Expert: Nicola Zheng - 1/4/2009

Question
Hi Nicola,

Could you help me finding out how to type Chinese characters on my computer? Are there online tutorials or websites where i can read a little bit about it?
I've adjusted the settings of my computer, so that's not a problem. I can open, e.g. Word (for Windows) and if i punch some keys, Chinese characters appear, but what i want is the following: I'd like to, e.g. copy a certain character that i see somewhere (e.g., the character for 'dog' appeared on a certain page - http://www.minmm.com -, and I'd like to be able to tap the character out on my own computer). You know what i mean?
Thanks a lot for any relevant response!
Best wishes,
Tom

Answer
Hi Tom,

I believe you can type Chinese characters (or copy them from a web site) by installing the fonts from window.  

If you use Window (I've only done this with a Window PC), go to Control Panel, then choose Date/Time/Language/ Regional Options, click on "Add other languages", on the Languages tab, check "Install files for East Asian languages."  This should enable you to type Chinese (traditional or simplified fonts).  

You should also go to the Advanced tab and enable non-unicode programs to display menus and dialogs in their native language (you can choose Chinese if this is the only non English language you are inteested in).  

I hope this is helpful to you.

Regards,
Nicola