Typing practice - lesson 5

close and start typing

The next exercise for touch typing concerns the row above the basic row of keys. This is a characteristic row because it distinguishes three basic keyboard layouts: QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY. The name comes from the first six keys of this row. But enough theory, let's get to the lesson.

In this part of the course you will use your index fingers again, which should not be too difficult. You will move up your fingers in relation to the base position. Thus, the fingers move up from the keys with the bumps to the upper keys. What is characteristic of keyboards is that the keys are not stacked exactly one below the other. They form a cascade - they run at an angle. Should this be a problem? Not necessarily. The typewriters already had keys arranged at an angle. Our hands should not be parallel to each other. They are also arranged at an angle - in a way that typing is more natural, so as not to strain the muscles of the hand.

When you look at your keyboard, especially while you are doing the keyboard typing lessons, think that this keyboard is a result of evolution that has been taken place for decades. On the other hand, a computer keyboard is not that different from a classic typewriter. Does this mean that we are using some archaic solution? Maybe we should dictate to the computer what we want it to appear on the laptop monitor or other device that you use for typing... This is the material for discussion, but maybe think for the moment that laptops are still being produced. Keyboards that are newer and better are also still manufactured.

Typing on the keyboard is not a thing of the past. It is our present reality. You might think that the computer keyboards have been replaced with those on smartphone screens, but working as a professional, you will not create content using a smartphone so effectively. Some writers prefer to dictate content, but I do not think that this is a significant percentage of the writers. The biggest problem of dictating content is not even that speech recognition algorithms are imperfect. I think the biggest problem is that by typing on the keyboard you can see the content. You see what you have typed. You create a new sentence in the context of the previous one. It is easy to correct the content by typing on the keyboard. Even if you dictate what the machine should type and see the result on the screen, the correction will not be so precise.

Fortunately, you have decided to learn touch typing. You won't regret this investment.