Typing speed can be increased with practice, and, by learning the secrets of typing faster, you can reach your potential quickly and easily. This article from the Type Racer’s Guide to Typing Faster will give you all the information you need to get started on your quest to become the fastest typist in the world. Pay attention to these steps and you’ll be typing faster than you ever dreamed possible in no time at all!
About Type Racer
Type Racer is an online game with a straightforward goal: type faster than your opponent. Each round you’re matched against someone else playing Type Racer and given a specific word (or phrase) to type as fast as possible. If you win, you move on to the next round; if not, it’s game over. As the game progresses, its players learn the skills needed for typing quickly without error—skills that can be applied in both their personal and professional lives. In this blog post, we’ll show you how typing speed affects every area of life, from emails and work documents to even form-filling—plus give you some tips on how you can up your typing speed for free!
Use keyboard shortcuts
Learn shortcuts for deleting, copying, and pasting: ⌘+X, ⌘+C, and ⌘+V respectively. This will help you delete words quickly or copy and paste phrases that might otherwise be tedious to select with a mouse. In addition, try making use of the Esc key as a back button when clicking the right arrow key might not move the cursor where you want it.
Learn other common shortcuts that you can start using today. ⌘+1 takes you directly to your email inbox, while ⌘+2 jumps right into your favorite websites. If you use Apple’s built-in dictionary app, pressing ⌘+Option+L will take you right to its definition window. Finally, if you frequently have multiple windows open at once, try holding them down ⌘ as a shortcut for switching between them. The list of shortcuts is virtually endless—hopefully, these suggestions help get you started!
Secrets
- If you are a touch typist, don’t rely too much on your finger placement, especially if you’re using an unfamiliar keyboard layout. Your fingers can become so familiar with the keys that they unconsciously stop searching for them, causing typing errors and slower typing speed. In this case, let your fingers search for the correct keys by using your eyes instead of going by memory alone. Remember: it will seem slow at first but speed up after some practice.
- The key placements are arranged on the QWERTY keyboard in alphabetical order from left to right, excluding I and O because those letters aren’t found on a standard keyboard.
Train your fingers
To train your fingers, you need a typing program. A good way to test your fingers is to try copying a sentence without looking back at the keyboard. Start with small, one-word sentences and work your way up to full paragraphs. After you finish writing the sentence, check for any typos and repeat until you can type it perfectly in 30 seconds or less.
During our typing training, we suggest that students copy one letter at a time instead of several at once so they can take advantage of all five fingers instead of just two on each hand. It takes longer than just copying words or phrases it trains our hands and gets them used to more specific movement patterns. It takes patience but it’ll be worth it in the end!
Use text expander software
Using text expander software is an easy way to type faster. Every time you type your abbreviation, the associated text will automatically expand and be inserted into your document. Text expansion saves you time by making it so that you don’t have to repeat letters that are used repeatedly. For example, if I wanted to write theater but typed their, I would need only type th once and then my abbreviation (t) five more times, as opposed to typing it out fully each time.
You can also create word abbreviations by setting up a global shortcut for any word or phrase in your document.
Experts Way
To start the tutorial, download a free copy of learning how to type. Learning the ABC order helps immensely when typing. Be sure not to look down at your hands while typing because you will begin to rely on what you see instead of what you feel. Keep your fingers in a splay position and try not to smush them together because this will give more space for each finger and allow for faster typing. Take note of where your fingers should be with every letter as this allows one finger per letter when possible.
Conclusion
I’ve created this guide to typing faster by putting together all the things I wish I knew when I started. By understanding why we type, what good typing technique is, and how different hardware and software can help, anyone can get their WPM up while spending as little time and effort as possible. Learning just a few simple techniques will speed up your workflow dramatically, reduce stress on your fingers and wrists, and prevent eye strain. So come with me as we explore these benefits of typing in depth.