For Beginners : Learn to Type

If you’re brand new to computers, which many RVers are, you may also be brand new to typing. If you’d like to learn how to type with all ten fingers the proper way, I know a great website to help you do just that. It’s called ‘Dance Mat Typing‘ and it’s produced by the BBC.

It’s designed for kids, so if you’re put off by cartoon characters and a funny voice telling you ‘Good Job!’ then maybe this program isn’t for you. But, if you want to learn the proper placement of your fingers, and get lots of easy practice leading you to true touch-typing, I can attest that this program works. And it’s free.

For the last couple months, I’ve been tutoring a 50ish man on basic computer use. He had managed to get to this stage of life without ever touching a keyboard, and he just wanted to feel a part of the 21st century. As I watched him take several seconds to find the ‘r’ key, it struck me how essential it still is to be able to type. I got him started on Dance Mat Typing and, by our 4th or 5th tutoring session, he told me he was up to Stage 4 and I watched him type, "this is a day like yesterday" without ever looking at the keys!

If you already know how to type and you’d like to test yourself on speed, here is a Typing Speed Test website for you. Scroll down until you see the ‘Start Typing Test’ button to click. You will see a paragraph to type. That paragraph will stay visible for one minute as you type it. When one minute is up, you will see both your accuracy and speed.

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