Typing Colloquial Cantonese [dragondick]

goodstuff

A lot of 747 brothers asked me recently re typing Chinese, the Cantonese colloquial way.  After providing several answers via PM, I decided to post my experience so that anyone interested in it can refer to it in the future.

I was introduced to this site (www.cantoneseinput.com) by “Joes” brother who is my 啟蒙老師; without “師公Joes”, I am still confined to typing English.  For this, I offer my sincere thanks.

First of all, I am not an expert in typing Cantonese, I can only offer my experience for your reference.

In order to type Cantonese or short Mandarin passages, you must go to the above website first.  Once inside, there are two ways to type Cantonese:

I.                  Type An English Word Method

If the Cantonese word which you wish to type has an equivalent in English, type the English word.  A small “menu” showing all probable Cantonese words will appear for your selection.  If the Cantonese word which you are searching is not there, there is “+” sign at the bottom of the menu for you to click & advance to subsequent pages; of course, you can click “-“  to return to a previous page of the menu.

If you find the Cantonese word, click on it.  This word will be placed inside a small space reserved for your Cantonese text.

Continue the process until you have finished your sentence/paragraph/page, etc.

From then on, just "copy & paste" whatever you have typed, onto your email or 747's posting.

II.               Pronunciation Method

When the Cantonese word which you wish to type has no equivalence in English, type some English letters which will give you identical (or close to) sound of the Cantonese word.

Just like “I” above, a list of probable words will appear for you to pick & choose.   Continue with Method “I” or Method “II” until your Cantonese sentence or paragraph is finished.

Initially, this method was time-consuming as I had difficulty coming up with the correct spelling of the Cantonese sound.  So, I devised a time-saving method:

Cantonese Spelling Dictionary

I type “A” & subsequently “+” to advance the pages, the menu will show all possible Cantonese words which start with “Axxx”.  I will record all the spellings of all Cantonese words which I might use in the future, & arrange them in alphabetical order.

After “A”, I will type “B”, do the same thing; then “C” & finally “Z”.

By the end of the exercise, I have a personal dictionary of all the Cantonese words which I need.  I refer to it whenever I wish to find the Cantonese which I need.

After a short while & after I gained more experience, I don’t need to consult this personal dictionary anymore.  Furthermore, my Cantonese typing speed increases rapidly.

I hope the above is helpful to you all.

Don’t forget to thank “師公Joes” when you submit your first 極具神韻，抵死夾入骨嘅Cantonese review!