Using the Windows Japanese IME

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Reply #1 - 2009 April 15, 3:03 am
Rujiel Member
From: California Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 43

I understand hitting spacebar will provide kanji options, but I'm still missing something. I'd like to write the kana/kanji word, "kanji", the kana being the "kan" part. But the IME always midjudges my intention when I hit spacebar after typing the whole thing.. either it thinks the first two syllables are a kanji, as well as the third, or it gets the wrong kanji for the third ("ji"). I'm not really sure what to do.

Reply #2 - 2009 April 15, 3:14 am
bombpersons Member
From: UK Registered: 2008-10-08 Posts: 907 Website

What exactly are you trying to write? Like this: かん字？ If that's what you were after then just type かん then press enter (no space) then type じ and space until you get the kanji you want.

Reply #3 - 2009 April 15, 3:17 am
Rujiel Member
From: California Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 43

Ahh, enter's the key. but apparently, you also need to hit the n twice for it to register completely (else it'll just be an "n"). Thanks.

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Reply #4 - 2009 April 15, 8:26 am
mentat_kgs Member
From: Brasil Registered: 2008-04-18 Posts: 1671 Website

k, a, n, n, j, i, <space>, <shift + left>, <f6>, <enter>

かん字

Reply #5 - 2009 April 15, 1:19 pm
Gingerninja Member
From: England Registered: 2008-08-06 Posts: 382

must admit i don't use IME for typing  i find it clunky.  I use NJStar... its shareware but even after it runs out you can still use it.  After 30 days it tries to make you pay.. after 90 days the popup dictionary (which was really useful) stops working.. but thanks to some pretty sloppy programming the dictionary is still accessable if you  select kanji information and go to dictionary from there or if you go to dictionary from the kanji of the day screen.  im not sure they intended for that to happen.. would be pretty stupid of them if they did.

Reply #6 - 2009 April 15, 1:26 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

Gingerninja wrote:

must admit i don't use IME for typing  i find it clunky.  I use NJStar... its shareware but even after it runs out you can still use it.  After 30 days it tries to make you pay.. after 90 days the popup dictionary (which was really useful) stops working.. but thanks to some pretty sloppy programming the dictionary is still accessable if you  select kanji information and go to dictionary from there or if you go to dictionary from the kanji of the day screen.  im not sure they intended for that to happen.. would be pretty stupid of them if they did.

What is the difference? Regardless of what input system you use, you still have to input, so I don't really get how something can be less "cumbersome" than Windows IME. (OS X input it slightly superior simply because writing with capital letters automatically becomes Katakana. It's a standard windows for some reason is ignoring.)

Reply #7 - 2009 April 16, 11:42 am
Hinode Member
From: Germany Registered: 2008-08-27 Posts: 69

Is there a way to quickly change between hiragana and katakana input? It always annoys me having to choose the input method from the taskbar menu.

Reply #8 - 2009 April 16, 12:42 pm
igordesu Member
From: Wisconsin USA Registered: 2008-09-22 Posts: 428

yep:

alt+shift = switch back and forth from English to Japanese.

alt+caps lock = switch from hiragana to katakana

shift + caps lock = 1) hit twice to go from katakana back to hiragana.
2) also switches between hiragana and alphanumeric.

Reply #9 - 2009 April 16, 12:50 pm
vosmiura Member
From: SF Bay Area Registered: 2006-08-24 Posts: 1085

Hinode wrote:

Is there a way to quickly change between hiragana and katakana input? It always annoys me having to choose the input method from the taskbar menu.

Ctrl+CapsLock = hiragana
Alt+CapsLock = katakana
Alt+`＝toggle between direct & kana

Reply #10 - 2009 April 16, 12:53 pm
vosmiura Member
From: SF Bay Area Registered: 2006-08-24 Posts: 1085

Also pressing Ctrl+F10 opens the IME menu, and you can use the shortcuts for the menu options, e.g. Ctrl+F10, n, h gives Hiragana.

Reply #11 - 2009 April 16, 5:37 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

Simply write a word and press F7 and it's immediately turned into katakana. That way you don't have to actively switch between hiragana and katakana and can stay in hiragana all the time instead.

Reply #12 - 2009 April 16, 5:55 pm
Jarvik7 Member
From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

Holding shift while typing in hiragana mode renders katakana under OSX. It's possibly the same in windows. I have my left Apple key (when hit by itself) mapped to romaji mode and my right Apple key mapped to hiragana mode. A similar mapping could be done under Windows with the Start keys.

Death to key-combos!

Reply #13 - 2009 April 16, 6:10 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

Jarvik7 wrote:

Holding shift while typing in hiragana mode renders katakana under OSX. It's possibly the same in windows. I have my left Apple key (when hit by itself) mapped to romaji mode and my right Apple key mapped to hiragana mode. A similar mapping could be done under Windows with the Start keys.

Death to key-combos!

Unfortunately, as I noted before, that's not how it works on Windows. If you write in capitals on windows, it simply writes romaji capitals, regardless of input mode. It makes no sense, but that's how it works.

Reply #14 - 2009 April 17, 1:09 am
JimmySeal Member
From: Kyoto Registered: 2006-03-28 Posts: 2279

Tobberoth wrote:

(OS X input it slightly superior simply because writing with capital letters automatically becomes Katakana. It's a standard windows for some reason is ignoring.)

It's a standard??
Really???

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