FAQ

Is KEY a word processor or a learning system for Chinese?

It is both. Think of it as a CJK word processor similar to MS Word for writing teaching materials and assignments, with many learning features built in, the largest character set (25,000+) and the largest and most up-to-date C-E & E-C dictionary (300,000+ words) available.

 

How does the KEY dictionary handle terms that are different in the PRC and Taiwan?

As we collect our linguistic data from PRC, Taiwan, HK and international Chinese sources, our dictionary includes current terminology from Mainland China, Taiwan, and the overseas Chinese communities. Not only do we include all terms in traditional and simplified characters, but also mark the different terms in the dictionary entry as {Taiwan usage}, {PRC usage} etc.

 

Does the 30-day free trial version have all features?

Yes, what you download and install is the full-featured program which you can use for 30 days, free and without obligation. Whenever you decide this is what you need, you can buy it.

 

What are the strong points of KEY compared to other Chinese software?

These are some of them:

• Fast text entry using standard Pinyin and Zhuyin Fuhao orthography
• Full support of the traditional and simplified character modes
• Automatic creation of Pinyin with tone marks for any Hanzi text
• Reads any text aloud in standard Mandarin, with a natural human voice
• Automated authoring of lessons from web text, with incremental vocabulary lists
• Creation of vocabulary statistics for any lesson text
• Character set of 25,000 Hanzi (both traditional and simplified)
• Largest and most up-to-date C/E and E/C dictionary with 300,000-plus entries
• 15 different ClearType/TrueType Chinese/Japanese/Korean font styles
• Teacher annotations to any text item, viewable through the tooltip
• Number/measure-word combinations with English translation (tooltip)
• Tone changes (sandhi) reflected in Pinyin, as a Pinyin display option
• Timed reading: automated running of texts as multimedia lessons
• Automated creation of fill-in-the-blanks (“cloze”) exercises
• For Cantonese: support of Yale, Jyutping, Govt. Standard and Sidney Lau
• Automated building of glossaries for any text, in table format
• Automatic linguistic reconstruction of word boundaries for imported text
• 30-day free trial, giving you ample time to check out all the functions
• Chinese, Japanese and Korean in the same file or on the same line, if desired