Re: tlug: re: japanese input methods and X configuration revisited.

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>]

>>>>> "Rob" == Rob Bickel <rob@example.com> writes:

    Rob> On Fri, 2 Apr 1999, John Seebach wrote:

    >> Hmm. I'll probably give Canna a try to start with, then see if
    >> I need something more powerful. 30% ideology, 30% I'm cheap and
    >> I just bought a new laptop, and 40% I sincerely doubt that I
    >> would ever feel like I'm smarter than a dictionary server
    >> because it's no doubt better at japanese than I am ;-)

    Rob> That fact that your Japanese is not good does not mean that
    Rob> you don't need a good kana-kanji server.
 
Besides the points that Rob mentions, there is another important one
that Jonathan Byrne often cites: better servers can gobble larger
pieces at a time, up to whole sentences (or more; but after the
doku-ten I don't think any of the servers try to use the additional
context).  I find the restriction to short phrases of Canna _useful_
because it forces me to "think in Japanese":

nantoka-kantoka-DE <henkan>
nintama-rantarou-GA <henkan>
dango-sankyoudai-WO <henkan>
tabete-simai-masita! <henkan>

instead of making particles prefixes to the next clause (as I still
often do).  But it can drive you up the wall ;-) (eg, if you insert
romaji it feels natural to type the particle then the following
clause, but that don't work, no, gollum).  You may find it easier to
type long strings and let a smart server do the clause-breaking for
you.

I also like short strings because it forces me to do a visual check
immediately; I find it very hard to catch typos later, but usually do
in a 3-7 character phrase.  YMMV.

I strongly recommend installing Canna to start with, but try to get
your hands (literally) on a system with a more advanced server and see 
how you like it.

-- 
University of Tsukuba                Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences       Tel/fax: +81 (298) 53-5091
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