Best free program to increase typing speed?

[hfcobra]

I have done some digging around, but I don't know which one works the best.  I type at about 40WPM, pretty slow and I am looking to get as fast as i can so the these college papers don't seem so long and horrible to type.

So what program do(did) you use and what is your WPM?

I have tried a little bit of TypeFaster, and like I said earlier I type at 40WPM.  I do still need practice for sure to get faster, although i CAN touch-type, I am just very slow at it.

[WhiteRice]

typingweb.com has some good lessons.

[RoboKrikit]

Get addicted to IRC or some sort of online chat.  You will find yourself typing faster and faster to keep up with the conversation.

...actually, don't do this.  It does work, though.

[hfcobra]

Get addicted to IRC or some sort of online chat.  You will find yourself typing faster and faster to keep up with the conversation.

...actually, don't do this.  It does work, though.

lol, i have actually thought of that      but i decided to just do a program since i type to people all the time already    Plus, these don't use punctuation and capital letters as often since you are just talking and not actually doing a typing test.


so what do you use and what is your WPM?

[yuriylsh]

Aforementioned typingweb.com is my favorite. I also use typeracer.com to practice, can be good substitution/addition for online chatting.

[Oqsy]

notepad.exe

[hfcobra]

notepad.exe

lol^^  


 and thanks for the replies

[theferenc]

Not to thread hijack, but I'm curious where you learned to touch type properly. According to a lot of the online tests, I type consistently over 110 WPM, but I don't propoerly touch type -- I rarely use my pinky at all except for modifiers, and I mostly just use the first 2 fingers of each hand. I'm primarily a programmer though, and I've noticed that, as a group, we tend to be fast, but "incorrect".

Any advice on learning to touch type properly? I know it will slow me down immensely at first. But I feel it would be a useful thing to do.

[hfcobra]

Not to thread hijack, but I'm curious where you learned to touch type properly. According to a lot of the online tests, I type consistently over 110 WPM, but I don't propoerly touch type -- I rarely use my pinky at all except for modifiers, and I mostly just use the first 2 fingers of each hand. I'm primarily a programmer though, and I've noticed that, as a group, we tend to be fast, but "incorrect".

Any advice on learning to touch type properly? I know it will slow me down immensely at first. But I feel it would be a useful thing to do.

well i used to type with hunt and peck methods and after chatting on facebook for a month i eventually memorized the whole keyboard.  I typed at at least 65WPM with my two fingers on each hand without even trying.

then when i figured that i should learn to touch type i just say the normal hand placement and just went from there on my own, so i dont think that i am using the correct fingers for the right buttons that are not on the home row    plus i hate capitalizing as you can see, it REALLY slows me down  

now at 40WPM i get annoyed that i cant type quickly anymore, but at least i dont have to look at the keyboard anymore  

advice for touch typing is just do it, its not that hard to learn, especially if you know the whole keyboard layout like you probably do being a programmer and all.  If you just start doing it eventually it becomes muscle memory and you will get faster and faster using the websites that have been listed here.

[patrickgeekhack]

My advice:

- Learn to touch type properly. That is which finger press which keys.
- Learn not to rest your wrists while typing. This will become invaluable in the future, especially to avoid RSI.
- Go to a website like speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com

Don't try to get to a very high speed right from the beginning. What is important is that you learn to type properly, get a good rythm, and concentrate on not making mistake rather than typing very fast at all cost.

As time goes by, you'll see a constant speed increase. What will happen is that you'll learn to type automatically just like driving. I started at around 70 WPM and now I am about 90-100 WPM. This might sound weird, but I am not working on getting a better rythm, even if this means slower speed. A typing speed of about 60-70 WPM will make a huge difference. I may type quite fast when I am on that website, but I don't type that fast in real life when I am working on an essay or writing an e-mail. You need to think, don't you?

[DesktopJinx]

If you type at 110wpm, why mess with a good thing?

If you watch yourself type, do you find your fingers/hands/wrists bending or reaching in unnatural ways or ways that might cause strain over time?

Do you do enough free-form typing at speed that going faster than 110wpm will significantly improve your productivity? Do you plan to go into management, where the ability to type dozens of insipid memos a day is the key to further advancement?

Do you need to impress all the ladies in IRC rooms with your rapid-fire wit? (Hint: there are no ladies in IRC rooms. Besides, punctuation and spelling are generally considered inappropriate.)

[theferenc]

Oh, it's definitely not hunt 'n' peck. It's touch typing in the sense that I don't look at the board at all (I even know which characters are up above the numbers by muscle memory).

It's just, I don't use the correct fingers.

That said, I used to have a CS prof in undergrad who typed with 2 fingers. Well, really with only 1, as the other was only used for modifier keys. She could FLY over the keyboard. It was absolutely amazing watching her type.

[theferenc]

DesktopJinx,

It's more that I feel it would be better for  my long term hand and joint health if I was doing it properly. As I said, I'm primarily a programmer, but I also have to write papers occasionally for publication (ABD CS grad student).

But no, there are no weird contortions, or any pain unless I'm using a chicklet keyboard. But that's more due to the short travel than anything else.

Also, it is just something I feel like I should be able to do, as a computer scientist.

And sorry for what might be a double post.

[patrickgeekhack]

It's just, I don't use the correct fingers.

You can teach yourself how to touch type with the correct fingers. It will be very frustrating at first, but I think it will be worth it in the future.

At the beginning I was using a few fingers, but noticed that I was wasting a lot of time looking at the keyboard and then at the monitor to check if I did not make any mistake. Then I decided to type properly. It was very frustrating at the first. I reached a point where I did not know how to touch type well, but had lost my old typing method. I had to make a decision. Either I kept going forward or went back to my old habit. I decided to keep going. Now, I am happy I did.

[theferenc]

Yeah, no looking. I know what's where, strictly from muscle memory. Maybe during the semester break, I'll work on migrating over to proper typing techniques. Even though I know it will slow me down.

[patrickgeekhack]

Yeah, no looking. I know what's where, strictly from muscle memory. Maybe during the semester break, I'll work on migrating over to proper typing techniques. Even though I know it will slow me down.

Yes, don't start during a time when you need your speed. It's like a smoker trying to quit during a stressful period of his life.

[theferenc]

Yeah, slowing down that much while trying to write my dissertation proposal and sending out job applications...not the best choice.

[DesktopJinx]

I do up to 105wpm with "incorrect" form -- I use three fingers per hand for keys, fourth finger of each hand for shifts only. My hands are on the large side and my fourth fingers are short, one slightly webbed; I've always found home-row position cramped. And I'm too old to retrain.

But I will say that the inactive-pinkies technique can lead to muscle strain and pain if you let those fingers "fly." If you find yourself typing as if you were having tea, with fourth fingers raised, you need to retrain yourself.

[wordfool]

free program? Nah. If you claim to already be able to touch type, the easiest way to get faster is to remove your frontal cortex from the equation by typing with your eyes closed (or any other method of not looking at the KB while typing).

[gmorf33]

I got my typing skills from a text-based role playing MUD.  You needed to be able to type really fast in combat, especially PvP or you'd die lol.  Plus on top of all the actual game commands (that you had to syntax  correctly) i had to weave in role playing emotes and conversation.   Played that through most of highschool and attribute most of my typing skills to that.

Other than that I work in I.T. and have to type a lot (not as much as a programmer, but quite a bit).   All in all its just practice.  As others have mentioned, you can take online tests or even something as simple as transcribing anything into notepad.exe.

[chongyixiong]

Two that I would recommend:

Typing of The Dead - this is just House of the Dead 2 but you need to type fast enough to beat the game throughout.. very exciting!

Keybr.com - I like how this site provides a statistic of your daily progress as well as how it highlights your most error-prone keys (in a simplistic fashion). Also, the words that you type on the site doesn't really 'won't make sense' yet it won't seem too absurd.. kinda good for non-English speakers where they want to learn to type fast by muscle memory..

Hope all well goes to you!

[zefrer]

My experience is slightly biased but I always recommend to people that want to learn how to touch type properly to get a split keyboard which forces your hands to be completely separated. Why? Because in my opinion training your hands to be independent and knowing which keys are pressed by which hand comes first.

If you start crossing your hands to reach certain keys you will have a hard time getting muscle memory for those keys to be correct (touch typing wise), if you ever do.

Once hand separation is out of the way muscle memory for each key becomes just a matter of practise practise practise.

Remember, you're not touch typing if you're not using 10 fingers :heh:

[wordfool]

Remember, you're not touch typing if you're not using 10 fingers :heh:

What if you don't have 10 fingers? Can you not touch type?! :biggrin:

[patrickgeekhack]

What if you don't have 10 fingers? Can you not touch type?! :biggrin:

What if I use 9 fingers only? I don't press the spacebar with my left thumb.

[Rajagra]

Once you have a basic mastery of the layout, download Amphetype and a book from Project Gutenberg. Import the book into Amphetype. "Read a book with your fingers!" as they say.

It's relaxing. Almost a subliminal way of learning to type. Ignore the speed results and enjoy the [strike]ride[/strike] read.

The trouble with normal typing speed tests is they measure how fast you can do the speed tests, not how well you type. It's a bit like practicing IQ tests. Your score goes up but it doesn't mean you're getting smarter. Just strokes your ego.

[WhiteRice]

Once you have a basic mastery of the layout, download Amphetype and a book from Project Gutenberg. Import the book into Amphetype. "Read a book with your fingers!" as they say.

It's relaxing. Almost a subliminal way of learning to type. Ignore the speed results and enjoy the [strike]ride[/strike] read.

The trouble with normal typing speed tests is they measure how fast you can do the speed tests, not how well you type. It's a bit like practicing IQ tests. Your score goes up but it doesn't mean you're getting smarter. Just strokes your ego.

This is great, I've been passively looking for something like this for awhile.

[Azuremen]

I really can't say I've practiced typing since grade school. It is mostly just a matter of learning the key placement and then just finding reasons to type most of the time. I type around 80 wpm or so, but I do have a few bad habits I am in the process of breaking, namely avoiding the use of my right right pinky for anything but the return key. Normally, my right hand tends to move around the keyboard more than it should, such as using its right finger for the backspace key and such.

Basically, avoid developing any bad habits while learning to fully touch type and you'll just get faster as you go.

[zefrer]

What if I use 9 fingers only? I don't press the spacebar with my left thumb.

Neither did I until I got a keyboard with a layout that lets you use backspace with either thumb.

[woody]

For fast typing as a goal, it would be beneficial to use guitar player's wisdom. Start slowly, increase speed slowly but steadily. Do not rush it. Occasionally do as-fast-as-you-can runs with all the sloppiness they introduce, then back up to your steady speed.