Simplified Cangjie, known as Quick () is a stroke basedStroke Based Input explained
/ref> keyboard

input method An input method (or input method editor, commonly abbreviated IME) is an operating system component or program that enables users to generate characters not natively available on their input devices by using sequences of characters (or mouse oper ...

based on the Cangjie IME () but simplified with select lists. Unlike full Cangjie, the user enters only the first and last keystrokes used in the Cangjie system, and then chooses the desired character from a list of candidate

Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

that pops up. This method is popular in Hong Kong and Macau, the latter in particular. Simplified Cangjie is one of the few input methods which has an IME pre-installed on Traditional Chinese-capable personal computers.

Performance and learning

Although described as having an easier learning curve with less errors, Simplified Cangjie users have slower typing speed compared to full Cangjie. The user must choose from a list of candidate characters, which can be compared to "hunt and peck" vs. ordinary touch

typing Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone, or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting recognition, handwriting and speech ...

. Because Simplified Cangjie does not promote the full sequence of keystrokes of standard Cangjie, it could leave simplified Cangjie users without knowledge of how to code a character without the disambiguation lists.

Implementations

Windows

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, Simplified Cangjie is called 'Quick'. Microsoft Quick IME is bundled with all Traditional Chinese editions of Windows 3.1x or higher. Since Office 2007 and Windows 7,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

offers two types of Quick: 'Quick' and 'New Quick'. Both are found under the section for Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan). The main difference between the two is that after the second keystroke, traditional Quick shows its drop down list while 'New Quick' will guess and output a character depending on the context (the New-Quick list needs to be manually invoked with an arrow key). 'New Quick' may also change previous characters of the sentence depending on whether the context changes. Microsoft also claims New-Quick to have an improved learning algorithm.

macOS

* Sucheng input is part of the standard installation of macOS.

Adoption

Hong Kong

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

-speaking

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, average computer users tend to prefer Simplified Cangjie over the full Cangjie largely due to its ease of use, and also the lack of other input methods available. The Cangjie IME itself has evidence of a strong presence in Hong Kong with it being available on most operating systems and keyboard layouts. As Hong Kong people are generally unfamiliar with phonetic-based input methods designed for

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

speakers such as

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

and zhuyin, these methods are not widely used. Children in Hong Kong learn Chinese in a very different way from their peers in Mainland China and Taiwan, not only that they generally learn Chinese in Cantonese instead of Mandarin, but they do not learn any transliteration system until perhaps much later in their lives when they start learning Mandarin. Indeed, children in Hong Kong learn Chinese characters from the very beginning in kindergartens; in contrast, in mainland China and Taiwan, transliteration systems like pinyin or zhuyin are taught first before introducing any Chinese characters to children.

References

{{Input method CJK input methods