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How do you input Japanese characters?

does ください (kudasai) straight-up mean "please", or does it only mean please when it's used in a sentence?

e.g もう いちど いって ください
 
It means "please give me..." or "please verb for me." If you want to just say "please," then おねがいします is what you're looking for.
 
ください comes from くださる, the very polite form of くれる, and its use is just as Glenn described. You can also use おねがいします in place of ください to be more polite, but for most daily requests ください works just fine.
 
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