Stroke input for Windows 2000/XP

Language Learning Chinese
1

Hi.

I’ve just begun to master the strokes input on my cell phone, and am excited by the possibilities of its’ use on my desktop system.

Under Windows 2000/XP, most people are now familiar with the flexible arrangement for selecting various methods of Chinese charater input.

Does anyone know if there is a pre-integrated strokes input, much like the quite simple one used on various makes of cell phone?

I can use the phonetic input method, but that is useful primarily where you know the character pronunciation (or bopomofo representation). With the strokes system, I can learn new characters.

I am lucky in that I have an i-Mode phone, and can just email back the character to my desktop system, for cross-reference via a simple character dictionary I have here. But having the input method directly on my dekstop system would be the most convinient way for me.

2

In answer to my own question, there is, and even more. I will play with this a little more, and then come back and post my experience. :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: … oops, bad smileys. i meant :slight_smile:

3

Sorry for the delay in the response (if anyone has been tracking this thread :s ). OK… Under both Windows 2000 and Windows XP, you can select from a no. of sophistaicated Input Method Editors (IME’s), when you select CJK (Chinese, Japanse, Korean) languages.

As the name suggests, the IME dictates the method by which you select and input CJK characters. My quick research on the various IME’s for Traditional Chinese (or Chinese (Taiwan)), under both Windows 2000 and XP, failed to find an IME that used the exact same strokes input method as I mentioned for my cell phone.

However, under Windows XP, if there is an IME that is equally, if not more useful, and it’s standard with XP. When you select “Chinese (Taiwan)” as the language, and the “Microsoft New Phonetic IME 2002a”, your Language Bar/Band will contain a menu titled “Tools”. Under the menu, select the menu-item “IME pad…” to pop-up this useful tool. Even though Windows 2000 has a New Phonetic IME, unfortunately, the 98a version available doesn’t have the same sophistication/functionality. Perhaps there is an update to bring it up to 2002a level?

The IME pad is excellent. The IME pad has a number of tabbed sheets to allow for character input using “Hand Writing”, “Strokes”, “Radical” and “Character List” methods.

The “Hand Writing” method is the best bit. It allows you to “write-out” the character for auto-recognition by the IME pad. You write-out the character in a free-hand box, like using a brush stroke using MS paint or similar programs. With each stroke you complete, an adjacent box, listing candidate characters, updates accordingly.

The other helpful aspect are tool-tips with the BMPF sequence when hovering over each candidate character, as well as a properties box selected with a right mouse-click, which reveals even more particulars of the candidate character.

The recognition software is pretty good, and you needn’t even know the correct stroke order and technique… although if you do, it helps considerably.

I’ve enjoyed using it recently, and the only gotcha, for a language novice like myself, is when you are trying to recognise a character that has a varied form… like 翔．

Hope that’s helpful for someone out there.

4

Thanks for the info Scarface. I never knew the Microsoft New Phonetic IME had that function. It could prove useful.

Brian