Is there such thing as a fun way to learn touch typing?

[jenganinja]

Online obviously. Happy to pay for it but as long as it's not a fortune. Anyone have any recommendations? Thanks

There are lots of games, websites and apps that can help if you google. I can't recommend one as I learned years before anything like that was available.

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zf2f9j6/articles/z3c6tfr
Dancemat is free

Aimed at kids though so it might annoy you (singing type on me)
My son has really got the hang of typing from this

In short, No!

It's a bit like learning the piano - you need to train your fingers to find certain keys with out looking at the keyboard. After a while you will become familiar with certain letter patterns, such as "ough", or "the" and you learn these too - this will make you faster.

Certain fingers are "responsible" for certain keys - for example, you would only ever use your right index finger to type a "u" or an "n".

When I learned to touch type we started with the index fingers and would type, for example, nununu or tgtgtg, and then slowly add other letters and fingers into the mix.

Once you have all the letters sussed, you need to start on the numbers and the symbols :)

Good luck - it's well worth the patience. Being able to type and talk at the same time is a great skill to have!

I've just had a flashback to Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing back in the 90s!

No fun ways. It’s repetitive and needs to be to train your fingers. Really glad I know how to do it though. It’s hugely helpful in my job (I have to write lots of stuff while looking at other stuff).

I used to LOVE Typing of the Dead. Not sure if it still available though.

More boring but also liked Mavis Beacon. I feel I'm putting myself in an age bracket here.

MB was good for learning the mechanics, but what really made it click was forcing myself to always touch type, especially for things like school essays. It was slower at first, but now it's definitely a subconscious skill and I'm way faster typing than writing.

Hope you find something! Definitely recommend it. It is genuinely the most useful thing I have ever learned.

Snap TeaMilk!

Typing club

It’s free

I learned at school but dcs school don't teach it. I'm planning on setting dd away on BBC Bitesize Dancemat typing.

I also had a flashback to Mavis Beacon. Lots of typing out sections from Sleepy Hollow. There must be an online equivalent.

I agree that it's one of the most useful things I ever learned. It was a very long time ago. It wasn't fun and it took ages to get fast, even when I was typing a lot but I love how easy it makes life now. I almost never come across people who can touch type in my work and it's frustrating to watch them.

I second Typing of the Dead, submariner! Pretty sure it's still hanging about on the internet.

I have started both my boys (6 and 11) on typing.com. it is free and has annoying music which they love, but it can be turned off. It is just learning the mechanics over and over.

Ohhh, I remember Typing of the Dead! So much fun

F

I don't know about fun but it is pretty mindless (you are basically programming your brain to know without looking where the keys are) so you can listen to music at the same time. I learnt at sixth form college and it was a relaxing lesson which has proved very useful ever since! My students are always impressed at how quickly I type in class if I have to put anything up on the screen. I am rather surprised that more people don't know how to type as we type so often these days.

It's a bit like learning the piano
I type and play the piano and my fingers still find it difficult to go to the right keys on the piano! Any tips there welcome!

Typing club it's free. Just do 15 minutes every day.

I learned in one day at college 1979. The most used letters first. Until we typed” the big brown fox jumped over the lazy dog” a million times.

Normally you learn by doing the middle row of letters first - jaffa salad, jaffa salad....

Typing club?
Will check it out.

I quite like Ratatype. It's free and easy to use. I teach in the SEN department of a secondary school and I recommend it for my students whose handwriting speed is slow.

Keybr.com. It's dull but a great program because it adjusts the training text to the particular key combinations that you find difficult. The online tutorial programs my kids have used in school are totally useless, but after using it at home my eldest at 12 is now a fluent touchtypist, and my 9yo well on the way.

Teamilk I was given Mavis Beacon when I was at uni and diagnosed with dyslexia!