Computers have long been a part of our society and we’ve gotten quite comfortable around them. So much so, that we’ve almost moved on from the basic computer set-ups. We can manage almost every task over our smartphones and therefore computers are kept for some particular tasks only. Similar is the case with laptops. Although they are handy, they have a large keyboard, most of us prefer our phones, given the fact that they are very easy to be typed upon.
Well, there are times that almost each of us happens to face once in a while when we are subjected to computer typing. And since we’ve grown so comfortable with typing on the phone, keyboards seem tough.
So in this article, we shall be heading towards a brief guide as to how you can master “touch typing”. Touch typing is nothing but a resort when you’re in a hurry and look at your screen and type on your keyboard. So you need to be well aware of all the keys present on it, without actually looking at it. Touch typing involves the use of all 10 fingers.
The basics
The only key habit that you need to incorporate, while learning “touch typing” is that you use all the 10 fingers on the keyboard. It gets a bit uncomfortable and hard in the starting, but as you grow habitual of it, nothing remains much of a task.
Some people are quite good at typing and have a great typing speed too. They just lack one aspect, which is that they do not use all ten fingers while typing. This reduces their typing skills. And once they start using all the ten fingers, they can relish the full potential of their typing.
Learning by the image
Before we start with image learning, we must learn the layout of the keyboard and memorize the position of all the keys present on it. Once we’re done with it, we can start by placing our fingers on the keyboard, according to the image provided, and can gradually get comfortable with it.
- Red: The keys given in red in the picture must be pressed with the little finger of your left hand.
- Orange: The keys given in orange color must be pressed with the ring finger of your left hand.
- Yellow: The keys given in yellow color in the picture must be pressed with the middle finger of your left hand.
- Green: The keys given in green color in the picture must be pressed with the index finger or the forefinger of your left hand.
- Light blue: The keys given in light blue color in the picture must be pressed with the index finger or the forefinger of your right hand.
- Dark Blue: The keys given in dark blue color in the picture must be pressed with the middle finger of your right hand.
- Violet: The keys given in violet color in the picture must be pressed with the ring finger of your right hand.
- Purple: The keys given in purple color in the picture must be pressed with the little finger of your right hand.
- Grey: The space bar has been shown in grey color. It should be pressed with the thumb.
Home position
Before you start typing, your hands must be placed properly on the keyboard. This position is known as the home position.
The little finger of the left hand should be placed on the letter ‘a’.
The ring finger of the left hand should be placed on the letter ‘s’.
The middle finger of the left hand should be placed on the letter ‘d’.
The index finger of the left hand should be placed on the letter ‘f’.
Now talking about the right hand, the Little finger of the right hand should be placed on the letter ‘;’.
The ring finger of the right hand should be placed on the letter ‘o’.
The middle finger of the right hand should be placed on the letter ‘a’.
The index finger of the right hand should be placed on the letter ‘j’.
Memorizing the keys
Before we start memorizing the keys, it must be noted that every manufactured keyboard has the same layout. The pattern of these keyboards or how the keys are placed on the keyboard is known as the QWERTY layout. QWERTY is a standard pattern for keyboard designs that the manufacturers need to follow. Also, our smartphones have the same layout ch is the QWERTY.
Another hack before you start to type is, you should place your left-hand fingers on a, s, d, f, and right-hand fingers on j, k, l. These keys have been provided with very small markers on F and J to help you memorize the keyboard and the position of the keys. All the keyboards have these keys marked so that you can identify them without actually looking at them and then type easily and more fast.
Mnemonics and jingles that could help
Remember how as kids we would quickly learn all the poems but it always took us a lot of time to learn other stuff like sentences. So why not, we put this keyboard into a jingle and then try learning it!
You could revise the middle row that has to be pressed by the left hand by the mnemonic A, S, D, F: All Said and Done Finally.
Here’s a jingle to help you learn the same :
J, K, L could be “Just Keep Loving” and belong to the Middle row of the right-hand section.
Q, W, E, R, T, Y is like the easiest phrase to learn. Just remember that they belong to the top row, except for the left-hand section.
P, O, I, U, Y would be “Park Over In Upper Yard” and it belongs to the top row of the right-hand section.
Z, X, C, V would be “Zoology eXercise Completed” belonging to the last row of the left-hand section.
M, N, B would be “Monika Never Bores” belonging to the Last row of the right-hand section.
G, H would be “Go Home” belonging to the Middle row, of the center keys section.
The Comfort Factor
Before you start with typing, make sure that the keyboard you’re using is comfortable and does not have very hard keys, it could affect your typing speed.