Notebook (Posts about computer)/categories/computer.atom2019-05-05T21:20:57ZToni MüllerNikolaTyping Chinese on a Computer/posts/2014-12-27-typing-chinese-speed/2014-12-27T11:36:00+01:002014-12-27T11:36:00+01:00Toni Mueller<div><p>Just today, I read an article about the influence of the computer on
the chinese language. I can agree with some of the points of the
author, but think that the difficulty of using a method like Wubi is
generally overstated. CangJie is more difficult, but in contrast to
spoken language, they both have the very valuable property of not
changing according to dialect, region or time. The speedups a user of
predictive input gains, are also avialable to users of handwriting or
structure-based input methods, but the input speed should be excellent
at 150 words, achievable in Wubi, or the 200 words achievable in
CangJie. On top of predictive input and much less guesswork that makes
the phonetic input methods slow, the structure-based input methods
sport phrase books and rules for having hortcuts to type several
characters in one go. And while I have seen every undergrad student
using only PinYin or ZhuYin, every PhD student that I have met so far,
has switched to Wubi, simply for the massive speed increase.</p>
<p>However, I am unconvinced about the notion that writing
Chinese is slower than English:</p>
<p>If you can type 150 chinese characters per minute, that amounts to
roughly 50 words per minute if you subtract particles and composita,
as many chinese words have only one or two characters. Now, imagine
how fast you'd have to type to achieve similar speed in English: If
the average English word has four characters, which is probably not
enough, you'd have to type at 600 characters per minute to achieve
similar results, and then you have spacing, too, which does not exist
in Chinese. I also hold that the structure-based input methods at
least help you memorize the graphic elements of the characters, thus
being closer to hand-writing than phonetic input methods. With the
composition rules and phrase books, you end up usually having one to
three key strokes to produce a chinese character. In summary, I think
it is not easy to say whether English or Chinese can be typed faster.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my own experience with Chinese input is limited to
PinYin and Wubi, and as far as the steep learning curve goes, the
principles of Wubi can be explained in probably one or three hours,
and after that, it takes two weeks of practice to achieve some
fluency. Not a big invest in comparison to learning Chinese in the
first place, or the waste to be accrued over time using an inferiour
method. I guess it is mostly the psychological barrier, possibly
combined with unsophisticated didactics that contribute to the
perception that these methods are hard.</p>
<p>Links:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_method">Wubi</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.chipchick.com/2012/03/qwerty-keyboards.html">How the QWERTY Keyboard Is Changing the Chinese Language</a></li>
<li><a href="http://thepolyglotexperience.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/chinese-alphabet-how-to-use-chinese.html">Chinese Alphabet - How to use Chinese Keyboards</a></li>
</ul></div>