From DitchTheCube
This article is intended to help you type Chinese characters in Windows.
The first step is to open Language Options Control Panel.
- Click the Start button, then Control Panel, then Regional and Language Options
- You should see the window in the image below.
- Click the languages tab (1)
- Check the box shown in the image (2a).
- Click the Apply button (2b).
- At this point, the files might need to be installed from the WindowsXP cd or the service pack cd. If you don't have the CD, you might try clicking the browse button and typing in c:\windows or c:\windows\system32.
- Click the Details button (3) to proceed.
- In this dialog, click the Add button as shown in the image below.
- In this dialog, select Chinese (PRC) in the top box (5).
- Select Chinese (Simplified) - Microsoft Pinyin IME 3.0 in the bottom box. Use the image belowas a reference (6).
- Click the OK button (7).
- Now click the Language Bar... (8) as shown in the image below.
- Use the example settings in the image below as a reference.
- Click the OK button. (9)
- Now click the Key Settings... button as shown in the image below (10)
- Use the example settings in the image below as a reference (11).
- Take note of the key used to switch languages. In this example, (left)Alt+(left)Shift will change the keyboard from English to Pinyin.
Open a program such as Microsoft Word. It will be easier if you use a program that can display larger fonts to make the characters easy to read. The language bar will indicate the language to be used for the program you are currently using. Windows keeps track of the language for each individual program running. Pressing the change language key (left-alt + left-shift) will toggle the language. Alternatively you can use the mouse to change the language. The language bar typically appears on the task bar or at the top of the screen.
When you have the settings correct, you should be able to type Chinese characters by typing the Pinyin. The tone is given by typing the tone number after the letters. To type the example below, you type zhong1guo2ren2. In the example below, the last 2 has not been typed yet, and the ren represents the characters typed so far. Characters that have a dotted line below them have not been accepted yet. You can accept characters by pressing space or enter.
- If the character above the dotted line is not the one you wanted, press the right arrow key to get a list of other characters with the same pinyin syllable.
- The neutral tone is indicated by the number 5.
- The umlaat over the u is indicated by a colon. For the character for female, you would type nu:3.
