1. A computer-implemented method at a computing device for creating and using phonetic schemes, the method comprising: receiving input to create a phonetic scheme, the phonetic scheme comprising one or more phonetic character combinations in a source language and one or more native characters in a destination language for each of the phonetic character combinations; receiving a phonetic character combination in the source language; translating the phonetic character combination into one or more native characters in the destination language using the phonetic scheme, the phonetic character combination being translated by a phonetic input application executed by a processor of the computing device; and displaying a selectable list of suggestions of one or more native characters in the destination language, the suggestions including the one or more native characters in the destination language, a plurality of phonetic equivalents to the phonetic character combination based on the phonetic scheme, and a plurality of sound-alike equivalents to the one or more native characters in the destination language.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the phonetic scheme is stored in a format that allows the phonetic scheme to be transferred to another computer.