How to learn how to type on your computer to work and browse more quickly

Are you still pecking away at the keyboard with your two fingers, staring at the keys, all while the boss stands over your shoulder waiting for you to finish his email? If so, sorry. But, also, there are a plethora of options for learning how to type on your computer: for beginners, moderately skilled practitioners, and even those who do it for a living.

For any and all persons looking to improve their speed, accuracy, and overall skill level, learning options abound. We will take a look at potential websites, tutors, videos, and personal testing which can help you to break the bad habits you may have formed in the past and create a new, quicker you as you dole out those work or school assignments at a speed previously unseen.

The Basics

Videos abound on the World Wide Net which can show you the basics of typing. One can find out that if you are still using only two fingers you may only be able to ever get up to around 35 words per minute. Accordingly, to be the best you can be, it’s important to touch type — which means to look at the computer screen and not the keys — and by doing this, with a certain amount of practice one can get their typing speed up to 80 words per minute, or higher.

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For beginning lessons, the student should place their fingers on what are known as the home keys; for the left hand side, this would be A S D F and for the right it will be J K L ;. So, your index fingers will be placed on the F (left index) and J (right index) and these keys actually have slight ridges in order to help you feel you are in the correct spots without having to look down.

Thus, you can learn the home keys first and then progress outward from there as your move up or down, depending upon which key you need to hit.

Free and Pay Options

Online site such as Goodtyping and Learn to Type offer students, workers, and newbies alike the chance to learn how to type on your computer. These are both free programs which offer structured courses, games, tests, and even certification.

Learn to Type will offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses for the learner. Capital letters will be explored in the intermediate course, as well as speed drills, numbers, and basic punctuation. With the advanced course, the student will complete accuracy drills, skill builder drills, learn symbols, and more.

Goodtyping offers the ability to learn in different languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and French. The program will give you the necessary knowledge in a few hours time and you’ll be typing faster than you ever thought possible. It is based entirely off the web, which means there won’t be a need to download any additional programs or courses.

For those interested in pay options, there are a variety of low cost programs available for those looking to learn how to be faster, or just learn the basics of typing. These programs — Mavis Beacon, Touch Typing, Kids Programs, Beginners Programs, and more — are available for both the Macintosh and PC.

Thus, there are many different options for a wide range of experience levels: videos, tutors, pay programs, free websites, and more. With a little bit of practice and some stellar instruction, you can go from a two finger typist to that of a words-per-minute master. With your new skill set, school papers, work emails, and lengthy writing assignments will all be a breeze. So start typing today!

Resources:

Typingweb.com: Learn to Type Free.

Videojug: How To Type Fast.

Above photo attributed to Hades2k