Desktop Version of Transliteration / Transcription Application for Arabic & Other Languages
Microsoft Maren (8 Mb)
Description:
Maren is a Windows extension that automatically converts Romanized Arabic / Franco Arabic to Arabic script.
The software requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and the Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1.
Microsoft Maren, Online Demo and Desktop Application:
http://afkar.microsoft.com/en/maren/
Download Page For Microsoft Maren:
http://afkar.microsoft.com/en/maren/desktop/
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Google Input Tools (1+ Mb)
Description:
Type a word the way it sounds using Latin characters and Google Input Tools will convert the word to its native script. Available input tools include transliteration, IME, and on-screen keyboards.
Download Page For Google Input Tools:
http://www.google.com/inputtools/windows/
How To Install Google Input Tools:
http://www.google.com/inputtools/windows/installation.html
You can switch between Standard Text Input and Transliteration Mode from the Windows Language Bar.
In my limited experience, the results are surprisingly good, but initial testing is crucial.
Continuous typing is partially feasible, with revisions being needed for correcting typos.
Double-checking your work through an independent reference tool like a thesaurus/dictionary/spell-checker/machine translation service proves extremely helpful.
AFAIK, to avoid corrupting saved files generated with Google's transliteration tools, revert to English Input in Windows and rename the text files anew. This ought to preserve their compatibility with native Windows applications (e.g. Microsoft Office).
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Arabic to Latin Alphabet Converter (Web-Based Application):
http://mylanguages.org/arabic_romanization.php
Description:
An online Romanization tool that attempts to faithfully render Arabic phonemes into English / Latin characters.
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Resources accessed March 2013.
