Kanji - 漢字
Hiragana - ひらがな
Katakana - カタカナ
If the characters appear as rectangles, or as other non-Japanese symbols, it means your operating system is missing the necessary font files. (You might have some Japanese fonts, used in your web browser or word processor, but they are not the modern True-Type fonts required by Java). If you have a copy of Microsoft Office, or many other Windows products, just install Japanese as a new Language under the Windows Control Panel, and the fonts will be made available. Usually the operating system will ask you for the Microsoft Office installation disc.
If you do not have access to Japanese fonts as part of your operating system, you can use the Japanese font file provided with Cerebware. Follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the file, CODE2000.TTF (look in the JapaneseGrammar folder, or visit the Cerebware website).
Step 2:
Open My Computer, or Windows Explorer. Go to: C:\Program Files\Java\
In there, you should see some folders beginning 'jre.' They should all end with an underscore, then a number. Example: jre1.6.0_07 Go into the one that ends with the largest number - this is the most recent copy of Java.
Step 3:
Find the folder named 'lib', enter it and go into the folder named 'fonts'.
Step 4:
Create a folder named 'fallback'. Go into it.
Step 5:
Copy CODE2000.TTF into here. Restart Cerebware to test that the font has been loaded.
Another option is to obtain one of the freeware Japanese input methods, which usually come with their own fonts.
Hiragana can be entered by using the backslash key \ and then typing the pronunciation of the Japanese syllable. So, for instance, to enter か , type '\ka'. The conversion takes place as soon as the spacebar is pressed. For subsequent syllables within the same word, the backslash can be omitted.
Katakana can be entered with the vertical bar | (usually on the same key as the backslash), followed by the pronunciation. For instance, enter '|ka' for カ. An alternative method is to use the backslash but capitalise the pronunciation, entering '\Ka' for カ.
Note that latin text and kana can be mixed within a vocab item, but not within the same word - a space must be inserted after the kana. Hiragana and katakana can be mixed freely: かカ.