How to practise typing
With the popularity of computers, many people nowadays are self-taught in regards to typing. However, being self-taught can often lead to bad practices which not only make typing less efficient, but can also lead to things such as repetitive strain injury in the long-run. There are many ways to improve your typing skills, and this article will show you how to practise typing.
Essential things to help you with typing practice
Your working environment
One easily overlooked but essential part of efficient typing is to ensure that the environment that you are working in, be it typing from home or at work, is comfortable. Many people often don't realise that having an uncomfortable chair for instance, can severely impede your typing practice. Having a decent chair to sit on will stop you from not only worrying about any discomfort, but will aid in your work flow. Another thing to consider is the monitor that you are looking at. It is vital that the monitor is facing you in such a way that you can look at it with your head in a natural and comfortable position.
Wrist support
Many keyboards come with wrist supports, and these can be vital in preventing Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) that can occur from prolonged periods in front of a keyboard. If your keyboard doesn't have a wrist support, then there are a number of products on the market that provide the same function. Wrist supports can certainly help with your typing practice.
Where to practise?
There are many colleges and support groups that offer typing classes. However, many of these are not free. For those who are on a budget, there are many courses available online that not only help you to improve your typing skills for free, but also allow you to test yourself.
Types of online typing courses
The amount of typing practising websites is immense, and there are too many to cover in this article. However, they fall into two distinct categories:
• Speed testing - These types of tests require you to copy a piece of a text in a set amount of time. Afterwards, you will be rated in accuracy and speed (words per minute).
• Comprehensive training - With comprehensive training sites, they will not only offer you advice on how to improve your typing, but also offer various tests that concentrate on typing with your left hand or right hand, for instance.