Free Stuff I cannot do without: Online Chinese Input Method Editor

I think the Online Chinese Input Method Editor (IME) ought to have a name change. It is too unwieldy a name for such an efficient and powerful java programme. With this programme, which does not require any downloading as all the work is done online, you can type out Chinese characters even if you don't have a Chinese input programme on your computer.

Just type in the han yu pin yin (that is, the romanised Chinese), choose which character you want, and select the number. If the characters are part of a commonly used phrase, you could save time by typing the han yu pin yin of both characters together. I love this input method because I am brilliant with multiple choice (how do you suppose I passed Chinese all the way up to `A' levels?) so I can usually choose the right character from a list, while not necessarily being able to write it off the top of my head. :) I am brilliant like that.

This IME is actually a sub-page of a Chinese-English dictionary that is quite versatile. You can type in English (for example `flower') and it will tell you how to write it in Chinese. You could also type in Chinese characters, and it'll tell you how to read it and what it means in English. Very useful if you can't remember how to say something in Chinese.

I actually wrote a post in Chinese a while back but for some reason Blogger couldn't pick up the Chinese characters. That is why this post is in English, really.