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LRC Sanako Study 1200 for Pronunciation

Character Input Methods for SLA (Western)

2012/09/04 1 comment

For studying (typing) Western Languages (= need for diacritics only; whether you have a US keyboard hardware or UK which is pretty similar), we recommend the MS Windows US International Keyboard layout  which is based on “dead keys”.

Currently installed in the LLC are the Language Bar (floating on top of screen or accessible from the taskbar) with these keyboard layouts:

Keyboard layout settings are application/window specific, and “US”  (non-international) is still the default for new applications/windows, so prepare to switch after you start a new application;

There are keyboard shortcuts for switching, however, “Key settings”: “switch between input languages” , using LEFT ALT + SHIFT, does not work. Workaround: use the language bar for switching:

Windows keyboard layout settings can be temperamental – if you find you cannot switch to a certain layout anymore, you may have to restart the computer.

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to enter diacritics more easily:

Press (together, then release)

then press

Example Result

` (accent grave)

any letter  that can have this accent, e.g. "a”, also cedilla ç

à

(apostrophe)

á

^ (caret)-

â

~ (tilde)

ã

(double quotation marks)

ä

CTRL+&

Z or z

æ

rightALT+

X or x

œ

     

rightAlt+n

 

ñ

ALT+CTRL+?

 

¿

rightAlt+?

 

ALT+CTRL+!

 

¡

rightAlt+1

 

rightAlt+s

S

ß

To access the original, now dead keys, press space bar after pressing the dead key.

Modifiers(blue)/Layout

Note the new modifier = “dead” keys, indicated by light blue color (click to enlarge)

Normal

 

 

Shift

 

 

US International

 

Screencast of US International in action here: deadkeys.wmv

Interactive Demo of installation procedure (personal computers outside of the LLC) here: keyboard_usinternational.swf

Planned improvements:

  • Use LEFT ALT+Shift to switch to (Software) “Keyboard Layout” “United-States International”.
  • Use other keyboard short cuts to access a desired keyboard layout directly
  • Dock the “Language Bar” in the Taskbar, then hover over it  to make sure you selected the proper “Keyboard Layout”.

·       

Another nice visualization of US-international keyboard layout is available thanks to http://charsetplus.tripod.com/Keyboard/Latin/EN-USX.htm (click picture for full size): us-international-keyboard-layout

Protected: Meet the Resource Attendants and their Scheduling Assistants– or Who are these people, anyway?

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How users can change their time zone in OWA

Or as screenshot: owa-timezone1

You know: You just have to know what to look for – considerably easier than knowing *when* to look for pretty much anything once you have been put in the wrong time zone… Smile

Refine your pronunciation by operating the LRC Windows 7 PCs using voice commands

  1. No speech recognition assignment, and only a bit of spare time to practice the language you study in the LRC? Try the Command mode with these Try the Command mode with these voice commands that Windows 7 speech recognition recognizes
  2. Note there are some hoops to jump through, including some one-time setup: We have them/you covered in this step-by-step guide on using speech-recognition in the LRC
  3. .

Immerse yourself into your language of study by switching the user interface language on LRC PCs

  1. Ever imagine yourself studying or working in an e.g. Spanish– Japanese- or Chinese- speaking country? Then you will  likely find yourself in front of a computer display that is in that language  – what if you could get a sneak preview before you go?
  2. You can now switch the interface language of the LRC Windows 7 computers (including Internet Explorer and MS-Office (note that you have to change the editing language separately) to your language of study (How?).
  3. All non-classical languages studied here are supported:
    Language Native name
    Arabic العربية
    Chinese (Simplified) 中文(简体)
    Chinese (Traditional) 中文 (繁體)
    English English
    French français
    German Deutsch
    Greek Ελληνικά
    Hebrew עברית
    Italian italiano
    Japanese 日本語
    Korean 한국어
    Polish polski
    Portuguese (Brazil) Português
    Portuguese (Portugal) português
    Russian Русский
    Spanish español
  4. Some languages, however, come only with the limited support of a MS Language Interface Pack :
  5. Hindi हिंदी
    KiSwahili Kiswahili
    Persian (Farsi) فارسی
    Yoruba ede Yorùbá
  6. Below are examples (for German) what you get when you switch the operating system language:
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Foreign language support in LRC MS-Office 2010

  1. A full set of proofing tools is available, thanks to MS-Office Language Packs installed on the Windows 7 computers, for all non-classical languages studied here:
  2. Language Native name
    Arabic العربية
    Chinese (Simplified) 中文(简体)
    Chinese (Traditional) 中文 (繁體)
    English English
    French français
    German Deutsch
    Greek Ελληνικά
    Hebrew עברית
    Hindi हिंदी
    Italian italiano
    Japanese 日本語
    Korean 한국어
    Polish polski
    Portuguese (Brazil) Português
    Portuguese (Portugal) português
    Russian Русский
    Spanish español
  3. Some languages have only limited features provided by the MS-Language Interface Pack:
  4. KiSwahili Kiswahili
    Persian (Farsi) فارسی
    Yoruba ede Yorùbá

Keyboard layouts and IME’s on LRC Windows 7 PCs

You can change the input language using the language toolbar which appears next to the notification area in the lower right of the task bar.

Note that many languages need not be listed since their characters can be typed, Windows-wide, using keyboard shortcuts of the  English-US (international extended) keyboard layout.

Some installed input methods benefit from having keyboard overlays which have been installed on some computer. Other input methods allow for drawing characters, e.g. in Japanese or Mandarin, which works better with the Wacom tablet installed on PC01 and PC02 than with a mice.

Many languages have more than one keyboard/input method. After changing to your  language on the language toolbar, you can switch from the language’s  default keyboard layout to  another by clicking on keyboard icon  behind the 2-letter language abbreviation.

imageBelow is a comprehensive list of all layouts that are available to you:

 

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