# How Do Chinese and Japanese Use the Internet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398 "2013-06-07T16:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/1 "2013-06-07T16:50:20Z")
since there are thousands of characters in their written languages? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/2 "2013-06-07T17:07:11Z")
With fucking huge keyboards. Some have touchscreens upon which the characters can be drawn. Others use a standard english layout and one types the phonetic pronunciation which is converted into the correct character. Others use a system of root shapes that can be combined in various ways to form the characters. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/3 "2013-06-07T17:19:15Z")
At least some use [keyboards that can type more than one character per key](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Keyboard_layout_Chinese_Traditional.png). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/4 "2013-06-07T17:23:26Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Others use a standard english layout and one types the phonetic pronunciation which is converted into the correct character. This is how Mrs. Greenjeans enters Japanese text into a computer or her phone. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/5 "2013-06-07T17:39:12Z")
[eBay China.](http://www.ebay.cn/) ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/6 "2013-06-07T17:39:53Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > This is how Mrs. Greenjeans enters Japanese text into a computer or her phone. This is also how my Chinese speaking friend and his Chinese wife text with phone etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/7 "2013-06-07T17:41:51Z")
As you type in pinyin on a Chinese copy of Windows, it pops up below with characters you can select. When you get the one you mean, you pick it. Others have told me they have keyboards that make the strokes in Chinese and they type that way. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/8 "2013-06-07T17:46:03Z")
A lot of them use a keyboard just like yours because they’re perfectly capable of reading and writing in English. In Japan they have a writing style where a limited number of characters are used to represent distinct sounds (I won’t try to name it since I never get it right). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/9 "2013-06-07T17:50:11Z")
[The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1138/how-can-the-chinese-use-computers-since-their-language-contains-so-many-characters) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/10 "2013-06-07T18:00:45Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > [The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1138/how-can-the-chinese-use-computers-since-their-language-contains-so-many-characters) The Master spoke in 1995. And since then, we’ver already seen that **Mr. Greenjeans** and **Wakinyan** have a better solution to the problem. Oh Dear Master, where art thou when we most needest you? Speak to us again, I beseech thee! ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/11 "2013-06-07T18:02:26Z")
the pinyin method is actually quite simple. it’s like the auto-suggestion on your phone, and if you type two related characters before choosing, it’s more accurate than the auto-suggestions for English. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/12 "2013-06-07T18:14:54Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > The Master spoke in 1995. > And since then, we’ver already seen that **Mr. Greenjeans** and **Wakinyan** have a better solution to the problem. It’s exactly the same solution mentioned by Cecil (for Chinese): you type in the pinyin and you get a list of suggestions. I’m not sure what difference you’re seeing. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/13 "2013-06-07T19:26:49Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > The Master spoke in 1995. > And since then, we’ver already seen that **Mr. Greenjeans** and **Wakinyan** have a better solution to the problem. No, the method they are describing is the 3rd one listed in The Master’s article. Except the efficiency and accuracy have improved significantly. Back then, you typically had to enter and convert one “word” at a time. Nowadays you can enter much longer phrases, and the conversion program (input method editor) uses context and user history to predict the correct characters. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/14 "2013-06-07T19:27:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > In Japan they have a writing style where a limited number of characters are used to represent distinct sounds (I won’t try to name it since I never get it right). There are two: Hiragana, and Katakana. Foreign words are almost always spelled in Katakana characters. Traditionally, Hiragana was for girls, despite its utter lack of little hearts or unicorns. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/15 "2013-06-07T20:41:14Z")
And here I was expecting the answer to be “With TCP/IP.” ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/16 "2013-06-07T20:59:32Z")
Seems to me that if they licked the problem of making Chinese typewriters way back when they would have very little difficulty with the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/17 "2013-06-07T21:13:46Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > No, the method they are describing is the 3rd one listed in The Master’s article. There is no third method listed in the article. It’s all one method, which is exactly what Inner Stickler, Mr Greengenes, and Wakinyan describe, except drawn out in excruciating step by step detail - including steps one and two being the sort of thing most people who need to write in Chinese would do instinctively and not consider part of ‘typing’, any more than an English person would consider figuring out which word they want to use and its spelling to be so - to make it look harder than it is. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/18 "2013-06-07T21:29:39Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Seems to me that if they licked the problem of making Chinese typewriters way back when they would have very little difficulty with the Internet. Who says they have any difficulty with it now?? ---
**Author:** ![thicksantorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/19 "2013-06-07T22:11:38Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > There are two: Hiragana, and Katakana. Foreign words are almost always spelled in Katakana characters. Traditionally, Hiragana was for girls, despite its utter lack of little hearts or unicorns. to expand a bit: kanji (complicated Chinese symbols, thousands of 'em): most native words, nouns/verb roots/adjectives/etc hiragana (curvy phonetic symbols, one per sound, not many): conjugation/grammar/particles/suffixes/etc, and certain words that don’t have kanji or just aren’t written with kanji katakana (more angular-looking, phonetic, all the sounds hiragana has plus a few extra like “fa” “fi” “di” etc): foreign words/loanwords, plus any situation where you’d use bold/italic in English… too many to list Kanji is generally typed using the same phonetic/predictive-text type of system used for Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398/20 "2013-06-07T22:41:19Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > There is no third method listed in the article. > > It’s all one method, which is exactly what Inner Stickler, Mr Greengenes, and Wakinyan describe, except drawn out in excruciating step by step detail… You’re right, of course, I only glanced at the article and misunderstood. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-chinese-and-japanese-use-the-internet/660398.md?page=2)