I. Type Chinese Characters on Computers

Chinese Pinyin, the alphabetical system used for Chinese language, consists 26 alphabetical letters, except v, which allows us to use the standard QWERTY keyboard to input Chinese characters.

There is a special letter in Pinyin, ü, which does not exist in English writing and the standard keyboard. To type ü, use v on the standard keyboard.

Learn more about Pinyin from

https://chinesepod.com/tools/pronunciation

http://www.pinyin.info/index.html

Option 1:  Type online:

Comment: Work on any computer, NO need for downloading, but need the internet connection
http://www.typingchinese.com/main.htm  (Good)

http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/ime.html

Option 2: Change settings on your computer:

Comment: No need for downloading

For PC,  refer to the tutorial at http://www.pinyinjoe.com/windows-7/win7-pinyin-setup.htm

For MAC, refer to the tutorial at http://pinpinchinese.com/blog/how-to-use-pinyin-to-type-chinese-mac

Option 3: Download Google Pinyin (on PC)

http://www.google.com/intl/zh-CN/ime/pinyin/

Comment: only work on Windows system.