There are several different techniques a user can do to help improve
his or her typing skills. Below is a short list of different ideas and
recommendations you can do to help improve your typing. Keep in mind
that most people are not going to be able to improve their typing speed
overnight.
Proper placement
Learn to type the proper way (no typing with one or two
fingers). This means your fingers should be on the home row keys A, S,
D, and F with the left hand and J, K, L, and ; with the right hand. Of
course if you're on a non-English keyboard or a non-QWERTY keyboard this may change.
Type more and practice
Starting off
with the most obvious, typing and practicing typing more will obviously
help the most. The more you type the more familiar you will become with
the computer keyboard and the position of the keys.
When practicing keep some of the below things in mind.
- Try not to look at the keyboard while typing. This is usually the hardest for most people, but is definitely a skill that should be learned. Not having to look at where the keys are on a keyboard can dramatically improve the speed of your typing. If you need help learning to not look at your hands try putting a large piece of paper over the keyboard that will allow your hands to fit under it without you being able to see the keys, or put stickers on each of the keys.
- Make sure your posture at the computer is good. For example, sit in the upright position with both feet flat on the floor and relax.
Chat
Online chat
can be a great place to learn to type and is also usually fun at the
same time. If you're really wanting to learn to type more efficiently
while chatting make sure to use proper capitalization, punctuation, and
do not use chat slang.
E-mail, online bulletin boards and forums
Sending friends and family frequent e-mail
letters can be another great way to learn to type and keep in touch
with all your friends and family. In addition to sending e-mail messages
there are millions of online forums
with every topic of conversation imaginable. Becoming a member of one
of these forums and participating in talking about something you enjoy
can also be fun and another great way to learn to type.
Run through online typing tests several times
Run through each of the online typing tests
several times. Not only will doing each of the different tests help
improve your typing, you will be able to catch your errors and notice
your progression.
Type pages of a book, letter, or any other page with lots of text
Although
not an option that is as fun as some of the other suggestions listed in
this document, taking any letter, page of a book, document, etc and
typing everything on that page is a great way to help improve your
typing. Not only will this help improve your typing of unfamiliar words,
it is also a skill sometimes required for some jobs.
Create your own web page, blog, or online journal
Creating your own web page, blog,
or online journal that you frequently update is another great way to
practice your typing while also doing something productive at the same
time.
Typing games
Typing games are
a great way to learn the position of all the keys on the keyboard and
also help you practice your typing while having fun. Below are a few
games that will help with your typing.
- QWERY Warriors
Fun and very addictive game, where you must defend
yourself against other people, tanks, robots, and other vehicles by
typing the word below it.
Click here to play the game
- Typer Shark
A great typing game that is available as a free online
and offline version for the PC. One of the more sophisticated typing
games we've seen, in this game a user must explore the deep sea while
looking for treasure. During the exploration you come across shark and
fish that have letters and words on them, each word or letter must be
typed before they reach your character.