How to Type Traditional Chinese on a Keyboard
Chinese and English keyboards differ only in that Chinese keyboards have more symbols than simply English letters. These symbols are generally in a contrasting color. Buying a Chinese keyboard outside of Chinese speaking countries is virtually impossible. However, many companies sell stickers that overlay English keyboards and show the Chinese symbols in a contrasting color. Installing these stickers and the language input system (IME) for Chinese is not difficult.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Chinese keyboard stickers
- Windows operating system
- Internet connection
-
-
1
Open your Windows Control Panel by clicking the Start button and selecting "Control Panel."
-
2
Double-click "Regional and Language Options."
-
3
Select the "Languages" tab at the top of the Regional and Language Options dialog.
-
4
Click the "Details" button.
-
5
Click the "Add" button.
-
6
Select "Chinese (Taiwan)" to install complex character scripts.
-
7
Click "OK." Your language files will install. The next step is to configure your IME toolbar. The IME toolbar is where you select the input language.
-
8
Click the "Language Bar..." button at the bottom of the Text Services and Input Languages dialog.
-
9
Make sure the "Show the Language bar on the desktop" and "Show additional Language bar icons in the task bar" are both checked.
-
10
Put the Chinese input stickers on the appropriate keys. Most sticker packs have the key indicated under the sticker.
-
11
Open the place where you want to type traditional Chinese characters, usually a word processor or web browser. Set the main language input as "CH Chinese (Taiwan)" on the IME toolbar. Next to that entry, you will have an entry for either Chinese or English. Click that entry until Chinese shows.
-
12
Type the phonetic symbols for your characters and select the desired character from the resulting list by scrolling to the character and pressing the "Enter" key to cause the traditional Chinese character to appear in your word processor or web page.
-
1
