Do you want to type in your language? Tired of using old translation tools? Here is a new solution from Google. Google Input Tools lets you type in your language using the input tools. Google Input Tools makes it easy to enter text in the languages, switch to typing in a different language with the click of the mouse, and switch back to the first is also easily. The Google Input Tools provides virtual keyboards for over 90 languages, full IMEs or direct transliteration for over 30 different scripts, and handwriting input for over 40 languages.
If you are using the chrome browser, then you can use the chrome extension of Google input tools. First install the extension, click on the extension icon, then select ‘Extension Options’ in the pop-up menu. A new tab will appear,there you can select your preferred languages or input methods. The keyboards, IMEs or handwriting input you add to ‘Selected input tools’ can be enabled at any time from the extension itself. You can always return to this options page to add, remove, or change the order of your input tools. After installing, you can use the Google input tool by simply clicking the extension icon appears on the browser, then select the desired language tool in the pop-up menu, then click on any text box on the web page. You can now type on your selected language. To turn off an input tool, click on the extension icon and select the ‘Turn Off’ option. To use transliteration, type languages phonetically in English letters, and they’ll appear in their correct alphabet. You may also noticed the translate function in Google in some selected languages. But transliteration is different from translation. In transliteration the sound of the words is converted from one alphabet to the other, not the meaning.
To use handwriting input, select the handwriting input of your desired language. Press trackpad or left click of mouse to hand draw a character on the pop-up handwriting panel. Select the character from the suggestion list, or press ENTER or SPACE key to select the first suggestion. Input Tools embedded in Google products has consistent keyboard shortcuts. To toggle the selected input tool: press Cmd + Shift + K on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + K on a PC. But Input Tools Chrome extension has different keyboard shortcuts, which is mentioned below.
Input Tools Chrome extension-Keyboard Shortcuts:
SHIFT – Toggle between active/inactive state for all transliteration (IME) tools
ALT+SHIFT – Switch to next input tool in the list (if the extension is off, turn it on; if the current input tool is the last tool in the list, turn the extension off)
CTRL+SPACE – Revert to the last input tool used (if none, turn off the extension)
SHIFT+SPACE – Toggle the SBC/DBC mode (Chinese input tools only)
CTRL+PERIOD – Toggle Chinese / European language punctuation (Chinese input tools only)
Here you can get the Google input tools chrome extension and you can check the supported languages here.
