Learn to type- Part VI- Utilize the time given by this Lockdown scenario

We are all in the mid of a pandemic.

"Our task is take Positive things from this not become Positive with it, Covid-19." - Ravi R Yadav

With the above quote in mind, lets pledge to improve our typing a bit more. I think you all are practicing whenever you get time. But, time was scarce until this lockdown scenario came in picture. To be frank, I heard of the work "Lockdown" in this pandemic only.

Now, lets come to the point. The amount of free time has increased in this pandemic for most people. Utilize it, gain some skill, improve the learned skills should be our motto.

Practice on regular basis, consistency. Try to give yourself some competition. Mix the text with some new, hard words, texts with uppercase, special symbols in it. Firstly, it will seem to disturb the rhythm learned earlier on easy words, texts with no special symbols.

Try to beat yourself in your own game. The lessons learned while trying to beat ourselves is lifelong, it can't easily be forgotten. I believe these words will definitely help someone/somebody in improving their skills for what this blog is based.

Lastly, 

Stay home, Stay safe.

Use mask and sanitizer.

Maintain social distancing.

Take vaccine at your turn.

Learn to type- Part V- Do not compare yourself

Let's make a motivational post.

You are your own competitor.(Be competitive)

Try to beat yourself.

Be it accuracy or speed, you need to type better than the previous day. Increase your difficulty of typing on every coming day and you would feel the difference soon(Don't lose that consistency).

No one can beat you, when you can beat yourself.

Typing is a skill and you're the skill maker.

A mentor has 10% involvement in your success and you are the owner of rest 90%. Try to make it 190%. Try to motivate yourself, by playing music in background, thinking the best moments of your life and you would feel like you are working in heaven with peace in mind.

Do not be in a rush, slow and steady wins the race(maintain accuracy and consistency).

Do not follow the path, make your own path(do some experiments while typing, be comfortable with fingers). Create your own typing style, if possible. Type as comfortably as you would, maintaining the posture(to prevent any injury).

Every touch typist have gone through these state of mind and you are not an exception.

Do not compare yourself with others, as skill making is not a competition.

Typing benefits as observed by me recently

This blog is not based on how to improve typing but that how can we apply our skills on something that really matter.

I am recently following competitive programming on different platforms. My observations on these sites made me think to write something about it. I'm talking here about the implementation of codes in competitive programming contests where the time of submission matter a lot in deciding the overall standings.

You can follow the links below,
Google's CodeJam
CodeChef
Codeforces
Topcoder
And, the list is inexhaustible.

On these platforms, a problem gets submission as soon as within 2-5 minutes of release, guess how?
Do they use pre-written codes with some modifications while submission?
- Maybe yes, since logic gets repeated in competitive programming.
But most of the times, the pro programmer reads the problem statement and implements it within minutes to be at the top of the list.

Here in the implementation part is crucial, where it is decided who will win the race. He/she uses their control on keyboard to get the code written so fast. As a good programmer and implementer of problems into code, they have gradually became good at typing as well.
Their typing skills help them a lot in getting a decent rank.

Maybe, in upcoming blogs, I will share some more, good competitive programming sites as well as some coding competitions on which you can try your coding skills, plus your grip on the keyboard.
By the way, "Programming is thinking, not typing".

Learn to type- Part IV- Maintain Consistency

We all have the story about the The Rabbit and the Turtle, aren't we?

The story that gives the most basic moral in life to be successful i.e., to be consistent. But the question here is "Are we really consistent?". In most basic sense, most of us are really consistent in making mistakes.

Lets get back to our original topic for what this blog is meant for and what am I really referring in the previous para. Whenever someone start to learn typing, in the back of his/her mind he/she just thinks of the speed. His/her focus lies only on the speed which is not an easy task to achieve.
By seeing others typing at a speed which is pro or advanced, we get discouraged very early by seeing our progress(except a few who takes it as a motivation). If I made any mistakes above, you may correct me in the comment section.

We are always concerned about the speed. But I said in earlier blogs that the main key to typing is not speed, accuracy is! Try to be consistent with accuracy. Try to achieve more than 95% accuracy every time you type. Speed will come on its way if accuracy is achieved. It is a matter of time. The more you practice with consistency and accuracy, the faster you will achieve the title of Touch Typist.

Very well said above, "Slow and steady wins the Race".

Learn to Type- Part III- Be Competitive

Now it is important that apart from practicing we need to test ourselves with the society.

How well others are doing?
Am I going in the right direction to achieve the speed and accuracy?
Am I ever going to type a piece of text at the speed professional typists do?
And many more questions like this will arise as you progress.

To be up to date with your performance, you have to choose a local guide like Typing Master. There are a whole lot of typing software to be downloaded for free. These software will keep track of your performance and directs you what should be done after each task or lesson.
Now the next task is to find one or more(depends on you) website which will test your typing speed and accuracy with other typists in the world. Some of sites you can try for free are as listed below:

• 10 Fast Fingers
• Nitro Type
• The Typing Test
• Typing Test

Now these are only some of them. You can always find many more sites like this. And as a guest you can try them. If you find anything productive in them, just continue.

Practicing online may be encouraging or discouraging, depends on your experience

Just remember you will enjoy something only when you realize that "I am going to learn something new out of it, today".

Typing can not be learned instantly. Its your practice and techniques which will help you to be good touch typist.

Skills are learned but are tested in Competitions.

Learn to Type- Part II- Know the Basics

Many of us find it very boring to learn the basics of touch typing which will help us to write the piece of text more accurately and faster. Therefore I am just going to make a few points to be held in mind while trying a hands on the keyboard.

In the most basic position, your fingers should rest on the middle row of the keyboard – also called the “home row”. The home row is the base from which all other keys can be reached.

Left hand fingers on keys A S D F and Right hand fingers on keys J K L ;

You can use any of your thumbs for the space bar, but stick with it. Never use both thumbs.

Keep Your Eyes on the Monitor

Try as much as you can not to peek at the keyboard while typing.

Keep Wrists Up

Keep your wrists up and straight while typing. This will prevent any kind of strain or injury.

Say the letters

Saying the letters in the mind will help to memorize the key positions and type accurately.

Relaxed Posture

Sit up straight, elbows close to the body. Relaxed arms and shoulder will avoid tension and discomfort.

Taking Breaks

While typing for long period, break is a must to regain the concentration.

Now these are some of the basics which is not a must criteria to be followed. Some of us may agree or disagree with the argument.

"Following the basics is not important, Gaining the skill is important"

Learn to Type- Part I- Motivation for Beginners

Learning how to type is very discouraging at first. You don't know how to use all the 9 or 10 fingers effectively. You start to feel the pain or strain on your fingers after a while of typing. You get frustrated by your typing speed because initially it is much less than average.

But this is the time when you should be patient and work on your ability to increase the accuracy as well as speed. For this scenario, there is an example which you can consider as a motivation in the way of your learning.

"When an infant starts to talk, his pronunciation, grammar, speed, accuracy and many more aspects which we adults have excelled is not a matter of concern for them. The child just tries his/her best to express himself/herself. It is matter of practice that made him/her a fluent speaker." We all were once a child and learned many things by just hit and trial method as one may call it "broader sense of view".

Now lets return to our topic, does this example motivate you in any way. Learning new is the habit of children, adults feel that they should not devote their time in learning something new. But the case is there's no restriction on age to learn something new. Typing is skill or ability which is required in many fields of work.

Professionals can give much more experience of how typing is important as they have to reply a whole bunch of e-mails. Programmers write long codes in as few time as possible as they are time bound by their position. Stenographers are professional typist required in many fields of work. So improved typing skill may give a slight greater chance of being recruited for a position where competition is intense.

I would say that typing is a skill which can developed at an age of 8 years or 60 years. Because age is just a number. It just require a whole lot of practice with right fingers on right keys, right posture and time of course. I would request you all find an example by yourself that motivates you to make your typing better.

A new skill is an ADD ON with the existing plan.

What is Typing!

In a developing country like India, students don't know the exact meaning of term Typing. Most of the schools and colleges have got computers but there is no one to teach how to give input using keyboard correctly. In a world where Information Technology is leading from the front nowadays, it becomes compulsory for anyone interested in it to be able to satisfy its basic needs.

Before: Hand and Peck method

Most people use hunt and peck method to type, i.e., they use only two fingers to type by usually finding the keys by sight. The true meaning of typing goes something like this: "The Action or Skill of Writing something by means of Typewriter or Computer". Here, computer simply stands for Keyboard.

After: A touch typist using 9 to 10 fingers

It is good practice, to type using 9 to 10 fingers. Try to do online courses available. There are several offline typing tutor available. Don't give up and find a reason to learn the correct way to type. It may be annoying at first but I guarantee you all that it'll be advantageous in long run.