typing in japanese on iphone?

[TheEnglishKnitter]

I am a complete technology novice so I need some real step by step help.
I have downloaded an app called iflash free, an app where I can create my own Q&A flashcards.
I need to be able to type, initially (because I am just starting) in romaji with the 'microns', but soon in hiragana and katakana and eventually in kanji.
How do I bring up a japanese keyboard in romaji/ hiragana/ katakana or kanji?

The EnglishKnitter

[Hyperworm]

macrons
To produce a vowel with macron, touch and hold the vowel on the keyboard, and after about a second you'll get a list of accented letters. Slide over to the macron, then let go.

To enable hiragana/katakana/kanji you need to add a Japanese keyboard.
Settings → Keyboard → International Keyboards → Add New Keyboard... →
then either Japanese (Romaji) or Japanese (Ten Key).

Those options refer to how you will input the hiragana/katakana. You need to touch the globe icon to switch to the Japanese keyboard first.

Romaji method: you enter the waapuro romaji of the word, as you would on a PC.
Ten Key method: you have buttons corresponding to each consonant-group (あかさたなはまやらわ) and you can get to the correct vowel by either pressing the button repeatedly or holding it and sliding to the right vowel. I find this faster than romaji method, not least because the buttons are larger, but it takes a lot of getting used to.

In either case there are buttons for converting hiragana to kanji or katakana. Once you've entered hiragana for a word, 次候補 ("next candidate", on the spacebar for romaji method) cycles through the possible kanji for the word. 確定 ("finalize") inserts the text and ends the conversion.

Sadly there's no kanji handwriting recognition for Japanese on iPhone >_<; You can try to make do with the Traditional Chinese handwriting recognition, but it won't always work due to slight differences in stroke order or kanji that don't exist or have different forms in Chinese. There are some apps that do pretty good Japanese handwriting recognition though, e.g. the one built into 大辞林.

I run iOS 4.1 on iPod. There's a chance that these steps will be different for you if you have a newer iOS version than 4.1. It should be fine, though.

[TheEnglishKnitter]

Thank you, I will inform my husband that he needs to do this on my iphone and that if it doesn't work he needs to buy me a more recent one.
I'm quite happy with a pen and paper but the iphone is much more convenient when I get 5-minutes while we are out, plus I already carry a bag of knitting and nappies.
What's wrong with 'macron'? or am I just very beginning?

EnglishKnitter

[chikara]

..... romaji with the 'microns' .....

.... What's wrong with 'macron'? .....

Nothing's wrong with macron but micron, short for micrometre, is something that wool (off the sheep's back, don't know about knitting wool) is measured in.

[TheEnglishKnitter]

Oops, I got a bit too into that yarn book then and mixed up my learning.
Both the knitting and the Japanese are going well, although I am better by far at knitting but then I do have a 30-yr head start over my Japanese!
I have managed to organise the apps on the iphone now and I am happily typing nonsense in Japanese characters...