Introduction
Hi, my name is Alex and I'm a 30 year old coding newbie, currently working in the charity sector in the UK. I studied IT as a teenager and learned the basics of HTML, but haven't done anything since. I'm currently working through The Odin Project and have been dabbling in Linux and learning terminal commands.
Around six weeks ago, I decided I wanted to learn touch typing. I'd tried in the past, but never stuck with it. Over these weeks I've been keeping very keeping very brief notes, which you can view below:
Why Learn to Touch Type?
I've always been a fairly quick typer, but have used 2-3 fingers at best. This meant that although I wouldn't need to look at the keyboard often, I'd make a lot of mistakes and this would take time. In learning to code, one of the fundamentals that is often mentioned is learning to type, taking away the mental load of having to think about the act of using the keyboard itself.
Tools I Used
Over these past six weeks, I've mostly used the following websites:
- https://www.tipp10.com/ I started using this site and it provided a good start to learning the keyboard layout. That said, I found it slow going and a bit repetitive, so I looked at other sites.
- https://www.typingclub.com/ This is the site I've used the most, and the cover image shows my progress on there. The default option, Typing Jungle, is probably the best place to start. It's very granular in reinforcing each key, so as I progressed I moved on to the original Typing Basics course, which is definitely harder. This site has the best view for showing you which fingers to use for each key.
- https://www.keybr.com/ For general practice, this site is really good. It uses AI to give you words to type and gradually introduces new characters as you get faster and make fewer mistakes. This is a good way to embed your learning.
So what did I do?
Put simply, I spent around 15-30 minutes per session, 4-5 times per week, listening to music/podcasts and taking the exercises on the websites listed above. The what to do of learning to type is fairly simple, as consistency is key. What I found harder was how to do it, so I'll spend more time on that below.
What I Learned
I'm now typing at reasonably consistent speeds, though they're certainly nothing to shout about. I've learned the keyboard layout reasonably well and can type without looking the majority of the time. Below are some of the key lessons I learned over the last few weeks, and what in hindsight I'd suggest to beginners like myself when starting out.
1. Don't worry about making mistakes, but correct them
For the first week or two, I tried to be as fast as I could, regardless of how many mistakes I made. This is not a good idea, and any resource will tell you to focus on accuracy, not speed.
But then I went to the other extreme. I became so focused on getting it right that I'd restart the exercise if I made a single mistake. This is also not a good idea. Things ground to a crawl as getting through each exercise became a tedious process. Plus, I had no idea what my actual typing speed was, because a single mistake meant starting from scratch.
Instead, I came to a good solution. Don't worry if you make a mistake, but hit backspace and correct it. This is much less frustrating, but it's also realistic. As you improve, your speed and accuracy will increase, but you'll also know how fast you're going because your speed will include correcting errors.
2. Keep the keyboard reference display switched on
I assumed that as I got better I wouldn't need the onscreen reference keyboard, telling me where the keys are and which fingers to press them with. This is true, but by this stage I'd been typing for all of three weeks. I wasn't ready yet.
Instead of being quick to turn it off, I'd suggest leaving it on. As you improve, you'll find yourself natually using it less. This said, it's important not to rush this process because bad habits can start to kick in.
For example, there's a reason why some keys are pressed using your pinky fingers, or why it's suggested you use the shift key on the opposite side of the keyboard to the key you'd like to capitalise. These things take longer in the short term but will make you better in the long run, so it's important you don't forget which fingers to use for the sake of feeling like an expert sooner.
3. Some letters take disproportionately long to learn
I didn't expect this and I was both confused and frustrated. As you look through your history of learning, you'll see that there are some keys that you just keep making mistakes with. On Keybr, you don't unlock more keys until you've got good speed and accuracy with the one you're practicing, so over time this becomes super obvious.
The first couple of times I noticed this, it seemed sensible. I'd find keys that required the use of my pinky fingers or moving my hands harder. That made sense! After all, I never could make the jump from medium to hard mode on Guitar Hero.
Then I realised I was more accurate with my left hand than my right. What?? I'm right handed! This one didn't make much sense, but it didn't cause any major issues.
After that came my nemesis: the B key. My white whale. I'm not sure why I found this so hard. The suggestion is to use your left hand for hitting B, but because it's in the middle my instinct was to use my right. This seemed to cause all sorts of issues, and it's only hours later that I've finally improved on this.
I'm not sure how much of a tip this is, except to say that there will be some parts of learning that are harder than others, and that's ok!
4. Don't worry about looking at the keyboard
A big emphasis is placed on not looking at the keyboard when learning to type and this makes sense. Some of the exercises on the sites I listed even make this a key part of their messaging. The problem is, trying to force myself never to look down just made me waaay worse.
This might be another point that sounds super obvious, but I'd suggest just not worrying about that. Over time, I've realised I naturally just don't look down too much. Like a few of these tips, less is more and giving yourself less to think about definitely helps.
5. Practice touch typing in every day life
This is what I find hardest. Yes, I've got the basics down, but it's still much faster to type with just a few fingers. This is changing over time, but it's tempting to choose speed when browsing the web or writing an email.
To really become a habit, I know I need to touch type all of the time. And so do you. Make sure this isn't just a typing game that you play for a few minutes each day, but something that has changed how you use your computer for good.
Conclusion
If you've got this far, thanks for reading! I don't think that I'm by any means at the end of my journey, but it does feel like I've turned a corner that had evaded me when I'd tried learning touch typing before. I've found doing so to be super helpful for getting me in the mindset of studying, and there's been a knock on effect of improving the rest of my computer use, too.
There's also things I didn't mention that helped along the way. A few weeks in, I decided to get a mechanical keyboard. This was so much better than my tiny Macbook keyboard and probably helped me out. But because this isn't necessary, I didn't include it in my list.
I'd love to hear about your experience - what have you found helpful in learning to type? What do you find difficult? And what tips would you suggest? Feel free to put your ideas in the comments, and thanks again for reading!
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