---
name: learning-multi-script-design
description: Design learning materials for right-to-left languages, complex scripts, bidirectional text, and multi-script environments. Calculate text expansion factors and specify typography requirements. Use when creating content for Arabic, Hebrew, Asian scripts, or mixed-direction text. Activates on "RTL", "right-to-left", "bidirectional text", or "complex scripts".
---
# Learning Multi-Script Design
Design educational materials that properly handle multiple writing systems, right-to-left languages, and complex scripts.
## When to Use
- Creating content for RTL languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi/Persian, Urdu)
- Supporting complex scripts (Devanagari, Thai, Myanmar, Khmer)
- Mixed-direction content (English + Arabic)
- Asian language learning materials
- Global multilingual platforms
## Script Categories
### 1. Right-to-Left (RTL) Languages
**Major RTL Languages**:
- Arabic (and variants)
- Hebrew
- Farsi/Persian
- Urdu
- Pashto
- Yiddish
**Design Considerations**:
- UI elements flip horizontally
- Reading direction: right to left
- Numbers may remain LTR
- Mixed text creates bidirectional (bidi) challenges
### 2. Complex Scripts
**Characteristics**:
- **Devanagari** (Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi): Combining characters, ligatures
- **Thai**: No spaces between words, tone marks above/below
- **Myanmar**: Circular vowels, stacking
- **Khmer**: Multi-level stacking, no word boundaries
- **Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam**: Complex conjuncts
**Technical Requirements**:
- Unicode support
- Complex text layout (CTL) engines
- Proper font rendering
- Line breaking algorithms
### 3. East Asian Scripts
**CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)**:
- Vertical and horizontal text
- Character spacing
- Ruby annotation (furigana)
- Mixed scripts (kanji, hiragana, katakana, romaji)
### 4. Bidirectional Text
**Challenges**:
- Embedding LTR text in RTL (e.g., English words in Arabic)
- Punctuation placement
- Number handling
- URL and code directionality
## Text Expansion Factors
**Translation Length Changes**:
| Source | Target | Expansion Factor |
|--------|--------|------------------|
| English | Arabic | +25% to +30% |
| English | German | +10% to +35% |
| English | Chinese | -20% to -30% |
| English | Spanish | +15% to +30% |
| English | Thai | +15% to +20% |
**Design Implications**:
- Button/label sizing
- Form field lengths
- Line breaks and pagination
- UI layout flexibility
## Typography Requirements
### Font Selection
**Requirements by Script**:
- **Arabic**: Must support contextual forms (initial, medial, final, isolated)
- **Devanagari**: Must include conjuncts and ligatures
- **Thai**: Requires tone mark positioning
- **CJK**: Large character sets (20,000+ glyphs)
**Web Safe Options**:
- Arabic: Noto Naskh Arabic, Arial Arabic
- Hebrew: Noto Sans Hebrew, Arial Hebrew
- Devanagari: Noto Sans Devanagari
- CJK: Noto Sans CJK
### Line Height and Spacing
**Adjustments Needed**:
- **Thai/Devanagari**: +20-30% line height for marks above/below
- **Arabic**: Account for ascenders and descenders
- **CJK**: 1.5-2x character height for vertical text
## Layout Considerations
### RTL Layout Changes
**Elements That Flip**:
- ✓ Navigation menus
- ✓ Breadcrumbs
- ✓ Progress indicators
- ✓ Carousels and sliders
- ✗ Video player controls (stay LTR)
- ✗ Mathematical formulas (stay LTR)
### Form Design
**RTL Forms**:
- Labels on right side
- Input fields align right
- Validation messages on left
- Calendar widgets flip
## Technical Implementation
### HTML/CSS
```html
This is English text: هذا نص عربي
User-generated content
```
```css
/* RTL-specific styles */
[dir="rtl"] .navigation {
text-align: right;
direction: rtl;
}
/* Logical properties (auto-flip) */
.container {
padding-inline-start: 20px; /* becomes right in RTL */
margin-inline-end: 10px; /* becomes left in RTL */
}
```
## CLI Interface
```bash
# RTL language design
/learning.multi-script-design --content "course.html" --target-lang "Arabic" --direction "RTL"
# Calculate expansion
/learning.multi-script-design --source "English course" --target-langs "Arabic,German,Russian" --estimate-expansion
# Complex script requirements
/learning.multi-script-design --content "app-ui/" --scripts "Devanagari,Thai,Myanmar" --output design-spec.md
# Typography recommendations
/learning.multi-script-design --languages "Arabic,Hebrew,Farsi" --recommend-fonts --web-safe
```
## Output
- Layout specifications for target scripts
- Text expansion estimates
- Font recommendations
- CSS/HTML directives
- Design mockups for RTL
- Bidirectional text handling guide
## Composition
**Input from**: `/learning.translation`, `/curriculum.package-web`, `/curriculum.package-pdf`
**Works with**: `/learning.localization-engineering`, `/learning.global-accessibility`
**Output to**: Multi-script ready designs and layouts
## Exit Codes
- **0**: Multi-script design complete
- **1**: Unsupported script
- **2**: Insufficient font resources
- **3**: Bidirectional conflicts