<p> Making Your Computer Nihongo Capable</p><p>Use a Mac with OS 9.1 or higher… If this isn't an option, then follow the steps below</p><p>If you are running Microsoft Windows XP: Click on "Start" Under "Settings" click on "Control Panel" Doubleclick "Regional Settings" Click "Languages" Select "Japanese" (You may need the Windows Installation Disk to load the appropriate fonts and other Japanese-related programs.)</p><p>Back in "Control Panel", doubleclick "Internet Options" Under "Languages" add "Japanese" Under "Fonts" go to "Language script" If it says "Latin based" scroll to "Japanese" Under "Japanese" set the "Web page font" as MS Mincho, MS Gothic, or Arial Unicode MS Again under "Japanese" set the "Plain text font" as MS Gothic or MS Mincho (The word 日本語 should appear in the box below your choice as: MS Mincho or MS Gothic 日本語 日本語 ) Close "Control Panel"</p><p>Doubleclick "Internet Explorer" Click on "View" and then "Encoding" Select "Japanese (Auto-Select)" Note: You can also find "Internet Options" if you click on "Tools". (Confirm that your language selection includes Japanese and that under Japanese you are using the appropriate MS Mincho and/or MS Gothic fonts.)</p><p>If you are running Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, or Me: within Internet Explorer you need to download the "Japanese IME (Input Method Editor)" from Microsoft's "Windows Update" site.</p><p>Click on "Tools" and then "Windows Update". Click on "Product Updates" (If you are running Windows 95, then click on "Windows 95 Download site" and download any Japanese-related files you find there) You should see a window appear that says "Please Wait" in large letters When this disappears, you will find a list of software updates. Make sure you are running "Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack (SP) 2" or higher before you download the Japanese IME files. The files you should download include (under "International Language Support": Japanese Language Support Japanese Input Method Editor Japanese Menus and Dialogs for Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 When you are finished downloading, go back to Internet Explorer and make the appropriate changes to "Encoding" under "View," and "Languages" and "Fonts" in "Internet Options" under "Tools." (See above under Windows XP)</p><p>If you are running Microsoft Office XP on a Windows 98, 2000, NT, or Me system, then you will have to download the Japanese IME and other related files from Microsoft's Office XP software update download site.</p><p>Writing Japanese</p><p>There should be an Icon that says "En" next to the clock in the lower right of your screen. Click on it and select "Ja" (Japanese IME). (If you are running Microsoft Office 2000, and you have installed everything Japanese that you can from the Office 2000 installation disks, then you should be able to see an icon for "Microsoft Japanese IME 2000." If not, that's too bad.)</p><p>A small box should appear on your desktop with an "A" to the left. Click on it, and select the top choice, 全角ひらがな. The "A" should change to a hiragana あ. In a web dialogue box, in Hotmail (or Outlook Express), or in Microsoft Word, you should now be able to type in Nihongo.</p><p>Toggle between English and Nihongo by clicking the "tilde (~)" key in the upper left while holding down "Alt". Make a small つ by doubling the consonant. "Matcha" (powdered tea) is spelled "maccha" (まっちゃ). Make small vowels by typing an "x" before the vowel. "x + i = ぃ" Make ん by typing "nn".</p><p>がんばってくださいね！</p><p>Revised 2002.09.08. Please send comments, questions, or other feedback to Lawrence Marceau ([email protected]).</p>