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Posts Tagged ‘ms-windows’

How can I configure my PC to write in Arabic

2013/10/22 Leave a comment
  1. In Windows past XP, you can just choose – without first installing support for Right-to-left languages – by pressing +R, typing ïntl.cpl”, clicking ”OK”, clicking ”keyboards and languages”and “change keyboard”.
  2. An Arabic keyboard layout that is commonly preferred by Westerners (closer to the phonetic layout of the keyboard) is a separate download: https://thomasplagwitz.com/2013/01/06/imrans-phonetic-keyboard-for-arabic/
  3. A transliterating IME (type on a Western keyboard sounds as you speak, pick suggestions in Arabic letters from a dropdown menu).
    1. Popular choices are Google Input Arabic: http://www.google.com/inputtools/windows/
    2. Microsoft Maren: offers more, also morphological analysis. Transliteration tool is linked at the bottom of this post: https://thomasplagwitz.com/2011/06/09/ms-maren-morph-helps-read-arabic-web-pages/ .
Categories: Arabic, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, Writing Tags: , ,

"Server busy” error?

2013/09/08 Leave a comment
  1. This dialogue appears regularly on student log in: image
  2. Update: This seems to have disappeared in the 2nd half of the term.
Categories: e-infrastructure, Glitches&Errors Tags: , ,

How to have Microsoft add US-International keyboard layout shortcuts for you automatically

2013/03/01 Leave a comment

Add the United States-International keyboard layout  (Microsoft Fix it 50558). Saves you reading and following the rest of the instructions here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306560.

Save image,open:
image and agree: image.

You will get:

International.

Press this key Then press this key Resulting character
‘(APOSTROPHE) c, e, y, u, i, o, a ç, é, ý, ú, í, ó, á
"(QUOTATION MARK) e, y, u, i, o, a ë, ÿ, ü, ï, ö, ä
`(ACCENT GRAVE) e, u, i, o, a è, ù, ì, ò, à
~(TILDE) o, n, a õ, ñ, ã
^(CARET) e, u, i, o, a ê, û, î, ô, â

For Windows 7, in Windows Vista, and Windows XP. Finally, view this if you are still on Windows 3.1. Smile

Categories: French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Writing Tags: ,

Which browser and operating system we could get which Moodle Kaltura webcam assignments to work in

2013/02/14 Leave a comment

Below please find our current (work in progress) test matrix. Use one of the combinations that worked (“YES”) to avoid problems when taking or grading webcam assignments (or come to the LRC where we set up a working combination). You can view your version of the Kaltura video player and of Adobe Flash by right-clicking on the Kaltura video window.

Categories: audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, lms, multimedia-recording Tags: , , , , , , ,

New keyboard shortcuts for diacritics on LRC Teacher PC

2013/01/23 Leave a comment
  1. The US international keyboard layout that has come with MS-Windows for many years (though – except in the LRC – not set as default, you need to enable it in the control panel) greatly facilitates typing of characters for most languages that use Roman script with common diacritical marks, but does not cover Pinyin and similar diacritical marks.
  2. Carly from Carleton, as avid a language teacher as a technologist,  had the great idea to extend Microsoft’s US-international keyboard so as to include all the Pinyin tone marks (and other accents useful for linguists). Here is the upshot, extracted  from her  instructions, but excluding  what (either shortcut or (use of common accents within Pinyin is now covered also below) purpose) has not changed from the shortcuts of the non-extended US-international keyboard  that used to be the default in the LRC:
  3. What you want Which keys you press (before comma  is “dead” key = no result until after next key) Example

    acute accent, pinyin 2nd tone

    ‘(=apostrophe), vowel

    á é í ó ú

    grave accent, pinyin 4th tone

    `(=grave), vowel

    à è ì ò ù

    macron accent, pinyin 1st tone

    hyphen, vowel

    ā ē ī ō ū

    pinyin 3rd tone

    %(=shift+5), vowel

    e.g. ǎ ě ǐ ǒ ǔ

    ü with pinyin tones

    Accent, double-quote

    e.g. ǖ ǘ ǚ ǜ

    letter with dot below

    ; (=shift+period), letter

    e.g.clip_image001

    letter with double acute

    : (=shift+;) , o or u

    ő, ű, Ő, Ű
  4. We are offering the extended US-international keyboard this as an optional keyboard on the teacher and student PCs with Windows 7.
    1. To select the new keyboard layout, use the language toolbar, click on 2nd option:
    2. image
    3. To explore the new keyboard layout use the Windows On-screen keyboard which will let you peek ahead after your pressed a dead key.
    4. To bypass a special dead key (= get the normal behavior of the key), press SPACE after it.
Categories: audience-is-teachers, e-languages, English, French, German, Institution-is-University-of-North-Carolina-Charlotte, Italian, Operating-system, Polish, Portuguese, Presenter-Computer, Russian, service-is-applying-learning-tools, service-is-configuring-learning-tools, Spanish, Student-Computers, Swahili, Writing, Yoruba Tags: , , , ,

Does the Sanako Study 1200 tutor set the input language to Chinese (traditional)?

2012/12/12 Leave a comment
  1. Or why is my input language set to Chinese after the Sanako tutor install:image
  2. Unclear whether the tutor install has an effect on the default language, but we observed this problem earlier on an XP computer that also had the Sanako study 1200 tutor.
Categories: e-infrastructure, Glitches&Errors, service-is-testing-troubleshooting-debugging Tags: , ,

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

Categories: 4-skills, audience-is-students, audience-is-teachers, documentation, e-languages, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, second-language-acquisition, Spanish, Writing Tags: , , , , ,