Can't find some kanji in IME candidates list

[japanesepod1018069]

I'm using SCIM/Anthy under Ubuntu Linux to type my kana and kanji, and it seems to mostly work fine... except sometimes I can't find the kanji that matches the one in the Kanji Overview document. For example, I was trying to make a flashcard for "hajimemashite," which I can type in kana as はじめまして, but when I type the はじ shown in the kanji overview (very first newbie lesson) as the first part of the reading and hit the spacebar to get the kanji alternatives, the one I'm looking for is not there.

Is this a common problem, or am I being stupid somehow?? The kanji candidates that are listed for　はじ are:

恥
辱
把持
慙
端
慚
耻
詬
羞じ
土師
恥じ
俶

Thoughts? Thanks!

Mike

[japanesepod1018069]

I discovered accidentally that the correct kanji is displayed as an option if I enter "はじめ" before hitting the spacebar... then I can get "初め" as desired for the first part of "初めまして".

However, to get "渡辺" I had to type the whole name before hitting the spacebar, not just the reading for the individual kanji.

Is there some kind of rule or process to follow when typing kanji from kana, involving the number of adjacent kana to include from the readings?

Thanks!

Mike

[reverser]

先ず、初めましてね。。。(＾＿＾)

I think the answer to your question is a simple one. You must type the word in it's complete form (most of the time) as it would be typed in normal use.

This is kind of like Google's auto-suggestions or like auto-text completion on a smart phone.

If you are trying to type "formulation":

If you type "for" your going to get suggestions for:

for
form
forecast
etc...

But the closer you get to the proper word, the less erroneous guesses there are.

In this case, because we're dealing with Kanji with multiple readings, the reading for the character you are searching for, when appearing alone (i.e. not attached to めまして) is　【はつ】 Therefore, in Japanese IMEs, it's important to use the space bar after a completed form of word. If you try to just type a section of a word (especially in Kanji Compounds) you will often get 100s of results that you have to dig through, and sometimes the one you are looking for isn't in that result set.

So the short answer is, enter complete words or phrases, then use the space bar to have the IME parse your entry. Once you learn all the readings of a Kanji, you will know how to make just that one char appear by using the appropriate reading. For the time being, type the words as you see them then press the space bar and trim off what you don't need.

[Javizy]

You could try a different reading. 初 is third for しょ, first for はつ. This wouldn't usually be practical, however, unless a character is a word in itself 公, 体, 本, etc.

I'm always putting compounds together by typing words that contain the kanji. For example, if I couldn't guess how to read 体裁(ていさい), then I could type 体(からだ) and 裁判(さいばん), deleting the extra character. There could be 100 kanji with any given reading, so it's always a good idea to use a word, and not a reading.

[japanesepod1018069]

Great tips, and thanks for the detailed explanations! I guess the bottom line is "keep learning!" The voice of your experience is much appreciated... ありがとございます！