How do I type in Korean on my Macintosh?
If you own a Macintosh and you wish to type in Korean you are in luck. Macintosh OS X has supported Unicode and a wide range of non-Roman languages such as Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. Below are a few simple steps on how to add support for Korean input on your Macintosh. It assumes you have OS X 10.3 but the steps may be identical for earlier versions of OS X:
1. Choose "System Preferences..." from the "Apple" menu at the top left of your screen.
2. Click on the "International" button, marked with a United Nations-like flag.
3. At the top you will see three tabs. Click on "Input Menu."
4. In the long list of languages, put a check mark next to "Hangul"
5. You may now type Korean in any Unicode supported program (such as all Apple applications). Note, because Microsoft is lame, older versions of Office on OS X (any version before the 2004 release) will have only limited support for Asian languages and you will have mixed results with it. Office 2004 has full Unicode support like other Apple applications.
Tips On How To Use Korean Once Installed
Once you have added Korean support and you want to start typing follow the following steps:
1. From the language menu in the top right hand of your screen, indicated by a flag icon (usually the US flag if you are using a US apple), choose "Hangul."
2. You may then begin typing in hangul. There are a number of special options which allow you to customize your input which are visible if you again click on the language menu at the top right.
3. One of the options is the "Show Keyboard Window" which is useful for beginners who are just starting to learn how to type in Korean. This displays a reference chart with the location of various letters on the keyboard.
4. If you switch often between Korean and English, or between other languages, you can use the Command-(Space Bar) shortcut to switch between the last used language. Also, you can choose "Show input mode palette" which gives you a floating window from which you may choose the desired input language:
How to Include 한자
It is very easy to add Hanja as you type. When you are typing in Korean and complete a Sino-Korean compound word, before adding a space (while the word you are typing is still underlined), press Option-Return.
This will give you a number of Hanja from which you can choose the appropriate combination. This will replace the hangul you originally typed by default. However, as is common in many Korean texts, you might want to simply add the hanja in paranthesis. You can choose this in the menu and set this to be the default each time you add hanja in the future.
