Kotoeri

ことえり is the Japanese language input software that came with my Mac. I know nothing of the software used for other operating systems, so I stick to detailing what I know about Kotoeri.

To enable Kotoeri, simply visit the System Preference panel. Next click Language and Text, select Input Sources and scroll to find Kotoeri. I suggest checking the boxes for Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji. Finally, save your changes by exiting the System Preference. In the menu bar on the desk top, click on the flag and a menu will extending offering input options. Choose the one you need and you can type in Japanese to your heart's content. The interface takes some adjustments. I highly suggest learning the keyboard short cuts, which make switching from one input source to the next very simple. Personally, I type the majority of my English in under the Romaji input because there neither exists, nor have I been able to create a short cut back to the English input. I have yet to encounter a problem with using this interface to type English.

There are no truly useful directions for Kotoeri. The help menu is of little help and what I have learned was mostly though trial and error. There are a few details that may be useful to know:

• General typing appears in which ever Kana you have chosen.
• Pressing the space bar or any punctuation enables Kotoeri to perform best guess kanji placement. Pressing the space bar once will open a dialog box with additional kanji and transliteration options.
• Under the Kotoeri menu, open Type Using Kana Table at your connivence.

Some of the Kana is not self explanatory in terms of typing any must be located by circuitous methods. For example:

• を　is typed: wo
• ん　is typed: nn
• づ　is typed: du
• つ　can be typed: tsu or tu
• ち　can be typed: chi or ti
• 「 ＆ 」is typed: Shift + [ & Shift + ]
• 待って　double consents are typed: motte

These are only a few examples. More will become apparent as you play with the inputs.