Learning Typing

Learning Typing: Placement of Fingers on the Middle Row

Keys for Touch Typing
A user begins by ensuring that fingers are positioned correctly on mid-row
alphabet keys, using the F and J letters as a guide. These keys have raised bumps
to aid in finger placement.

1. Place fingers on the middle row of keys with the left forefinger on the F-key
beside G
2. Place right hand on the middle row with the right forefinger on the J-key
beside H
3. These fingers strike the keys they cover
4. The letters G & H remain uncovered
5. G is struck by left forefinger, H is struck by right forefinger

Typing the Upper Row Keys

With hands positioned on the middle row, user strikes upper keys, following typing
sequences below.

Typing the Lower Row--Fingers to Keys

With fingers covering middle row keys, user strikes lower row keys using correct
fingers and finger placement.

1. Left hand fingers strike keys on the lower row that correspond to keys on the
middle row (on the diagonal, inward), left hand: A-Z, S-X, D-C, F-V
2. The B is typed with the left forefinger.
3. Right hand: L-ring finger, middle-K, (J-M, J-N (index))
Finger to Key Practice
It helps to practice typing the keys by starting on the middle row, then working
from the middle row to upper row, then middle row to bottom row, pressing the
keys and feeling key locations as fingers type.

Having a good working knowledge of where all the letters of the alphabet fall on
the keyboard and which fingers are used to type them is essential for learning
typing and mastering the keyboard.

Master typing without looking, using one easy sentence

Mastering Typing Without Looking in Three Steps

1. It helps to type sentences that use all the letters of the alphabet
2. Whenever you have a few free moments, use these sentences to practice
typing without looking at your fingers
3. Type the sentences over and over

The following two sentences utilize every letter in the alphabet and if you practice
typing each just a couple of times per day or a couple of times each week, you’ll
find that your typing ability and speed grow rapidly.

Sentences that Help You to Type Without Looking:

• The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

• Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.

 • THE: T (left index), H (right index), E (left middle)
• QUICK: Q (left pinky), U (right index), I (right middle), C (left middle), K (right middle)
• BROWN: B (left index), R (left index), O (right ring), W (left ring), N (right index)
• FOX: F (left index), O (right ring), X (left ring)
• JUMPS: J (right index), U (right index), M (right index), P (right pinky), S (left ring)
• OVER: O (right ring), V (left index), E (left middle), R (left index)
• THE: T (left index), H (right index), E (left middle)
• LAZY: L (right ring), A (left pinky), Z (left pinkie), Y (right index)
• DOG: D (left middle), O (right ring), G (left index)

This sentence should be typed 5-10 times daily. A good rule of thumb is for
users to start slowly and strive for accuracy over speed. Once letter locations are
completely familiar, speed will naturally follow.

Start with the first sentence and if you have to look in order to memorize the
sentence or help your fingers to find the keys that’s okay, too.
Once you’ve committed the first sentence to memory and have a better feel for the
keyboard, you should be able to start typing it without looking.

The process will seem awkward, at first-especially since you’ve relied on

looking at your fingers while you type but you’ll be amazed at how you learn to
feel the keys and how you start to type without looking at your fingers.

Keyboard Shortcuts to Help You Save Time

These keyboard shortcuts can make working with applications easier.
Looking for a faster and easier way to use your keyboard? Keyboard shortcuts can
help save time. Below, find some helpful shortcuts for using computer
applications:

Internet Browsing < Internet Explorer / Safari >:

Open New Window - Control*N / Command*N

Refresh - F5 / Command*R
Full-screen Mode - F11 / N/A
Add Bookmark - Control*D / Command*D
Bookmarks - Alt-B / Command*Option*B
Basic Keyboard Commands < Windows / Mac >:
Copy - Control*C / Command*C
Cut - Control*X / Command*X
Find/Search - Control*F / Command*F
New Folder/Document - Control*N / Command*N
Force Quit - Control*F / Command*F
Open - Control*O / Command*O
Paste - Control*V / Command*V
Quit Program - Alt*F4 / Command*Q
Print - Control*P / Command*P
Save - Control*S / Command*S
Redo - Control*Y / Command*Shift*Z
Screen Capture - Print Screen / Command*Control*Shift*3
Select All - Control*A / Command*A
Toggle - Alt*Tab / Command*Tab
Undo - Control*Z / Command*Z

Windows Keys:

By itself - Opens Start Menu

+ D - Shortcut to desktop
+ E - Opens Explorer window
+ F - Launches Windows Explorer
+ F1 - Opens help
+ L - Locks computer
+ M - Minimize all windows
+ Shift + M - Undo minimize
+ R - Launch Run dialog
+ U - Opens utility manager
+ Tab - Tabs through taskbar
+ Pause/Break key - Opens system properties

Function Keys :

F1 - Opens help screen

F2 - Renames highlighted file
F3 - Open search
F4 - Open find
Alt-F4 - Closes active program
Ctrl-F4 - Closes open window in active program
F5 - Refresh; or starts slideshow in PowerPoint
F6 - Moves the cursor to the address bar in Internet Explorer
F7 - Spellcheck
Shift-F7 - Opens Thesaurus