How Can I Type Cantonese?

Learn how to type Cantonese

Also Appears In: Absolute Beginner Questions Answered by Olivia Throwback Thursday

Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Select your level

Or sign up using Facebook

By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.

Already a Member?

Intro
Hi, everybody! Olivia here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Cantonese questions.
The Question
The question for this lesson is: How can I type Cantonese?
Explanation
Typing Chinese characters is not as immediate as typing the Latin alphabet, which is completely displayed on the keyboard. In this lesson, I'll try to give you all the necessary information for being able to type any words or sentences in Cantonese.
Let’s start with some good Cantonese input systems, ones that are easy to use for anyone, including non-native speakers.
The Google Input Tools extension for Chrome browser is a good and easy way to type Cantonese characters. Alternatively, the Voice Input function for Google documents (used on the Chrome browser) is also a very efficient tool for typing Cantonese characters.
People who live in Hong Kong usually use Cangjie input method, Simplified Cangjie (or Sucheng), Hanyu Pinyin, Jyutping romanization, Yale romanization, handwriting on touchpads (finger tracing), and voice input for writing Chinese characters.
The good news is, we don't need to add the tones when typing Cantonese. The input systems either provide the exact characters or provide a list of choices.
Outro
How was it?
Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them!
"See you next time!", 下次見! (haa6 ci3 gin3!)

Hide