Use your PC to Master Japanese and Chinese
Set up the Workspace
You may be going through this tutorial again some time in the future, and the
Pinyin project may be non-existent, or modified by yourself or another person.
In any event, let's take a quick check of the user preferences critical to the
next section.
Start with an Active Window
Smart Characters preferences come in two kinds: project or user preferences
that affect all the document windows, and preferences that affect only the
current document window, and are saved with the document. Having an active
window open allows the menus and dialogs to report on your document
preferences. The
user dictionary(4-
7)
window preferences are particularly significant, because automatically
generated lists are displayed according to these preferences.
- Press Alt+W then 2 (look at what you are doing so that you can use the
mouse the next time) to activate the user dictionary window.
Alphabetic and Hanzi Input Modes
Unlike English word processors, in which pressing the "A" key types the letter
"A," Chinese and Japanese typing using a standard keyboard requires a way to
control and indicate what the keys mean when you press them. Smart Characters
distinguishes between two kinds of text input: alphabetic and
hanzi (kanji in Japanese). Alphabetic
input mode(4-
2)
is controlled by the Keyboard menu, while the Chinese character input
method is controlled by the Translate menu.
Check the Keyboard
Alphabetic input converts your keyboard typing into alphabetic text such as
English, pinyin, or bopomofo (hiragana or katakana in Japanese)
according to the active alphabetic input mode (or keyboard) setting. You
can switch keyboards using the Keyboard menu, the speed menu (press the
Right Mouse button), the keyboard function keys, or by typing a control key.
- Select Keyboard | Setup to invoke the Alphabetic Input Mode
Preferences dialog, which displays a list of alphabetic input modes and
their characteristics.
- With the Input Mode control selected, press Up and Down to scroll
through the list of input modes.
Pay attention(5-
1)
to the input modes Notes, English, and Pinyin. Each should
have Access set to F12, Side + or -, meaning that the F12 key and
gray side keypad Plus and Minus keys on the side of your keyboard rotate
through these input modes. Otherwise, you can always access any mode by typing
a control key, or by pressing the Right Mouse button.
- Examine the settings for Pinyin again. Automatically Translate
From should be set to Pinyin and Always, and Translate
To should be set to Pinyin and Enable. This enables the
pinyin keyboard macros and
dynamic glossary(4-
6).
- Examine the settings for Bpmf (bopomofo), Access should be
Ctrl+Key Only, and Automatically Translate From should be set to
Pinyin and Same. This disables automatic translation from pinyin
except for touch up editing using
The Same(3-
26)
input mode.
Restricting input mode access is important for rapid text
entry. If every alphabetic input mode had access through F12 or the side
keys, it would take too long to skip over modes you didn't care about for the
F12 key to be useful.
- Select OK or press Enter to quit the dialog. Adjust the window size
or View | Zoom if necessary to display some text and the insertion point.
- Test the setup by repeatedly pressing the Side + and - keys (F12 and
Shift+F12 for laptop users) to rotate through the input modes. Observe the
insertion point and the status bar
input mode indicator(5-
3),
the input mode text at the far right of the status bar at the bottom of the
main frame window.
Check the Input Method
Hanzi character input requires selecting a correct hanzi or hanzi compound from
a list of hanzi that match what you are typing.
- Select Translate | Auto Input Method to invoke the Chinese
Character Input Method dialog, which displays a list of front end
processors.
A front end processor (abbreviated FEP) converts keystrokes
into Chinese characters, and is the way most Chinese and Chinese computer
operating systems implement Chinese character input methods. Taking a more
general approach required for a multi-lingual word processor, Smart Characters
comes with two internal input methods and the capability to install external
front end processors.
The internal input methods On Request and Incremental Match
provide rapid text entry for users who require language assistance. Fluent
users who do not require language assistance can install their own preferred
input method.
All methods create and select from a list of hanzi that match the pronunciation
you have just typed or selected. On request creates the list at your
request (using the menus or function keys). Incremental match creates
the list automatically, with a variety of options for display and selection.
External FEPs can operate in either fashion. We will begin the tutorial
demonstrating the on request method:
- Select On Request, then OK to close the dialog box.
If
the list window had been minimized, it will now appear with the title Adjust
Position and Size. This window is used to select Chinese characters, and,
for speed, should not overlap the window containing the document you are typing.
- Start out by positioning the list window on the right of the main frame
window, at full height, and about 1/4 to 1/3 window width.
Check the Required Dictionaries
Smart Characters dictionaries are used to lookup and translate between English
(or another roman language), alphabetic text, and Chinese characters. The
internal input methods use these dictionaries in the text entry process.
- Select Translate | Select Dictionaries to invoke the Select
Dictionaries dialog, which displays a list of dictionary types and file
names according to the active dictionary language. Verify that the
dictionary language is set to Chinese, and that there are entries for at
least Syllable, Word, and User dictionaries.
Optional Dictionaries
You may have entries for Translating and Reverse dictionaries,
which accelerate English word and Chinese character queries. Both the
Radical and the Stroke dictionaries support input methods for
users who cannot or will not learn standard pronunciations, but are willing to
learn and use even more complex systems for entering Chinese characters! All
Japanese learn a standard system for pronunciation, so these dictionaries are
generally not used for Japanese text entry.
On the other hand, a
radical and stroke(4-
8)
dictionary makes a handy rapid reading tool, and is typically installed into
Smart Characters as a Reference dictionary.
- Select OK to close the dialog box.
- If you have not installed a Chinese word processing dictionary (an large
optional dictionary that consumes disk space), you may get a Dictionary Not
On-line notification message. You can still follow these tutorials by
setting the Word and Phrase dictionary to Chi100wd.dic, a small
student dictionary.
User Dictionary & Dynamic Glossary
All formatting settings, including annotations formatting, are properties of a
document, and are saved with the document. They are not properties of the
project or environment (unlike in Smart Characters for Students). Your
user dictionary(4-
7)
and
dynamic glossary(4-
6)
are themselves documents. Consequently, if a dictionary or glossary is set for
pinyin display (while being used in a pinyin project), it will retain that
formatting even when used in a bopomofo project.
Formatting does not affect usage of the user dictionary or dynamic glossary, so
it is not necessary to synchronize the formatting of these windows to your
other preferences. If you or another user browse these windows, you would then
set the formatting to taste. For illustration, do so now: switch to your user
dictionary and dynamic glossary and set the annotations formatting.
- Select Window | 2 to switch to the user dictionary window, then
select Format | Annotations and set Roman Style to Vowel.
Set other formatting (and zooms, etc.) to taste. Scroll through the window. If
the type in the window is too large or small, set View | Zoom to 133
percent or so. Repeat for the
dynamic glossary(4-
6)
window (Window | 3).
Formatting does affect usage of the list
window, so you should synchronize its formatting to your other preferences. Do
so now:
- Repeat the above step for the list window (Window | 5).
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Last Modified: March 23, 1996
Copyright © 1996 Apropos, Inc.