What are Telex, VNI, and VIQR?

They are the three common ways to type Vietnamese on a standard keyboard. Telex uses letter keys (s, f, r, x, j and doubled vowels), VNI uses number keys (1 to 9), and VIQR uses punctuation marks. All three produce the same accented output.

How do I type the circumflex vowels â, ê, ô?

In Telex you double the vowel: aa gives â, ee gives ê, oo gives ô. In VNI you press 6 after the vowel, and in VIQR you press the caret. The breve ă and horns ơ ư use w in Telex, 8 or 7 in VNI, and ( or + in VIQR.

How do I type the letter đ?

Type dd in Telex, d9 in VNI, or dd in VIQR. This produces the đ with a stroke, which is a distinct letter in the Vietnamese alphabet and not the same as a plain d.

Why does the same tone key sometimes move the accent?

Input methods apply the tone to the main vowel of the syllable, which is not always the last letter typed. Real IMEs use spelling rules to place the mark correctly. The live demo here covers the common cases to illustrate the idea.

Does the demo replace a real input method?

No. It is a teaching aid that converts common Telex sequences locally so you can see the rules. For everyday typing, install a full IME such as Unikey, the built-in macOS Telex layout, or a mobile Vietnamese keyboard.

Vietnamese Keyboard Layout Reference

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Vietnamese needs five tone marks and several modified vowels that no physical keyboard has dedicated keys for. This reference lays out the three standard input methods side by side so you can type tones correctly on any device, and includes a live demo of the Telex rules.

How it works

Each input method maps an extra keystroke, typed after the vowel, to a tone or vowel modification. Telex reuses letters (s f r x j for the five tones, doubled vowels for circumflex, w for breve and horn). VNI uses the number row (1–5 for tones, 6–9 for vowel forms). VIQR uses punctuation (' ` ? ~ . for tones). The tables show every mapping; the demo applies the common Telex rules to your input in real time.

Example and notes

In Telex, typing Tieesng Vieejt produces Tiếng Việt: the doubled ee becomes ê, oo would become ô, the s adds the high tone, and the j adds the dot below. Likewise dd gives đ and aw gives ă. The demo is a learning aid covering frequent sequences — for full, accurate typing use a dedicated input method such as Unikey on Windows, the macOS Telex layout, or a Vietnamese mobile keyboard, which apply complete tone-placement rules.