1. An apparatus for text entry comprising: a directional user input device having a plurality of motions, some of which are associated with stroke input signals representing P predefined stroke categories; a processor coupled to said directional user input device; at least one memory coupled to said processor, said at least one memory containing at least one database and at least one program used by said processor to process data, said at least one database comprising a number of characters and data of stroke order commonly used for writing of each of the characters as well as data of use frequency associated with each of the characters, said stroke order based on said predefined stroke categories; and an output member coupled to said processor, said output member comprising a text display area and a selection list display area; wherein said at least one program causes said processor, for each stroke input signal associated with an input motion, to: identify which one of said stroke categories is represented by said stroke input signal; display a selection list, said selection list comprising a number of most frequently used characters that start with said identified stroke categories; concurrently with a stroke input signal being identified, display a numeric or iconic representation of the stroke represented by said stroke input signal until the user chooses to enter any character from said selection list, at which point display said entered character in said text display area; and repeat the process for entering a next character.