How to Type in Chinese

Most foreigners feel confused about how the Chinese people write or type Mandarin characters on computers and cellphones. Chinese is not composed of letters like the English and Spanish alphabet; Chinese is constructed in pictographs composed of many strokes.

Do Chinese people use the same keyboard as in other countries? Or do Chinese keyboards look like this? The Chinese people use identical keyboards as other countries do. But how they type so many characters with just 26 letters? That is what this article is about to share with you how to type in Chinese. 

Ways of Typing Chinese Characters 

Pinyin Input Method

Chinese characters are made of various strokes, which are relatively independent of the phonetic system. It is not possible to list all the characters on the keyboard because there are about 80 thousand characters in total. Every character has its own pronunciation, though many of them share the same phonetic syllables, which is known as Pinyin.

Thus, we can get a list of characters through typing the phonetic syllables. The phonetic syllables are made of three parts; initial, final, and the tone. The initial and final are made with 26 English alphabet letters, the same as the ones on your keyboard. You may wonder how about the tones?

Well, for foreign tones are always the hard part of Chinese pronunciation. This typing method makes most Mandarin learners feel relaxed because they do not require to memorize the precise tone of each character. When you input the initial and final letters, all the characters with 5 different tones will appear. You just need to choose the one you want and ignore the others you do not need.  

The Five stroke Input Method

Chinese characters have small components, and you just need to put the small parts together and give them an order. Each of the components is made of more minor strokes, and it is the foundation for Chinese people to learn writing characters.

The five-stroke input method was trendy for a while since this method is based on the stroke construction of each character. Each letter of the keyboard represents several Chinese strokes. The thing you need is to do is separate the character into different stroke components, find the corresponding alphabet letter expressing the stroke, and then you can form the character you want. The advantage of the five-stroke input method is that even if you do not know the pronunciation of this character, you can simply type it out.

With the Pinyin input method, it is tough to type if you do not know or are not sure about the pronunciation. This method has a lower error rate. However, most Chinese people are taught to learn the characters and pronunciation from Pinyin in primary schools. Thus, many people feel familiar with Pinyin. So fewer people choose to use the five-stroke input. Moreover, it is not easy to memorize so many small components.  

The Handwriting Input Method

This is the easiest method to understand. Unlike the Pinyin Input Method, you do not need to know the exact pronunciation of each character; you can input by hand.

Also, you do not need to learn the strokes on your keyboard, as with the five-stroke input technique. The downside of this way is that you will require to use the touch screen, or you may struggle to write characters. And if you cannot correctly write with your hand, the input software may not recognize what you wrote.

Tool Recommendation 

The above three input methods are very famous. You can easily acquire the input method tool of your choice on your computer or smartphone. Below is a list of commonly used tools. 

Pinyin input method applications:

Sogou Input

It is one of the most famous tools in China and was first released in 2006. At that time, the Sogou web and search engine based dictionary was considered innovative because it predicted and collected famous expressions and neologisms from the internet.

In addition to Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, Sogou Input is available, which are not offered by any other third party, for instance, Symbian, Linux, and Meego. Also, Sogou Input delivers customized versions; its ‘physicians edition is tailored to the health industry with medical dictionaries and auto-completion of health-related terms.  

QQ Pinyin

QQ Pinyin was released by Tencent in 2007 and is the second famous pinyin input tool in China. In 2013 it was consolidated with Sogou, although they maintain their different branding. Its users with a QQ Messenger can synchronize the device with their personal dictionaries, created from the user’s regularly used sentences and words.

Also, it traces typing statistics, which can be used to get level-up badges next to one’s QQ display name and contest with one’s QQ friends. The service is available for Android and Windows, but Tencent has finished QQ for Mac and suggested Sogou as a replacement. 

Baidu Input

Baidu Input method was released in 2010, and many of its features, such as translations, dictionaries, and synchronization, are supported by Baidu’s search engine and cloud technology.

Baidu also launched an AI-powered mobile version featuring voice to text capabilities in both Chinese and English. Available on Android, Mac, Windows, and iOS, Baidu Input also provide a senior version on Android with a bigger keyboard and handwriting area. 

Google Pinyin

Google Pinyin was developed by Google and was launched in 2007. Although the Windows version was discontinued in 2019, users can still download Google Pinyin from Google.

Also, Google maintains an input method for Chinese characters on Google Input Tools, available online, or as a Chrome extension. On the phone, Google provides two tools for typing in Chinese; Gborad and Google Pinyin Input. 

Notes

Even if you are comfortable typing with the pinyin input method, do not forget to practice your tones while speaking. People cannot differentiate the words without tones when talking with each other. If you have learned typing Chinese characters with Pinyin, sometimes handwriting seems needless.

However, writing can assist Chinese learners in remembering the characters more precisely and systematically.  With actual writing, your memory will assist you in remembering and mastering these characters because by doing so, they are easy to remember. Also, writing with your hand is a part of understanding Chinese culture. Thus, I highly suggest you continue to practice handwriting.