Touch typing

Learn to touch type, the old school way.

History

The most common keyboard, at least in Malaysia is the QWERTY keyboard. Sounds familiar? That's the first 6 keys in the first row of the alphabets. I learnt how to touch type, that's typing without looking at the keyboard, back in 1999 and have been practicing it ever since. It's pretty handy when you can type fast. The cognitive ability is not limited as severely as typing 20-30 words per minute (wpm) compared when typing at 60-80 wpm.

Typing Software

There are hundreds of typing software; some with gaming-like feature, some without any animation at all. When i was learning touch-typing, i was using the classical typing software; no sounds except beeps on errors and the only animation is the finger positions. Sounds boring? It does, but it works. I tried the modern gaming-type software as well. It was exactly like any good game, but the difference was typing fast kills the monster. It was interesting but it does not focus on the finger positions. I would like to stress that this is pretty important. Like playing the piano, the first 5 grades/levels are meant for practicing the fingers.

My recommendation

As such, I would like to recommend a free, online software to practice your touch typing:

http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/

If you know how to extract and download the flash files, then go ahead and practice it offline. The typing lessons are pretty good but if you want to have a firm grasp on the finger positions, I would recommend that you use typing lessons. Practice each lessons for about 15 minutes. Copy them into the textbox and hammer away!!

Lessons

Lesson 0 - Starting position

To start, place both of your index finger on "F" and "J". Feel these two keys carefully. You will find a notch on it. That notch is to indicate the starting/rest position of your fingers. Keep those fingers there!! Now, lay each of your other fingers on each of the keys, "A", "S", "D", "K", "L" and ";". After typing any keys, your finger should automatically return to this position.

Lessons 1 - f and j

ffff jjjj ffff jjjj ffff jjjj ffff jjjj fjfj fjfj fjfj fjfj fjfj ffjj ffjj jjff jfjf fjfj fjfj jfjf fjjj jfff fjfj fffj jfjj jjfj jjjf fjff ffjf fffj jfff fjfj jfjf fjjj jfff fffj jjjf fffj jjjf jfjf ffjj jjfj fjfk jfjf

Lesson 2 - d and k

dddd kkkk dddd kkkk ffff jjjj ffff jjjj dfdf jkjk dfdf jkjk dfdf jkjk dkdk fjfj dkdk jfjf kdkd jfjf kdjf fjkd dkfj jdkf jddf kkff jdkf jfkd fkjd jkdd ddjj ffkk ddkk kkdd jjff jfjf kdkd kfjd dfkj jfkk dffk jkff jfjf dkjf fjkd kjff kfjd fjkd ddjj ffjj kkdd kkff dfjk kjfd dfjk kjfd dkdk fjfj jdjd djdj kfkf fkfk kjfd dfjk kdfj kdjk kdff jjdk

Lesson 3 - s and l

ssss llll ssss llll ssll llss ssll slsl slsl lsls lsls llls llss lsss sssl ssll slll sldd lskk sldk dksl sldk dlsk ldks lflf ljlj sjsj sjjj jjsj slfj sjfl lsjf lkds jfls lskd skdj fldk fjfl kdsl fkds lsjf sldk jlsf lskd fjsl lfds sjkl dlkj lsdf sfjk kjfd lksf dlsk dkls slkd ssss llll ssss ssls ffkk dddj fflk sjkf kdls jfkd lskd kdjf lsls kdkd fjfj sldk sjld fksj lskk fddj slfj jfss lkdl ddkj flsd jdkl sldk jjfd lkds jfkd lkks slff dssl ffkd lskk jsdd lksf fssd kjld kjsk jjdl

Lesson 4 - a and ;

aaaa ;;;; aaaa ;;;; aa;; ;;aa aa;; ;;aa a;a; ;a;a ;a;; ;aa; a;aa aaa; ;;;a a;a; ;l;l asas ;l;l asas sal; ;lsa asl; ;lsa asl; ;lsa asl; ;lsa alal s;s; alal ;s;s lala ;s;s asdf jkl; asdf jkl; ;lkj fdsa asl; kjdf dfkj asl; lkds af;l sjkd aslf jk;s jldk asld f;ls jkdd slla ;lff sala lass lads kall ;all jall jass klds aksk fkls ;lfs kdkd fja; lskd jkf; alsj asdf jkl; ;lkj fdsa afj; sdkl lskd ;ajf ;lsa sdk; jf;a asld ;als fjsl ;alk sfkd a;ss kdjf sljs alsd sfkd lfjs kkdd ls;a kdds ksla ls;d fksa kdls kdll jsld ksja lkds a;a; slsl dkdk fjfj ajaj sksk dldl f;f; lsls ;a;a lflf kdkd jaja kaka lala ;a;a fafa dada sasa ;j;j ljlj kjkj f;sl dksl fksa ;lsj fkdl a;sl

Lesson 5 - g and h

gggg hhhh ghgh ghgh fjfj ffgg jjhh ffgg jjhh fgfg jhjh fhgj jghf fgfg hjhj fgff jhhj ggfj jhhj fgjf gjgh fgfj gjhh hhgg hfjg jfhg jfjg jffh gjgf fgjh kdls gha; lskg ahsh dhgl ;lah shgl dkh; ghsl dgkh sglh ag;h ;jfg ghfj algh sghf hjls dkg; hlsk dgal ghdk ghsk ;;sl ddha ghhd khds lhls ggsk sg;g jghf lsd; adhl dkgh sgkd ggad kd;s hkds ksgh hg;a gasg a;gh slhg hjld hslg hald slgh hkdl adgj l;kh fsad gekh fasl gal all had shall fall dad sad gall lass lad gals hall gas fag

Lesson 6 - a, q and s, w

aaaa qqqq aaaa qqqq aaaa qqqq aaqq aaqq aqaq qaqq aaqq aaqq aaqa aqaa aqqq aqaa qqaa aqaq qaqa qqaq aqaa sqsa gqas ;qla kgh kdqa ;gq; lqlq sqsq sasa sqsq sasa dqdq dada dqdq fafa fqfq fafa gqgq gaga hqhq jaja kqkq lala ;q;q dqda fqaf sqad fqda la;q agkq lqas hgqs sqgq ;qls dqag lgqs ssss wwww ssss swss wwww swsw swsw swsw ssww ssww ssww swsw ssww swsw swss wsws sqaw qswa awsq waqs awss dwdw fwfw gwgw hwhw jwjw kwkw lwlw ;w;w awaw sqsq dqdq fwfw gqgq hqhq kqkw lq;w alsq wswq lwlq jfqkw ;alw kdq; kjfqw kdqa lqjf kww; was had gall hall wall

More to come...