Some time ago, typing was considered a skill every young woman should know, and anyone could learn to type with machine gun precision. Others ended up as stay-at-home wives and mothers, which required very little knowledge of typing. Two problems occurred: as times began to change, young women no longer worked in the traditional secretarial and clerical positions and did not need typing skills, or their mothers knew little about typing and saw no need for further training . There’s the other end of the gender spectrum, where men were the breadwinners for the family or sports enthusiasts, and learning to type wasn’t even something to consider.
Where does that leave us today? With a large group of people, both men and women, who are adults and do not have any writing skills. This can be a big drawback in a world full of computers where keyboards and mice are the norm, not the exception. Sure, many people type words on a computer screen, going through an awkward routine of searching for the key, tapping it with a finger, and squinting at the screen to see if they did the right thing. Others have progressed, gaining proficiency in writing with two fingers or perhaps even working up to the use of four fingers.
But why not learn to write correctly? It only makes sense to spend a bit of time learning to type with both hands and all ten fingers, considering that keyboards are here to stay and will continue to increase in use (that is, until speech recognition becomes the norm). If you can’t beat them, join them; Correct?
Learning to type is very, very easy and doesn’t take long with a little practice. The basics involve placing your fingers in the proper position for typing, and then memorizing the position of the keys. Unless you have memory issues, this should be a piece of cake. You can start with two keys and add others as your brain figures out where the first two keys are. Simple enough, huh?
Also, learning to type is as easy as playing a game. You can buy software or find a resource on the Internet (ask your kids to help you type the right search words!) that will turn learning into a kind of computer game. Some have you shoot letters when they come at you, others have you try to write short words to earn points. How fast you learn and how well you write only depends on the practice you do, but the good thing is, once you figure it all out, you don’t have to keep updating your skills, you won’t forget how to write, and you can only get better.
To see where you are now, as far as your typing skills are concerned, try the typing test at http://www.Free-Typing-Test.com. Have fun with it. Test it with two fingers (or however you type now), and then test it by putting your fingers in the correct position. You’ll get different scores, sure, but now the challenge is to beat your two-finger scores using ten fingers!
