How to Turn on the Multi Language Function on a Mac
Posted on October 15, 2007 - Filed Under Tech Tips
One of the big pluses of working on a Mac is that they make the usage of multi-language text so easy, and without any need to install third party softwares. If you were working on a PC and needed to insert Mandarin characters (or any other language characters) while using an English OS, it would be necessary to install third party language softwares like JStar Communicator (南极星). In addition, if you were surfing using an IE browser on a Mandarin site, IE would not be able to recognise the mandarin characters, displaying boxed characters instead. To fix that, you would need to install the language pack usually found in SP2. The language pack is not included in the IE download, and would need a separate download and installation. And if you haven’t got your Windows OS installation disc with you, you will not be able to complete installation of the language pack. Yes, it can be quite painful. After all that, when you have finally managed to successfully install the language pack, you will then need to restart your computer for your browser to display the chinese characters properly. So make sure you save all your working files and bookmark any new sites you want to return to.
On a Mac machine, all the international languages have already been installed into your operating system. What you will need to do, is simply to go to System Preferences and turn it on.
The steps are shown below:
1. Launch the System Preferences configuration window by clicking the apple icon in the top menu bar bar.
2. Click on International to view the language options.
3. Select your input keyboard and scroll down to select the languages you require.
4. The language icon will appear to the right of the top menu bar. Click on the icon to select the language that you want to use. This makes switching between languages extremely easy, requiring only a couple of clicks.
No rebooting is required, and you can now switch between any language you want to use on the same text document.
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