Hello! One of the features I love on my new mac is the spell check as I am typing for forums and etc. Is there a way to do that with languages other than English? Also wondering the same thing for when I am typing in Pages, etc is there a way to import a dictionary for Japanese?? Thanks in advance for any and all response/feedback!
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International/Multi-lingual Spellcheck and Dictionary
- Thread starter 17luv
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Not that I know of. If there were, it would be built-in, since Apple uses the same version of OSX in every country--there's no "special versions" with additional stuff. That's why you have the option of installing all those gigabytes of langauge files most people would never even think about using.
If there were multilingual dictionaries, you'd probably enable them by switching the default language in the International pref pane.
As for Japanese, it's rather hard to run a realtime Japanese spellcheck, due to both the lack of spaces in the language and how dependant on context the reading of kanji is--I'm not aware of any, though I'm sure they do exist. And there is no Japanese dictionary available for OSX from Apple--I've seen this asked before, and Apple doesn't make one.
You can, however, download a shareware app (JEdict--check VersionTracker) that downloads and uses the fine Monash J-E dictionary, as well as some of their other non-English dictionaries. Doesn't even require an internet connection after installation. I just ran across that today, and while the interface is ugly, it works as well as, if not better than, the web interface.
Also, if you just want kanji readings, have you checked out the character palette built into OSX? You turn it on in the International pref pane to show up in the Input Menu. And, in Japanese view, it is basically an amazingly useful Kanji lookup tool-you can look up kanji by radical and stroke count, or search by pronunciation (don't miss the little search box down at the bottom), and it will tell you all On and Kun readings, alternate characters (for example, old forms), as well as show you what the character looks like in every font installed on the system that contains it (great for identifying which of the many Chinese fonts can render Japanese text properly--several, it turns out). You can even save favorite oddball characters for quick access.
Ignore all this if you're already aware of it, but ever since they added the Character Palette back in 10.2 it has just gotten more and more powerful, and I can't believe it's not better known among language students.
If there were multilingual dictionaries, you'd probably enable them by switching the default language in the International pref pane.
As for Japanese, it's rather hard to run a realtime Japanese spellcheck, due to both the lack of spaces in the language and how dependant on context the reading of kanji is--I'm not aware of any, though I'm sure they do exist. And there is no Japanese dictionary available for OSX from Apple--I've seen this asked before, and Apple doesn't make one.
You can, however, download a shareware app (JEdict--check VersionTracker) that downloads and uses the fine Monash J-E dictionary, as well as some of their other non-English dictionaries. Doesn't even require an internet connection after installation. I just ran across that today, and while the interface is ugly, it works as well as, if not better than, the web interface.
Also, if you just want kanji readings, have you checked out the character palette built into OSX? You turn it on in the International pref pane to show up in the Input Menu. And, in Japanese view, it is basically an amazingly useful Kanji lookup tool-you can look up kanji by radical and stroke count, or search by pronunciation (don't miss the little search box down at the bottom), and it will tell you all On and Kun readings, alternate characters (for example, old forms), as well as show you what the character looks like in every font installed on the system that contains it (great for identifying which of the many Chinese fonts can render Japanese text properly--several, it turns out). You can even save favorite oddball characters for quick access.
Ignore all this if you're already aware of it, but ever since they added the Character Palette back in 10.2 it has just gotten more and more powerful, and I can't believe it's not better known among language students.
Thanks so much! I did not know, so the info is much appreciated. I have gotten the keyboard to work for inputing Korean and Japanese but as I am learning Japanese trying to make sure things are spelled (and inputed) correctly has been more than a little difficult-will look into JEdict.
I use SpellCatcher for OS X. I used the same program for OS 9, and was happy. The list of supported languages is here Japanese is not supported, but jargon specific dictionary are, like medical and science/technolgy. Portuges, Spanish (with regional variants), etc... are provided with the tool. Some languag sets cost extra, like Canadian English.
While my post may not help you with Korean and Japanese, for somebody like me with a thrid-grade spelling level, the tool is invaluable. While there are free spell-checking utilities provided with OS X, as well as third party applets available, I found SpellCatcher an tool that I can't work well with out.(Though it took some tweaking to get the hot keys to respond the way I wanted them to.)
While my post may not help you with Korean and Japanese, for somebody like me with a thrid-grade spelling level, the tool is invaluable. While there are free spell-checking utilities provided with OS X, as well as third party applets available, I found SpellCatcher an tool that I can't work well with out.(Though it took some tweaking to get the hot keys to respond the way I wanted them to.)