How to Learn to Type Fast

It's quite amazing to see people sitting at their computers and typing fervently everything that comes to their mind. While some master the art of typing through practice, there are some who take tutorials and classes to learn to type faster than they already do. Some people can type for long, without glancing at the keyboard even once, while others are constantly looking at the keyboard to check if they've made a mistake or not. If you're one of the latter group, then here's a Buzzle article that will help you learn to type faster. It has step by step instructions and also some very important pointers that you should keep in mind when you type, and also when your practice. Let's see what they are.

Placement of Fingers
The first and foremost thing that you need to get right is the placement of your fingers. Let us see the placement of keys on the keyboard. The home row of the keyboard is the row which has the letters A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, and the other keys. If you notice, the F and the J keys have tiny bumps on them so that you can feel them when you place your index fingers on them. Your fingers should rest on this home row of the keyboard at all times. The little fingers of your left and right hand should be on A and L respectively and the other fingers should rest on the other keys in between. The two thumbs should rest on the space bar. This is the correct and the most comfortable position for your hands when using a computer keyboard. The little finger on your right hand should be used to tap the 'shift' key when you need to type something in upper case. For numbers, the home row keys are 4, 5, and 6. This way, your fingers will move towards the number you want to type quite easily.

Movement of Fingers
After you have placed your fingers the right way, the next thing you need to get right is the movement from the home row to the other rows and keys on the keyboard. When you have to use keys from the other rows, don't lift your entire hand. And don't use only your index fingers. This is where people make the most mistakes. Simply move the finger that is closest to the key above it or below it and you will see that it becomes easier and faster to type. For instance, if you have to type the word, 'student' the general reflex action will be to use the index fingers of both hands to type the word out. However, if you use only the fingers that are closest to the corresponding letters, you will see that the word 'student' can be typed quicker using all the fingers on the keyboard. As soon as you finish typing a letter that is not in the home row, immediately bring back the finger to the home row. This way, it is easier to take the finger to the next key in time.

Practice by Finger
In order to get a little more comfortable with the finger placement and the movement of the fingers over the keyboard, what you can do is, make a list of words that use the same fingers of both hands to be typed. That means, get a list of words that use, say, only the ring fingers of both hands to be typed. This way, you'll get accustomed to using those keys to form the words easily. When you think you're confident with one finger, move on to the next set of finger keys. This way, you'll also be able to slowly memorize where each key on the keyboard is. The best way of doing this is to open a Notepad or MS Word or any other software you use for editing, type 'a' to 'z' and then press Enter key to move on to the next line. Repeat this until you have mastered it. The advantage of this is by referring to the lines that you have typed you will know which are the problem keys for you and can concentrate on them.

Concentrate and Practice
After you've gone through all those instructions on how you can learn to type without looking at the keyboard, all you need to do is, work hard, concentrate and keep practicing. Close your eyes and try to type something that you want. Ask someone to speak to you and type exactly as they speak, with your eyes closed. After you're done, review your work and check and identify which are your problem areas. You can also practice by typing the same sentences or paragraphs over and over again to check how long you take to type it without making a single mistake.

Computer literacy is one of the prerequisites at almost every corporate organization today. Most job descriptions come with a requirement of a decent typing speed. Another thing that works for you when you type fast is that your work gets completed quickly which saves you a lot of time for other work. Use online typing tests because there's no known disadvantage to it.