WuBi Input Method

[kagaisha]

Any of you using the WuBi input method?

As far as I know it's not that popular anymore (all Chinese people I know use pinyin) and it's being mostly recommended for journalists and the likes who have to type very fast.

Anyway, I'm thinking of trying out WuBi 86 although I'm a beginner in Chinese (though no beginner when it comes to Chinese characters since I'm coming from a Japanese background). I think it might actually be an advantage to type in characters radical-by-radical, because it compels you to really know the structure of the character, not merely to recognize it. I think depending on the viewpoint this might be either an advantage or downside.

But a definite benefit is that you can type in words whose pronounciation you don't know.

So, any users here? And if yes - how long did it take you to master this particular input method?

[imron]

Quite a few of us. If you search for Wubi you'll find several relevant threads. It was never really that popular in the first place compared to pinyin input methods because it takes time to practice whereas anyone can hunt and peck to type pinyin. Statistics I saw from several years back indicated it had about 14% usage among Chinese users. Another big advantage of it is that it allows you to type blind (i.e. you don't need to be looking at the screen and choosing the correct character).

It's definitely not something that will be easy for a beginner to pick up. I'd recommend knowing at least 1,000-2,000 characters before deciding to have a look at it.

It will take several weeks of regular practice to get all the different character 'roots' internalised into finger memory, then it's just a matter of practice. Depending on how often you practice after that, it will take several months before you become comfortable with it. Depending on what operating system you use, there are several 'mixed' wubi-pinyin input methods that allow you to type in either Wubi or Pinyin at the same time, which make for good crutches in the early learning stages.

[imron]

Also, you can use software such as this for practicing.

[kagaisha]

Sorry, I didn't use the search function, I was only browsing through "Computing and Electronics" and couldn't find any WuBi threads... but yes, now I've seen them & read through all of them. It seems you're the most prominent WuBi user here.

Reading through the threads I'm now somehow determined to learn it. You say that I'd be recommendable after one knows about 1000-2000 characters - I already know as many, but in Japanese, which means that they're not always exactly the same & that I don't know the Chinese pronounciation (though the Japanese ON-reading is sometimes rather close to the Chinese reading). Do you think that might be a solid foundation or is it really better to know the (simplified) Chinese way of writing first? (I know that's quite the specific question and I guess the most obvious thing to do would be just to try it out)

Thanks for the recommendation, though I'm primarily using Linux, that's what I have my Virtualbox for. As I can see from the earlier threads 五笔快打 was recommended quite often but it appears that their website is now defunct? (or perhaps it was only temporarily down when I tried to go to their website...)

[imron]

Yeah, 五笔快打 seems to be defunct, that's why I posted the other link above - which is not as good a program I think, but still quite sufficient - it's also free as in beer, which is a plus.

I think the more important thing is not so much the pronunciation, but rather being familiar with the different shapes that can make up a given character. If you don't have at least 1,000-2,000 characters then it adds to the difficulty of learning Wubi if you're not familiar with the shapes.

Probably the best thing to do would be to have a try learning it with the software above and with the guide you posted above acting as a good overview/reference. 20-30 mins a day for a couple of weeks should be enough to get the basics ingrained into muscle memory. If it's a little overwhelming still, then maybe hold off a few months until you know some more Mandarin.

It seems you're the most prominent WuBi user here.

I think it helps serve as a good aid for learning the characters. I'm definitely a fan.

[Altair]

I am also a fan, because typing with Wubi is so much closer to typing in English and because it forces me to recall character shapes. Since my recall of characters is terrible, I use one of the input methods that permits both Wubi and Pinyin and don't come anywhere near actually touch typing. I have generally mastered the method, however, and still find it much more satisfying that looking through lots of lists or always having to proofread. Most of my writing is also of short sentences out of context, so predictive pinyin does not do me much good.

I particularly like this site for casual practice. If you don't read much Chinese, you can probably experiment with the top eight small blue rectangles. Each rectangle deals with a different method of inputing or characterizing characters: e.g., character roots, characters listed on keys, representative characters, single characters, phrases, etc.

As someone who first learned Japanese, be wary of Hanzi generally written with slightly different strokes or stroke orders from Kanji. Unlike in Cangjie, stroke order is pretty important in Wubi. Even for those who know only Chinese, a few Hanzi can be quite confusing since Wubi uses a very specific handwritten standard as its default. The materials I first learned from did not warn me of this, and it caused some problems for my learning method, which prioritized rules.

By the way, has anyone found a good Wubizixing solution for the iPad or iPhone? The only app I have found was rather disappointing, with a permanent add that covers a good deal of the input screen.

[imron]

By the way, has anyone found a good Wubizixing solution for the iPad or iPhone?

Is there a reason you'd prefer that over the handwriting recognition? I imagine typing Wubi on a virtual keyboard would be very awkward.

[Altair]

I find drawing characters on a virtual page even more awkward. Actually, typing on the iPad isn't so bad.

[drungood]

What is the best Windows WuBi IME?

Right now I'm using freewb, but the sound effects while typing are annoying and I can't figure out how to disable it. Anyone know?

[imron]

I also use freewb, but I don't recall there ever being any sound effects (or maybe I turned them off so long ago that I've forgotten). Which version are you using?

[drungood]

I'm using the latest version from freewb.org.

But I just installed Sogou WuBi earlier today which doesn't have any sound effects. I read that Sogou lacks some features that freewb has, but they are advanced and probably irrelevant for my current level of Chinese

[valikor]

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm also embarking on learning WuBi, since I think it would help me learn characters, and be faster. Competitive typing is already a hobby of mine (in English), and I expect if I really worked at it, I could surpass my current pinyin speed.

I just began learning, and am having trouble understanding some of the codes (the last keystrokes of some of them)

For example

是jgh(u)

回lk(dd)

完 pfq(b)

他 wb(n)

所 rnr(h)

出bm(k)

问uk(d)

I don't understand where the parenthesized letters come from. Wikipedia states the following: "For characters with fewer than 4 components that do not have a short form representation, one types each component and then "fills up" the representation (that is, types enough extra keystrokes to make the representation 4 keystrokes) by manually typing the strokes of the last component, in the order they would be written. If there are too many strokes, one should write as many as possible, but put the last stroke last (this mirrors the component rule for characters with more than 4 components outlined above)."

I don't see how this is true for the characters listed above. I also don't understand why some characters have only a three letter code.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[edelweis]

See the isolation rule in the wubi tutorial.

是jgh(u) j for the 日 component, g for the 一 component, h for the rest of the strokes. u shows this is a character that ends with a right slope stroke, and has a top/down component scheme.

回lk(dd) l for the outer 囗 component, k for the inner 口 component. d shows this is a character that ends with a horizontal stroke, and has an "other" component scheme (not top down, and not left/right). I don't know why they add another d. My wubi IME (Ibus) does not accept the 2nd d.

完 pfq(b) p for the little hat, f for 二, q for 儿. b shows this is a character which ends with a bent stroke and which has a top/down component scheme.

他 wb(n) w for the ren component, b for the 也 component. n shows this is a character that ends with a bent stroke and has a right/left component scheme.

所 rnr(h) r for the 厂 thing with a slanted top, n for the next 2 strokes (square with missing left side), r for the 斤 component. h shows this is a character that end with a vertical stroke and has a left/right component scheme.

出bm(k) b for the |_| top part, m for the 山 component (not radical). k shows this character ends with a vertical stroke and has an "other" component scheme. (since the 2nd wubizixing graphical component overlaps the 1st component)

问uk(d) u for the 门 component, k for the 口 component. d shows this characters ends with an horizontal stroke and has an "other" component scheme.

[valikor]

A very clear and thorough response. Thanks!

[imron]

I also don't understand why some characters have only a three letter code.

Some characters don't need a full four letter code because they are uniquely identified by less keys.

And welcome to Wubi!

[drungood]

imron, have you reached the point where you are able to type whatever you want in WuBi without looking at the screen? Do you subconsciously get used to which characters need you type the full 4-letter code vs which one's don't? For example you have to type TONU rather than just TON to distinguish these two characters:

愁悉

You could just type the four-letter code to every character, but in addition to being time consuming this doesn't actually work, because some characters actually have the same 4 character code and the only way to distinguish between them is by selecting a number at the end, or by remembering which one has the 3-character shortcut associated with it.

It seems to me it would be very difficult to remember which characters don't need the full code vs. which ones do, so I would have to always look at the IME to tell. But then again I've only been using this method for 10 days.

[imron]

I wouldn't say that I could type *whatever* I want without looking at the screen, but I can type enough. I don't do all that much typing in Chinese, so I'm happy with this level and haven't put in too much effort to address this. My Wubi skills are still far below a native though, although it still works out better for me than Pinyin. I do use a mixed Wubi/Pinyin IME and for some words I still find myself falling back on pinyin occasionally if I don't recall how to write a character, but as long as I know how to write the character I can put the pieces together using Wubi.

To be honest, I don't think about 4-letter codes at all. I think how to write the character and then I think shape-shape-shape-shape, or though for some characters it's just shape, or shape-shape. You very quickly get used to which characters have shortened versions, and also which 2/3/4 character words you can input with a single 4-letter wubi code.

Very few characters have the same Wubi code. The only one off the top of my head that I encounter regularly is 去 云 支, which all have the code fcu, but it still works out to be a unique '4-letter' code, because fcu1, fcu2 and fcu3 is enough to distinguish between them, and if you type enough, you quickly learn which chars require disambiguation.

It seems to me it would be very difficult to remember which characters don't need the full code vs. which ones do,

Just practice typing more and this goes away. After a time you don't need to conciously remember, your fingers will just have that muscle memory.

[jollibee]

I use wubi for more than 10 years :-). It's very good unless when you forgot how to write the chinese character :-)

Pinyin is good too, most of young man use pinyin, because it's easy to use. You have to study how to use wubi.

[Ted C.]

I haven't tried WuBi, but I tried to use Cangjie (which is similar, but for Traditional Chinese) for a very long time. Put it this way... I found it frustrating enough that I created my own input method.

(Feel free to check it out at http://jadegazebo.com. It supports Simplified.)

I think the problem is that Wubi and Cangjie were both invented in the 80s, when user interfaces weren't expected to be intuitive, and it was normal for a person to take a 6-month study course to learn how to use a computer. And now their user base doesn't want to switch, of course.

[drungood]

I've found a wubi character I don't know how to type. It's

矗

The code is supposed to be fhfh but using sogou wubi all the suggestions are 2 character combos. Does anyone using sogou know how to change the options so that single characters always come before double characters?