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 how 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 how 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.

Learn to Type Fast the Easy Way

The easiest way to learn to type faster is to begin learning it the right way from the start. This
section will share with you the secrets to correct typing and also typing faster, the right way.
Keep reading.

Placement of Fingers
The first and foremost thing that you need to get right is the placement of your fingers. This is
absolutely essential to learn how to type faster. 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
h4, 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.

Everyone agrees that it's important to know how to type fast. But why is it so? Why shouldn't a
moderate typing suffice? Well, first off, 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 learn to type fast is that your work gets
completed quickly which saves you a lot of time for other work. Use online typing tests and learn
to type fast because there's no known disadvantage to it.