The Essential Skill of Typing

Back when I was at school typing was one of those subjects you took if you were 'not academic.' Being somewhat academic I, like many of my peers, sneered at students who went off to typing while we took Russian with the other 'brainy kids'.

Fast-forward to my entrance to University; on discovering that every single 5,000 word essay I was expected to hand in had to be typed, I was starting to realise what an essential skill typing really is and began, strangely enough, questioning the relevance of my clumsy high-school Russian skills.

Several large assignments into my degree, I realised that my two-fingered typing had to be addressed; it was so slow and sitting in the computer labs watching those who could type flying through their essays, their hands a blur and not even looking at the keyboard! I was determined that I was going to learn to type.

The law school had helpfully installed Mavis Beacon onto all their student computers and through it I learned that my two-fingered speed was around 25-30 words per minute. I began trying to do half an hour every day and I committed myself to never again type incorrectly. To begin with it was painstakingly slow and unbelievably difficult, especially the first time I made myself type an entire assignment correctly. However, in just two weeks of using Mavis Beacon I went from my painful 11 words a minute to almost doubling my two-fingered speed and comfortably being able to type 50 words per minute, accurately and without looking at the screen!

Mavis Beacon made it really easy as it forced your eyes to the center of the screen, so you couldn't easily look at your fingers and the hands on the screen showed you exactly where each finger should sit. It broke up the lessons with speed trials and typing games and was very user friendly.
About two years ago I was interested in a particular line of work that called for a minimum typing speed of 70 words per minute. I dusted off my own copy of Mavis Beacon, worked on it most days for about half an hour and got my speed up to just under 80 words per minute, again in just two weeks.

So if you find yourself in our computerised world having never learned to type properly and frustrated at your two-fingered speed, consider teaching yourself to type. It is not as hard as it initially appears.

Mavis Beacon can be found pretty much everywhere software is sold; I picked my copy up for $10NZ and you can download a free trial here (there are many other good programs too). Of course, if you google you can find hundreds of free, online typing tutorial programs with a wide array of styles - just pick one that appeals. Finally, if you simply just want to test your typing speed you could always try Te Awamutu online; type one sentence and it will tell you your speed and accuracy.