Unicode and Hangul

One of the Unicode blocks is Hangul Syllables, codepoints U+AC00➜U+D7AF. Each character in this block has a formal Unicode name written in upper case Latin eg

• U+AC85 겅 HANGUL SYLLABLE GEONG
• U+B268 뉨 HANGUL SYLLABLE NWIM

I draw your attention to the last word in the Unicode name. This may appear to be a string of random  Latin characters. If though you use the Mac OSX GongjinCheong Romaja Input Method this string represents the sequence of key presses required to produce the Hangul Syllable. So, taking the first example above, typing the key sequence GEONG will produce the Hangul character 겅.

There are two cases where one needs to augment the key sequence in order to write the Hangul character.

1. When the syllable begins with a vowel then one needs to prefix with the silent placeholder ㅇwhich in the GongjinCheong Romaja Input Method is produced by typing X. Thus, U+C54B 앋 HANGUL SYLLABLE AD, is produced by typing the key sequence XAD
2. When the syllable ends with ㄲ or ㅆ then one needs to type ⇧G or ⇧S, respectively. Thus, U+AC14 갔 HANGUL SYLLABLE GASS, is produced by typing the key sequence GA⇧S

Notes:

• Unicode characters can be viewed on Mac OSX using Character Viewer
• The GongjinCheong Romaja Input Method is enabled in System Preferences➞Language & Text➞Input Sources

Twitter Character Count

In a previous article I examined Sina Wēibó 新浪微博 character count for a user post schappo.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/weibo-character-count.html Lets now examine twitter. The stated and generally understood limit is 140 characters for a tweet. This is not strictly true. The actual tweet limit is variable and ranges from 70 to 140, inclusive. Different characters have different counts, as follows:

• Characters from Unicode range U+0000➜U+FFFF have a count of 1
• Characters from Unicode range ≥ U+010000 have a count of 2

Or, to put it another way — Characters in the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP) have a count of 1 and characters in the other planes have a count of 2. The 2 Mahjong Tile characters used in the example below are from the Supplementary Multilingual Plane (SMP).

Lets illustrate with a made-up posting that contains characters from the 2 Unicode ranges, above. The following text has a tweet character count of 17.

• one two 🀂一二三四五🀀
• 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 17

Weibo Character Count

Same as all the other microblog systems I have encountered, Sina Wēibó 新浪微博 has a 140 character limit for a user post. This is not strictly accurate. The character limit is variable and ranges from 70 to 280, inclusive. It depends on which characters are included. Different characters have different counts, as follows:

1. Characters from Unicode range U+0000➜U+00FF have a count of 0.5
2. Characters from Unicode range U+0100➜U+FFFF have a count of 1
3. Characters from Unicode range ≥ U+010000 have a count of 2

Some of the consequences of these differing counts are:

• If one writes in everyday English then one has up to 280 characters as these will be Latin characters in Unicode blocks Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement U+0000➜U+00FF. The Latin Script does though occur in several Unicode blocks en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_characters_in_Unicode. Latin characters in Unicode blocks other than Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement will have counts of 1 or 2 and usage of them will reduce the 280 limit.
• For a Chinese only post then if all the Chinese characters used are in the Unicode Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP) then the limit will be the accepted 140 characters. There are many Chinese characters outside of the BMP and because they have a count of 2, usage of these will reduce the 140 limit. The extreme case being a limit of 70 if all characters used are Chinese characters outside of the BMP.
• In recent releases of OSX and iOS, Apple incorporated Emoji characters en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji The majority of these Emoji characters are outside the BMP (ie ≥ U+010000) and so will have a count of 2.

Lets illustrate with a nonsensical posting that contains characters from the 3 Unicode ranges, above. The following text has a Weibo character count of 13.

• one two 🀂一二三四五🀀
• 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 13

My Adopted Chinese Name

In China there is a very famous Canadian by the name of Mark Rowswell dashan.com. One of the reasons he is so famous in China is that his Chinese is very very good. His adopted Chinese name is 大山 (dàshān) which means great or large mountain.

Several years ago I decided to also adopt a Chinese name. One day a name popped into my mind. Mark's Chinese is very good but my Chinese is only basic. Consequently, I chose the name 小山 (xiǎoshān) which means little mountain ☺

An advantage of having an adopted name is that one can change it and I can change it to reflect my progress in mastering the Chinese language. So as my Chinese improves I can change it to 中山 (zhōngshān) which means middle mountain. Then 大山 (dàshān) and finally, if I ever reach this level of proficiency, 巨山 (jùshān) which means gigantic mountain.

There are though, some days when I think my Chinese is so poor that maybe my adopted name should be 微山 (Wēishān) as this means micro mountain.

Western Brands on Weibo

The purpose of this article is to list some of the Western Companies/Brands that are using China's Sina Wēibó 新浪微博. Those marked with a ☆ are using the Enterprise version 企业版 which allows open access to all postings. The text in the square brackets is the Sina Wēibó 新浪微博 name. This article is a continuation of schappo.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/companies-on-sina.html
Note: If the links listed below do not work for you then please visit my China Blog blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6fab5412010130zq.html where the links will work just fine.

1. 7 For All Mankind [@7ForAllMankind] weibo.com/7forallmankind ☆
2. Abercrombie & Fitch [@Abercrombie] weibo.com/abercrombieny ☆
3. Accenture [@埃森哲中国] weibo.com/acnchina ☆
4. Accor Hotels [@雅高酒店AccorHotels] weibo.com/accorchina ☆
5. Air Liquide [@液空中国] weibo.com/airliquidechina ☆
6. AKG [@雅登-AKG中国] weibo.com/akgchina ☆
7. AkzoNobel [@阿克苏诺贝尔中国] weibo.com/akzonobelinchina ☆
8. Alberta Ferretti [@AlbertaFerretti] weibo.com/albertaferretti ☆
9. ALDO [@ALDO1972] weibo.com/n/ALDO1972 ☆
10. Allen Edmonds [@AllenEdmonds中国] weibo.com/allenedmondschina ☆
11. Allianz Insurance [@安联保险-Allianz] weibo.com/allianzone ☆
12. Alpenliebe [@微有爱] weibo.com/alpenliebekindness ☆
13. American Express [@美国运通中国官方微博] weibo.com/amexchina ☆
14. Argos [@Argos爱顾商城] weibo.com/2720491021 ☆
15. Associated Press [@美联社] weibo.com/apimages ☆
16. Aston Martin [@阿斯顿马丁拉共达] weibo.com/astonmartinlagondacn ☆
17. AVIS [@AVIS安飞士租车] weibo.com/avischina ☆
18. Balenciaga [@Balenciaga] weibo.com/officialbalenciaga ☆
19. Balmain [@瑞士宝曼手表] weibo.com/balmainwatches ☆
20. Barbie [@Barbie芭比官方微博] weibo.com/barbieofficial ☆
21. BASF [@巴斯夫大中华] weibo.com/basfinchina ☆
22. Bayer [@拜耳中国官方微博] weibo.com/bayerchina ☆
23. Bentley Motors [@宾利BentleyMotors] weibo.com/bentleymotorsuk ☆
24. Best Buy [@BestBuy百思买] weibo.com/bestbuycn ☆
25. Blue Nile Inc [@BlueNileInc] weibo.com/bluenileinc ☆
26. Bobbi Brown [@BobbiBrownChina] weibo.com/bobbibrownchina ☆
27. Bonpoint [@Bonpoint-中国] weibo.com/bonpoint ☆
28. Bosch [@博世中国] weibo.com/boschauto ☆
29. Breitling [@百年灵BREITLING] weibo.com/breitlingchina ☆
30. Bremont [@BREMONTwatch] weibo.com/bremont ☆
31. British Airways [@英国航空] weibo.com/britishairways ☆
32. Brompton Bicycle [@Brompton_bicycle_伯龙腾] weibo.com/bromptonbicycle ☆
33. BVLGARI [@BVLGARI宝格丽] weibo.com/bulgari ☆
34. BVLGARI Perfume [@宝格丽香水] weibo.com/bulgariperfume ☆
35. Cambridge Satchel Co. [@The_Cambridge_Satchel_Company] weibo.com/jianqiaobao ☆
36. Campo Marzio Design [@CampoMarzio中国区] weibo.com/campomarzio ☆
37. Caterpillar [@Caterpillar官方微博] weibo.com/caterpillarinchina ☆
38. Cath Kidston [@CathKidstonChina] weibo.com/cathkidstonchina ☆
39. Cheerios [@雀巢脆谷乐] weibo.com/nestlecheerios ☆
40. Chopard [@萧邦Chopard] weibo.com/chopardchina ☆
41. Christian Louboutin [@ChristianLouboutin官方微博] weibo.com/LouboutinWorld ☆
42. Christie's [@佳士得国际] weibo.com/christies ☆
43. Club Monaco [@Club_Monaco] weibo.com/clubmonaco ☆
44. CME Group [@CMEGroup] weibo.com/cmegroup ☆
45. Decanter [@Decanter醇鉴] weibo.com/decantercn ☆
46. Ducati [@杜卡迪中国] weibo.com/ducatichina ☆
47. Dulux [@多乐士Lets_Colour] weibo.com/letscolor ☆
48. DuPont [@杜邦公司] weibo.com/dupont ☆
49. eBay [@eBay] weibo.com/ebay ☆
50. Elizabeth Arden [@伊丽莎白雅顿美丽沙龙] weibo.com/elizabetharden ☆
51. EMC Corporation [@EMC中国-云计算] weibo.com/emcgreatchina ☆
52. Eppendorf [@eppendorf官方微博] weibo.com/eppendorfchina ☆
53. Ernst & Young [@安永EY] weibo.com/eyernstyoung ☆
54. Etro [@ETRO艾绰] weibo.com/etrochina ☆
55. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts [@费尔蒙酒店] weibo.com/fairmonthotels ☆
56. Fendi [@FENDI] weibo.com/fendi ☆
57. Financial Times [@FT中文网] weibo.com/ftchinese ☆
58. Firefox [@火狐] weibo.com/firefox ☆
59. Fisher-Price [@费雪中国官方微博] weibo.com/fisherprice ☆
60. Flipboard [@Flipboard] weibo.com/flipboard ☆
61. Freescale Semiconductor [@飞思卡尔] weibo.com/freescale ☆
62. Furla [@Furla_孚勒] weibo.com/furlaofficial ☆
63. G-Star RAW [@G-STARCHINA] weibo.com/gstarchina ☆
64. Geox [@健乐士GEOX] weibo.com/jianleshigeox ☆
65. Girard-Perregaux [@GP芝柏表] weibo.com/gpchina ☆
66. Glenmorangie [@格兰杰单一麦芽威士忌] weibo.com/glenmorangiechina ☆
67. GNC [@GNCLiveWell] weibo.com/gnclivewell ☆
68. GRAFF [@格拉夫GRAFF] weibo.com/graff ☆
69. Gregory Mountain Products [@Gregory官方微博] weibo.com/gregory1977 ☆
70. Grey Goose [@法国灰雁GreyGoose] weibo.com/greygoosechina ☆
71. Gymboree [@金宝贝国际早教微课堂] weibo.com/gymboree ☆
72. H2O+ [@H2O水芝澳官方微博] weibo.com/h2ochina ☆
73. Hackett London [@Hackett-London] weibo.com/hackettlondon ☆
74. Halma [@HALMA中国] weibo.com/halma ☆
75. Harry Winston [@海瑞温斯顿HarryWinston] weibo.com/harrywinston ☆
76. Hasbro [@孩之宝中国] weibo.com/hasbrochina ☆
77. Holland & Barrett [@HollandAndBarrett] weibo.com/hollandandbarrett ☆
78. Hollister [@Hollister] weibo.com/hollistercalifornia ☆
79. Hooters [@美国猫头鹰餐厅-中国] weibo.com/hooterschina ☆
80. Hublot [@宇舶表] weibo.com/hublothanhan ☆
81. Hyatt [@凯悦酒店集团HYATT] weibo.com/hyatthotelscorp ☆
82. IBM [@IBM中国] weibo.com/ibm100 ☆
83. IMAX [@IMAX] weibo.com/imax ☆
84. Irregular Choice [@IrregularChoice香港] weibo.com/irregularchoicehk ☆
85. IWC [@IWC万国表] weibo.com/iwcchina ☆
86. J.Lindeberg [@JLINDEBERG林德伯格] weibo.com/jlindeberg ☆
87. Jack Wolfskin [@JackWolfskin官方微博] weibo.com/jackwolfskingermany ☆
88. Jaeger-LeCoultre [@积家官方微博] weibo.com/jaegerlecoultrechina ☆
89. Kate Spade New York [@katespade官方微博] weibo.com/katespadeny ☆
90. Kipsta [@KIPSTA中国] http://weibo.com/kipstachina ☆
91. Kleenex [@舒洁kleenex] http://weibo.com/n/舒洁kleenex ☆
92. Lagostina [@拉歌蒂尼] weibo.com/lagostina ☆
93. Lana Marks [@LANA-MARKS-CHINA] weibo.com/lanamarks ☆
94. Lancaster [@兰嘉丝汀] weibo.com/lancasterchina ☆
95. Lindt [@Lindt瑞士莲巧克力] weibo.com/lindtchina ☆
96. Lonely Planet [@LonelyPlanet] weibo.com/lonelyplanet ☆
97. MAC Cosmetics [@MAC魅可] weibo.com/maccosmetics ☆
98. Manchester City FC [@曼城足球俱乐部MCFC] weibo.com/mcfcofficial
99. Mango [@MANGO中国官网] weibo.com/mangofashion ☆
100. Marc Jacobs [@MarcJacobsIntl莫杰] weibo.com/marcjacobsintl ☆
101. Maria Luisa [@MARIA_LUISA] weibo.com/marialuisa ☆
102. Marimekko [@MARIMEKKO_玛莉美歌] weibo.com/marimekkoofficial ☆
103. Marmot [@Marmot中国] weibo.com/marmot001 ☆
104. Marni [@MARNI] weibo.com/officialmarni ☆
105. Marvin Watches [@Marvin-瑞士摩纹表] weibo.com/marvinwatch ☆
106. MasterCard [@万事达人] weibo.com/mastercardchina ☆
107. Media Markt [@万得城电器] weibo.com/mediamarktchina ☆
108. Medtronic [@美敦力中国] weibo.com/medtronicchina ☆
109. Meltwater Group [@Meltwater] weibo.com/meltwater ☆
110. Mettler Toledo [@梅特勒-托利多中国] weibo.com/mettlertoledo ☆
111. Michael Kors [@Michael-Kors] weibo.com/michaelkors ☆
112. Monster Cable [@Monster-魔声中国] weibo.com/monsterchina ☆
113. Movado [@摩凡陀Movado] weibo.com/movado ☆
114. NASDAQ OMX [@纳斯达克交易所] weibo.com/nasdaqomx
115. Neiman Marcus [@NeimanMarcus尼曼] weibo.com/neimanmarcuschina ☆
116. NERF [@孩之宝NERF-热火] weibo.com/ilovenerf ☆
117. New Balance [@新百伦newbalance] weibo.com/newbalanceofficial ☆
118. New York Times [@纽约时报中文网] weibo.com/nytchinese ☆
119. Nuxe Paris [@Nuxe欧树] weibo.com/nuxe ☆
120. Ovaltine [@阿华田Ovaltine] weibo.com/ovaltine001 ☆
121. Pandora [@PANDORA珠宝] weibo.com/pandorajewellery ☆
122. Paul Smith [@PaulSmith_Official] weibo.com/paulsmithofficial ☆
123. Paula's Choice [@PaulasChoice宝拉珍选] weibo.com/paulaschoice01 ☆
124. PayPal [@PayPal_China] weibo.com/paypalmarketing ☆
125. Penguin Books [@企鹅出版社] weibo.com/penguinbooks ☆
126. Perficient [@博克软件] weibo.com/perficientchina ☆
127. Peugeot Scooters [@标致摩托] weibo.com/peugeotscooters ☆
128. Piaget [@PIAGET] weibo.com/piaget ☆
129. Piaggio [@比亚乔机车] weibo.com/piaggio1884 ☆
130. Pineider [@彼耐德Pineider] weibo.com/pineider ☆
131. Pizza Hut [@必胜客欢乐餐厅] weibo.com/pizzahut ☆
132. Pomellato [@Pomellato宝曼兰朵] weibo.com/pomellatoinchina ☆
133. Pony [@ponychina] weibo.com/ponychina ☆
134. Printemps [@春天百货Printemps] weibo.com/printempsparis ☆
135. Pull-in [@PULLIN内衣] weibo.com/pullinasia ☆
136. Rockport [@ROCKPORT美国乐步] weibo.com/rockportchina ☆
137. Roger Dubuis [@罗杰杜彼RogerDubuis] weibo.com/rogerdubuis ☆
138. Roger Vivier [@RogerVivier_罗杰维维亚] weibo.com/rogervivier ☆
139. Rupert Sanderson [@RupertSanderson] weibo.com/rupertsanderson ☆
140. Sergio Rossi [@sergio_rossi] weibo.com/sergiorossi ☆
141. Sheraton Hotels & Resorts [@喜来登酒店及度假村Sheraton] weibo.com/sheratonhotels ☆
142. Shopbop [@shopbop] weibo.com/shopbopchina ☆
143. Sigma-Aldrich [@SigmaAldrich] weibo.com/sigmaaldrich ☆
144. Skechers [@SKECHERS斯凯奇] weibo.com/skechers ☆
145. Standard Chartered Bank [@渣打银行中国] weibo.com/scbmainlandchina ☆
146. Stiebel Eltron [@斯宝亚创StiebelEltron] weibo.com/stiebeleltron ☆
147. Stroili Oro [@StroiliOro] weibo.com/stroilioro ☆
148. TAG Heuer [@豪雅TAGHeuer] weibo.com/tagheuerchina ☆
149. The Glenlivet [@格兰威特威士忌] weibo.com/theglenlivet ☆
150. Thermo Fisher Scientific [@赛默飞] weibo.com/thermofishercn ☆
151. Toblerone [@瑞士三角巧克力] weibo.com/toblerone ☆
152. Tom & Jerry [@华纳兄弟-猫和老鼠] weibo.com/tomandjerryoffical ☆
153. Topshop Shēnzhèn [@TOPSHOP深圳] weibo.com/topshopsz ☆
154. Tottenham Hotspur [@热刺TottenhamHotspur] weibo.com/tottenhamhotspur ☆
155. Truefitt & Hill [@TRUEFITT-HILL-CHINA] weibo.com/truefittandhill ☆
156. Valentino [@Valentino官方微博] weibo.com/valentinoofficial ☆
157. Van Cleef & Arples [@VanCleefArpels梵克雅宝] weibo.com/vancleefarpelschina ☆
158. Vichy Laboratoires [@薇姿医生] weibo.com/vichybrand ☆
159. Visa [@Visa中国] weibo.com/visachina ☆
160. VMware [@VMware中国] weibo.com/vmware ☆
161. Volvo [@沃尔沃集团中国] weibo.com/volvogroupchina ☆
162. Wall Street Journal [@华尔街日报中文网] weibo.com/chinesewsj
163. Wallpaper* Magazine [@WallpaperMagazine] weibo.com/wallpapermag ☆
164. Westin Hotels & Resorts [@Westin] weibo.com/westinhotels ☆
165. YOOX [@YOOX网络概念店] weibo.com/yooxcn ☆
166. Yves Rocher [@Yves-Rocher伊夫黎雪] weibo.com/yvesrocher1959 ☆
167. Zatchels [@Zatchels] weibo.com/zatchelsuk ☆
168. Zenith [@ZENITH真力时] weibo.com/zenithchina ☆

MSc International Computing for the Internet

Computer Science at Loughborough University ラフバラ大学 now has a new MSc programme entitled International Computing for the Internet. This MSc will start 1st October 2012.

I am responsible for and will be teaching two of the modules:

1. International Computing
2. Implementing Internationalized Systems

Additionally, I will be involved in two of the other modules:

1. Essential Skills for Computing: I will be sharing the teaching with another tutor
2. Internationalized Project: These will be individual projects and I will be supervising some of them

Further information available from www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/co/postgrad/ici.html

Language Characteristics

In this article I list some of the characteristics of natural languages and scripts as they are manifested and used in modern day IT. With languages there are always exceptions and so there will be some exceptions to these characteristics. I will not be delving into linguistic technicalities such as the distinction between mora and syllable or the distinction between logogram and ideogram. I will take a more broad brush approach.

Arabic

1. Arabic is written in the Arabic script
2. Written from right to left
3. The space character (U+0020 SPACE) is used as a separator between words and sentences
4. The sentence terminator full stop is the Unicode character U+002E FULL STOP
5. Unicase ie no uppercase and lowercase letter forms
6. A Keyboard Mapping is sufficient in order to write Arabic
7. The Arabic script is inherently cursive and hence is presented/displayed in it's cursive form.
8. Letters change shape according to their position within a word. These different shapes are named Initial, Medial, Final and Isolated forms. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet#Letter_forms

Chinese

1. Chinese is written in the Chinese script which consists of hànzì (汉字) characters, of which, there are tens of thousands
2. Written from left to right. Once browsers implement CSS3 Writing Modes we may well see some return to the traditional vertical text in webpages dev.w3.org/csswg/css3-writing-modes/#vertical-intro
3. There is no space character separator between words and sentences
4. The sentence terminator full stop is the Unicode character U+3002 IDEOGRAPHIC FULL STOP
5. Unicase ie no uppercase and lowercase letter forms
6. An Input Method is required in order to write Chinese
7. All characters, including punctuation, are monospaced. Thus, for example, the list items separator in the text string "北京，南京，东京" is the single character U+FF0C FULLWIDTH COMMA. The text string "北京、南京、东京" uses the single character U+3001 IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA as the list items separator.
8. With respect to number of characters required to communicate, Chinese is much more compact than English. Given a sentence written in English, the same sentence written in Chinese would require far fewer characters. This compactness gives Chinese a significant advantage over English for IDNs and when microblogging.

English

1. English is written in the Latin script
2. Written from left to right
3. The space character (U+0020 SPACE) is used as a separator between words and sentences
4. The sentence terminator full stop is the Unicode character U+002E FULL STOP
5. Has uppercase and lowercase letter forms
6. A Keyboard Mapping is sufficient in order to write English

Japanese

1. Japanese is written in the Japanese scripts Kanji (漢字), Hiragana (ひらがな) and Katakana (カタカナ)
2. Written from left to right. Once browsers implement CSS3 Writing Modes we may well see some return to the traditional vertical text in webpages dev.w3.org/csswg/css3-writing-modes/#vertical-intro
3. There is no space character separator between words and sentences
4. The sentence terminator full stop is the Unicode character U+3002 IDEOGRAPHIC FULL STOP
5. Unicase ie no uppercase and lowercase letter forms. Uppercase is sometimes used for emphasis in English. Similarly, Katakana is sometimes used for emphasis.
6. An Input Method is required in order to write Japanese
7. In general, Japanese, like Chinese is monospaced. The exception is that there are half-width forms of Katakana and some punctuation characters. The half-width forms are in Unicode block Half-width and Full-width Forms U+FF00 ➤ U+FFEF.
8. With respect to number of characters required to communicate, Japanese is much more compact than English. Given a sentence written in English, the same sentence written in Japanese would require far fewer characters. This compactness gives Japanese a significant advantage over English for IDNs and when microblogging.

Korean

1. Korean is written in the Hangeul (한글) script
2. Written from left to right
3. The space character (U+0020 SPACE) is used as a separator between words and sentences
4. The sentence terminator full stop is the Unicode character U+002E FULL STOP
5. Unicase ie no uppercase and lowercase letter forms
6. An Input Method is required in order to write Korean
7. The individual Korean letters (jamo/자모) are grouped into and displayed as Syllabic blocks. e.g. the individual jamo ㅎ ㅏ ㄴ ㄱ ㅜ ㄱ are combined to form the two Korean characters 한국

Russian

1. Russian is written in the Cyrillic (Кириллица) script
2. Written from left to right
3. The space character (U+0020 SPACE) is used as a separator between words and sentences
4. The sentence terminator full stop is the Unicode character U+002E FULL STOP
5. Has uppercase and lowercase letter forms
6. A Keyboard Mapping is sufficient in order to write Russian