BBC Bangla, Wikipedia that the vowels are all jumbled up?
Yes, this is true. ‘Gobindo’ will read as ‘Gobondi’ if your Windows does not have support for complex script. To solve this you will have to follow step 3 as mentioned above i.e. install support for complex script.
Why not any other software?
I have personally tried many Bangla writing software and found Avro to be the best. While there are other software like Bijoy they don’t support Unicode, instead they use ASCII encoding (surely not a choice for web-developers). Now one may wonder what is so special about Unicode. Unicode ensures that the Bangla text will be visible universally on all computers without the user having to download anything. As for example, Google, BBC Bengali.com, Wikipedia, Microsoft use Unicode in their sites that can be viewed without any hassle. On the other hand, Anandabazar, Aajkaal, etc. don’t use Unicode encoding. If you go to the Anandabazar site you are prompted to go through an installation at first. None of these two sites open in Firefox. (For the uninitiated, Firefox, and also Opera, are two great browsers that are said to be the choices of the geeks). May be these two newspaper sites have not opted for Unicode keeping in mind that some users still use Windows 98 that does not support Unicode (in this context I should say that Microsoft has phased out support for Windows 98 and it is now an obsolete OS), but in the long run they will have to switch to Unicode. Whatever it is, all I want to say is that if you send PMs or mails in Bangla typing with Avro then you can rest assured that your friend will be able to read it. 🙂

What are the system requirements?
Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista or later. Earlier Windows versions do not have support for Unicode and hence are not compatible.

I want to properly view Bangla sites, Bangla mails and PMs sent to me by friends. But I don’t need to write in Bangla. Do I still need to install Avro or any other Bangla software?
NO. Certainly not. Any Bangla text on the web (Unicode encoding) can be universally viewed.

What’s new in version 3?
Many improvements have been made in this version which can be found out at this page. I am mentioning the most remarkable ones:

  1. Phonetic english to Bengali typing as I have mentioned in the very beginning of this post
  2. Full user documentation in Bangla. Cool!
  3. Mouse-based typing. Great!
  4. Support for Assamese language too.

49 responses to “Writing in Bangla has never been easier!”

  1. Hi, Thanks for the info. I will surely check it out (registered at the site already and waiting for the confirmation mail so that I can download the 30-day free trial). Before I lay my hands on the program, I can say that it is a paid software and though one may argue that US$10 is not a big amount I would say that I am not ready to pay to write in my mother tongue when I don’t have to pay anything extra to write in English!

  2. Hmm, you are fooled by the pirated softwares. You can write freely without commercial products like using Linux. But if you are using windows or others then you must not forget the price to buy the OS/Office just to start computing.

    Remember, if you are willing to argue for a free staff I would rather argue for free computing. Why people would be required to pay for computers at all. These are like basic living requirement now. Can we get free computers from market? If not why it is costly? Is it due to the materials we are paying? It is indeed the intellectual property for which we are paying. Material values are what you will get while you are willing to dump your machine.

    Now the concern is if someone is willing to provide a good piece of software they are to invest a huge amount of intellectual effort which we Bangalis should learn to pay. Otherwise we will be a poor nation and remain poor forever.

    P.S. Dont forget to check you junk mail folder for activation code as sometimes those are classified as junk by the email clients.

    Regards

  3. I am afraid you misunderstood me. I told we don’t have to ‘pay extra‘ to write in English, taking the OS environment for granted.
    I do understand the serious effort and hard work programmers put in to make a good software and admit that for a quality product we should be ready to pay.

    And no, I am not fooled by piracy.It is indeed sad that piracy is a big problem in our subcontinent 🙁 but thankfully I buy the softwares I use :). I also have Linux installed in my machine.

    I didn’t want to hurt you, I did not know you are the developer. Just thought you are one user. Kudos to you for developing Shabdik.

  4. Have you joined the Bangla wikipedia? Please start contributing there. We need more Bangla editors out there.

    –Ragib

  5. You can get online bangla/bengali key pad at http://www.vishalon.net/ which is extremely easy type pad. It supports 8 Indian scripts like Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu. You can even use it as plug-in for your textbox in your website without storing any file on server. You can find complete instruction on how you can enable your website for writing directly in Indian language, visit the web http://www.vishalon.net

  6. I checked the Bangla keypad you have created and found it great. Kudos to you! Soon I will add your script to my sites. I realy need to thank you.

  7. Nice to see yet another person working to establish the rich and vibrand langue we call “bangla”

    চালিয়ে যান নিপন হুযুর 🙂

  8. hello i am steph and i want to know how to write in bangla and who is the priminister of bangladesh.

    bangladesh is a poor contry and what is banladesh doing to stop banladesh from being poor

  9. i think bangladesh is a lovely place to be, coz it has lovely people and i really liked the banglakeybourd too. i am noy bangladeshies but my great great granparents were bangladeshies

  10. First and biggest Bangla music portal featuring Bengali artist profile Bangla songs Bangla music video Bangla news Bangla mp3 download Bangla band interviews albums concerts gaan kobita Bangla radio Bangladeshi movies and more.Bangla Music, natok

  11. I suggest this for mobile users and cross platform users. eg. linux, mac windows all users. A very light bangla tool for web. Though available for Firefox users only as it is firefox addon.

    Try your own http://iecbd.net

  12. Please could you send me the bangla writeing software which i am loking since one month.

    i will be heighly grat full to you.

    Regard.
    Onbehalf of Ms. kajol
    Md. Jakir Hossain

  13. ধন্যবাদ নিপন, কিন্ত রেফ টা লিখতে পারছি না। মানে kartobya, shrarbonash এগুলো।(v)rr(c) ব্যাভহার করতে পারছি না।

  14. Got it.
    korrtoby –> কর্তব্য
    shorrt –> শর্ত
    sorrbnash –> সর্বনাশ

  15. hi, i am a bengali boy. i would like to know how can i turn my english writing to bengali without downloading any softwear. PLZ if anybody knows then leave a comment 4 me. If noting i can do about it den plz can someone write my name(SHOJIB) in bengali 4 me.

    VERY MUCH APPRICIATING 4RM SHOJIB.

  16. Hi,
    I live in Bangkok and would be interested in meeting someone to teach me to read and write bangla with a pen not a computer.
    Anybody out there?
    Thanks

  17. @Malay: download from niponwave.com/downloads or try the omicronlab.com website

    @Subir Sarkar: Simply type in Bengali instead of English and you are done!

  18. the google transliterate program is very good – but there’s no font-option, which makes it sad. Also, you can’t work offline.

  19. Ooº°˚˚°ºaoωώ…
    এই এপ্লিকেশান টি দিয়ে মোবাইল থেকে বাংলায় ফেসবুক স্ট্যাটাস লিখুন …
    Please use this application to write bangla facebook status via your mobile….
    http://m.websolutionbd.net/
    For more info see this:
    http://m.websolutionbd.net/help.php
    ………………………………
    আর “UC”ব্রাউজার এর “কপি পেস্ট” অপশন ব্যবহার করে মোবাইল থেকে বাংলা লিখুন যেকোন ওয়েব / ওয়াপ সাইতে…।।
    By using “UC”browser’s “copy paste” function you can write bangla from mobile in anywhere in the net…

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