Mandarin Scholarship Taiwan » software

Web based handwriting recognition tool at NICKU.com

kang-wei — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:33:10 +0000

Nciku is basically an online Chinese-English dictionary and is a great tool for Mandarin scholarship students. I had a look at it a while ago and came to the conclusion that it was a social networking dictionary. You can sign up and interact with others in the nciku community, as you look up new vocabulary. It didn’t appeal to me, as I thought the concept was odd and had been happily using mdbg.net.

That said, the Handwrite Characters function, or handwriting recognition tool, is brilliant! Pinyin.info recently highlighted this feature which I have used several times.

What is the handwriting recognition tool? The handwriting tool allows you to find characters by drawing them. Simply write the character, with your mouse, in the box and select the desired one from the list that appears.

If you’ve ever tried to translate a character, you will know that if you don’t know the radical it can take a very long time to work out. This tool makes short work of that problem.

How does it work?

The tool searches our character database based on the appearance of what you draw, the stroke order you use, and other factors. Even if you are unsure how exactly to write a character, the character you are looking for will most likely be included in results for you to recognize and choose from.

Does stroke order matter?
Stroke order does not matter. We will find your character even if you don’t write it perfectly.

http://www.nciku.com/

The handwriting recognition tool has been around for many years. My Chinese teacher introduced me to it a few months ago. It was part of his Chinese language Windows OS or MS word suite. Unfortunately, I run an English language version of XP and that tool is not included.

This tool/software can also be put on a PDA. A mobile handwriting recognition tool! Just the thing for long bus journeys.

Online role playing game for learning Mandarin Chinese

kang-wei — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:20:42 +0000

Mandarin scholarship students who enjoy multiplayer online role playing games may be interested in Zon. I think this kind of language immersion tool is great for students who are not in Mandarin speaking environments.

The information below is from massively.com:

A team of developers supported by Michigan State University and the Office of the Chinese Language Council International have spent the past few years piecing together Zon — a browser-based virtual world wherein users can learn the Mandarin Chinese language. The game is currently in its open beta phase; you can sign up to play right now.

Users create an avatar and then find themselves in a representation of Beijing International Airport. From there, they may interact with NPCs and other world objects to learn more about Chinese language and culture, as well as communicate with other players to practice their language skills. As they progress through the system, they move up in rank from Tourist to Resident, and finally to Citizen — at which point they may create their own content for the world.

Learn Zhuyin fuhao/BoPoMoFo software

kang-wei — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:29:36 +0000

Learning Chinese in Taiwan will most likely involve learning Zhuyin fuhao (BoPoMoFo, ㄅㄆㄇㄈ, Zhuyin) which is is the standard phonetic system used in Taiwan to teach Mandarin (see earlier post).

I’ve looked at several software/learnware packages and one stands out for those needing to learn Zhuyin/BoPoMoFo.

Chinese LearnWare for PC Windows

Text can be displayed in traditional or simplified characters, pinyin romanization, or zhuyin symbols. There are many interactive Zhuyin/BoPoMoFo games that help you to memorize the alphabet.

Other features include:

Over 1000 characters, Recorded conversations between native speakers, Voice Animation, Speech Recognition and Voice Record and Compare, Character writing, Exercises and games, Grammar notes, Flash cards, Vocabulary builder.

I’m done with my copy of Chinese LearnWare. If you want it I’ll send it to you.

Fast Online Chinese Character to Pinyin Converter

kang-wei — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:29:31 +0000

Just found this easy to use Chinese character to pinyin converter/ translator at PurpleCulture.net.

It’s web based which I like and fast. It supports both Simplified and Traditional characters, which is great for those learning Chinese in Taiwan.

If you happen to need to convert/translate between one of the many different Romanization systems and Zhuyin (BoPoMoFo) the Chinese Romanization Converter over at MandarinTools.com works well.

How did people learn Mandarin before the internet revolution?

Google Pinyin: The easiest way to type Chinese

kang-wei — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:50:49 +0000

Google Pinyin was released about a year ago. I must admit I didn’t really know what to expect when I downloaded it and installed it. I am only a beginner and the Google Pinyin site is written entirely in Chinese so I didn’t expect to get very far. About 60 seconds later I was typing simple sentences in Chinese. It’s that easy to use.

As you can see from the image above, imputing Hànyǔ pinyin (without any tones) activates a drop down menu with Chinese character suggestions. This kind of software is known as an Input Method Editor (IME). An IME is a program or operating system component that allows computer users to enter characters and symbols not found on their keyboard.

Using Google Pinyin and MDBG online Chinese-English dictionary I can complete my class assignments in double quick time.

Shawn over at Scattered-notes has gone to a great deal of trouble to translate the setup options and other configurations for Google’s Pinyin Input Method Editor. Thanks Shawn!

Jetorz has outlined 5 big advantages of Google Pinyin.

Google Pinyin is currently only compatible with Windows. It works fine with Firefox.