\tWhen your computer is prepared for Chinese characters you will be able to write Chinese characters using the input method of your choice.<\/p>\n
\tSince most Mandarin students learn Pinyin Romanization, this is also the most common input method.<\/p>\n
\tWhen more than one language is installed on your Windows computer, the language bar will appear – usually at the bottom of your screen.<\/p>\n
\tYour default language input will be shown when you first boot the computer. In the illustration below, the default language is English (EN).<\/p>\n
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\tClick on the Language Bar
\tClick on the Language Bar
\tMicrosoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
\tClick on the language bar and a list of your installed input languages will be shown. In the illustration below, there are 3 input languages installed.<\/p>\n
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\tSelect Chinese (Taiwan) as your Input Language
\tSelect Chinese (Taiwan) as your Input Language
\tMicrosoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
\tSelecting Chinese (Taiwan) will change your language bar as shown below. There are two icons. The green one shows that the input method is Microsoft New Phonetic, and the “A” in a square means that you can input English characters.<\/p>\n
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\tToggle Between English and Chinese Input
\tToggle Between English and Chinese Input
\tMicrosoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
\tClicking on the “A” will change the icon to indicate that you are inputing Chinese characters. You can also toggle between English and Chinese input by briefly pressing the “Shift” key.<\/p>\n
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\tBegin Typing Pinyin in a Word Processor
\tBegin Typing Pinyin in a Word Processor
\tMicrosoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
\tOpen a word processing program such as Microsoft Word. With the Chinese input method selected, type “wo” and press “Return.” A Chinese character will show on your screen. Notice the dotted line beneath the character. This means you can select from other characters if the correct one did not appear.<\/p>\n
\tYou do not have to press return after each Pinyin syllable. The input method will intelligently select characters according to the context.<\/p>\n
\tYou can input Pinyin with or without numbers to indicate tones. Tone numbers will increase the accuracy of your writing.<\/p>\n
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\tCorrecting Chinese Characters
\tCorrecting Chinese Characters
\tMicrosoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
\tThe input method will sometimes choose the wrong character. This happens more often when tone numbers are omitted.<\/p>\n
\tIn the diagram below, the input method has selected the wrong characters for the Pinyin “ren shi.” The characters can be selected using the arrow keys, then other “Candidate words” can be chosen from the drop-down list.<\/p>\n
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\tChoosing the Correct Candidate Word
\tChoosing the Correct Candidate Word
\tMicrosoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
\tIn the example above, candidate word #7 is the correct choice. It can be selected with the mouse or by typing the corresponding number.<\/p>\n
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\tShowing the Correct Chinese Characters
\tI am happy to be acquainted with you.
\tMicrosoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
\tThe example above shows the correct Chinese characters which mean "I am happy to be acquainted with you."<\/p>\n