How to input Chinese character into computer at the first time?

It is difficult to place a number on the total number of Chinese characters. But according to some researchers, the number could be as many as 100,000. A number this large makes it seems completely impossible to learn all of the characters.

Before you get all carried away, why don't you just take a moment to relax…because I have good news for you: The number of characters used in the majority of daily life situations is no more than a few thousand. In fact, the 1,000 most frequently used characters cover up to 92% of the written materials in Chinese. The 2,000 most frequently used cover 98% and if you learn the 3,000 most frequently used characters; you will be able to read 99% (that’s just about everything by the way) of Chinese written materials. A little perspective offers some pretty good hope, eh?

Learning three thousand characters, or even 1,000 for that matter, will take some time.  However, with dedication and perseverance, you can make it! Before you dive in, there is one other issue we should address. Most of the western languages make words by combining several letters. Therefore, words in most western languages can be input into a computer using a regular keyboard.

But Chinese characters each look different in Chinese, so how in the world can we type Chinese into a computer? I am yet to see a keyboard with 1,000 – let alone 3,000 keys!

If such a crazy keyboard existed, it would probably look something like this: 

Let's look closer~

Do you think this monstrosity actually exists? It does not, but don’t worry, you aren’t alone in your confusion. If you’ve ever spent much time thinking about how this problem could be solved, it puts you in the ranks of the really brainy set. This question vexed linguists and others for quite a while until a solution was found a few decades ago.

There have been multiple solutions bandied about, but the two most commonly used systems today will be profiled below:

1

The WuBi IME

This system took every Chinese character apart, selected the most used part, then divided it into different groups, and finally they chose a letter which contains one group of the Chinese character parts thus allowing the user to input Chinese into a computer!

This system sounds great in theory but it has some problems. If you know the rules well, then you can remember which key contains the part you needed, and you can take apart characters as you go, allowing you to type very fast.

However, there are too many things you need to remember, and it's not really normal Chinese-looking characters. Chinese characters are whole, not a discombobulated bin of parts. This method is pretty fast, but not as convenient as it should be.

There are still some people who use this, but it is less and less popular.

2

Pinyin IME

If you already learned something about Chinese, you may know what pinyin is. It's a phonetic pronunciation and writing system for the Chinese language. What you may not know is that it's a new system that just appeared a few decades ago. This system was not used historically, so some older generations do not use pinyin.

Pinyin is an excellent bridge for foreigners to quickly gain a foothold in the language and for Chinese speakers to input Chinese into modern communication devices like computers, smartphones and tablets.

Like many western languages, pinyin includes vowels and what we call initial consonants (of a Chinese syllable), and it also use the 26 letters to stand by the specific pronunciation of the word. But there is still something the western language doesn't have---tones. This is new to foreigners, so you may have some trouble with this at first, but you can conquer it with practice and a good teacher. That's where we come in – we’re the best at helping you learn to speak clearly and understandably.

After the experts first finished this system, they realized that every Chinese character can be expressed by a few letters and they found it perfectly solved the problem. Chinese can be input into a computer with a regular keyboard very easily. It also allows children and foreigners to learn quickly the first time.

These early developers of pinyin did a great job. Every Chinese learner owes them a debt of thanks. Now, every pupil in Chinese schools are required to learn pinyin, making pinyin, and subsequently computers, the preferred way to learn Chinese in the China of the future.

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