Switch between English and Chinese while typing

Robert_C · **Joined:** Sat Oct 04, 2008 9:20 am **Posts:** 10

I need to be able to switch between English and Chinese while typing. How do I do it?

Steve · **Posted:** Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:42 am

Right click the panel at the top and choose ADD TO PANEL
From the list select KEYBOARD INDICATOR
Click ADD
Click CLOSE

Now you will see an indicator on the panel showing a 3 letter country code.

Right click the indicator and choose KEYBOARD PREFERENCES
Click the LAYOUTS tab
Click the + button
Select the country (China) and keyboard variant from the list
Click ADD
Click CLOSE

To switch between the different languages, left click the keyboard indicator.

(you may need to install additional language packs, you can do that from language support in system settings in Control Centre or from Preferences/Administration)

Steve.

annk · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:26 am

I realise I'm resurrecting an old thread, but rather than start a new one I thought it best to continue here.

Steve's instructions above toggle the keyboard layout, but not the SCIM needed to input Chinese.

I've followed all the instructions I've found to install and activate pinyin for Chinese input in SCIM (both smart pinyin for simplified characters and chewing for traditional), but I can't for the life of me get the toolbar to show up - the toolbar that allows me to choose my input method. The Keyboard Indicator works fine when I need to go back and forth between Norwegian and English layouts (the Norwegian layout includes 3 extra letters, for example), but is obviously not what is needed to activate Chinese input.

Ctrl + Space and Shift + Space are supposed to be possible toggle-combos, but do nothing.

This is a make-or-break situation for me. If I can't input Chinese, I can't use eeebuntu. I'd really, really appreciate any help!

TRiPgod · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:37 pm

Another guy asked about japanese input. He researched he needed anthy or something like that.
View this thread: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1532&hilit=japanese
Now I realize you're asking about chinese, but maybe the two languages can fall under the same problem.

annk · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:58 pm

Thanks, I didn't come across that post in my search. The indicator applet Steve mentions below is what I'm after, and the response in the post describes my situation completely:

Quote:

Steve wrote:
You can add in languages and add an indicator applet to your panel. This can also be hotkey'd so you can swap between the languages.

There is a difference between a Japanese keyboard and being able to type in Japanese. Most Japanese users never use the Japanese keyboard layout. People normally use an English keyboard but with an Input Method Editor to type Japanese. The default Eeebuntu installation makes this kind of hard to set up. In the Netbook Remix, "gnome-language-selector" should not be hidden from the Administration tab. Also, the default input method editor should be set to scim-bridge or something else that supports Japanese. See this post: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php? ... 56#p524556

I'm missing the the indicator applet in my panel.

This set of instructions doesn't work for me:

Quote:

To have Japanese input I went to Administration>Language Support
Checked "Use input method engines (IME) to enter complex characters"
Went to Install/Remove Languages...
And added Japanese with all the options.
Logged out and logged back in and now SCIM applet will be in your panel. Default to switch inputs is "Ctrl+Space"

This post might have something useful for me, but as I write below it, there's one step I'm not sure how to handle:

Quote:

Inkmo wrote:

2. I've installed Japanese language support but have seen no indication as to how to get Japanese text input.

If I remember correctly, this is what I had to do to type Japanese:

1) install anthy and scim-anthy

2) run gnome-language-selector and check "Enable support to enter complex characters"

3) run "im-switch -c" and choose "scim-bridge"

Once you re-login, you should see a keyboard icon on the task bar. You should be able to use ctrl-space to toggle the input method editor on and off.

Here, I get a bit lost. I've installed the scim elements I've been told to, and I've enabled support to enter complex characters, but I'm not sure how to handle step 3 in the above (both because I'm using different scim elements for Chinese than this post refers to, and because I'm a Linux noob). Should the "im-switch -c" command be something else for me? And does "run" just mean "enter the following command in the terminal"? :oops:

Since I'm fairly confident I have installed what I need, I think there must be some very basic thing I've not done to get the applet to show up. Any other ideas?

TRiPgod · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:11 pm

run step in terminal

Code:

im-switch -c

Choose "scim-bridge"
Reboot

annk · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:33 pm

TRiPgod wrote:

run step in terminal

Code:

im-switch -c

Choose "scim-bridge"
Reboot

Thanks for a very fast response!

I did as you said, and scim-bridge was already chosen in the list. Rebooted, but still no applet in the panel, and no applet to chose in the "add to panel" preference. I took a look at the SCIM preferences, too, just to see if something new had turned up there, but no.

I've got a friend who is very Linux-savvy - he's been working with Linux for decades. I'll offer him a good bottle of wine, show him this thread and the other threads I've gotten my information from, and ask him to fix it for me. He also studied Chinese years ago, which probably will make it a bit more interesting problem for him to solve. I'll post back when I've finally got it worked out. In the meantime, other ideas are of course still welcome.

TRiPgod · **Posted:** Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:38 pm

Dunno, then. No experience with writing in chinese. Hopefully your linux buddy can help you out. Good luck !!

LittlePig · **Posted:** Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:53 am

I got Chinese input working on my system using the following steps:

1. Installed scim
2. Configure scim
3. Ran im-switch -c in the terminal

That was it, after that I was able to ctrl+space to invoke the input method. I noticed that step 3 is vital. My first attempt I just did steps 1 and 2 thinking that I had done it but no. So then I looked on the forum and read about step 3.

Anyway thanks to previous posters for their advice and hope you get sort annk

Switch between English and Chinese while typing

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