If you wonder, “How long does it take to learn to type…” this article is for you.
In the recent decade or so, the need to type has risen. From laptop keyboards to touch-screen mobiles, typing has become mandatory. So, how long does it take to learn to type? And what are some methods to learn better?
It has also started to be introduced as a skill at the college level, making it easier for students to make notes. It allows them to get their words on their screens in less time when compared to jotting them on paper. This generation also sees a lot of communication using means of texts, e-mails and more for hours together. Hence, the need to learn the tricks of typing increases.
However, how long does it take to learn this skill? Some say 15 days, while others say two months. It all relies on the will and skills to learn. It starts with habituating ourselves with the keyboards, digital or physical, with a guarantee that the speed increases with time and practice.
One cannot suddenly expect to write forty words per minute without practising. The forty words can turn into a hundred words per minute by using the right skills and techniques.
1. How Long Does It Take To Learn To Type?
1.1 For Starters
The beginning of obtaining this skill will definitely involve lot of experimenting. The number of mistakes will decrease with time and practice. This may seem easy, but the number of variations in typing for different uses can get confusing.
When texting a friend, the typing turns casual and informal. On the other hand, writing an email to a company is a formal way of writing. We can mix our tenses, words and spellings when writing them together. This usual mistake can be kept away from by practice and will give you a better result.
1.2 Types of Typists
The time one takes to learn typing also depends on one’s age and generation. People from ages above 45 still find it a hassle, and they find writing with a pen and paper much easier. One of the reasons they find it hard is because of the difficulty they face while using their fingers. The fingers are delicate, and their need for typing accurate messages is high. Hence, they are classified as slow typists, with more time to learn and slower speed.
On the other hand, the present generation is so habituated to typing that they find it easier at a very young age. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in device sales, with students typing every few hours in the online learning phase. Their words per minute would be of a higher count when compared to older people. Before and in their teens, kids have been categorized as fast typists. Continuous typing leads to more practice and more speed. For example, an aged person would require more time to indulge in typing practices than a small child of 10. The latter may take much less time to master typing.
Learning does not take very long, as it depends on an individual and their capacities. We cannot point out a time period for learning to type. As it is a necessity, there has been a rise in typing courses around the world that assist individuals of all age groups to become typists. Typist is a term for people who write memos, letters, emails and official lists.
1.3 The Science Behind It
Typing also takes a lot of time as our muscles need a certain duration to memorize movements of the fingers and eyes. Memory through movement is crucial, as this is where routine turns into habits. Fingers would require regular practice for a better speed, and flexibility is crucial. The mind may take several weeks to adjust as we start small.
From combining individual letters to form sentences in less time. As words form, it would take higher mind power to keep up with the preceding and succeeding words and to keep track of subject relevance.
It is important to understand how our body responds to and while practising typing techniques. Not everyone has the same routine and will have their own ways of practice and memorization. One should also know the duration is dependent on muscle memory and strain.
2. Tips and Tricks
There are many websites online, even apps that help increase one’s typing speed. No matter how long it will take, accuracy is an important element that cannot be ignored. The longer one practices, the more accurate they will get.
But, it is also important to keep in mind that many methods to learn typing faster do exist. The 100-hour rule states that one needs 100 hours of continuous effort to be better at a skill than most people.
The other method is to practice for 12-30 minutes daily and gain fluency in a month or two. This routine is preferred, allowing the fingers and brain to catch a break and return to it the next day. This also reduces tension on the eyes and helps us relax the joints.
Though the two methods are some of many, they are widely used to get better and faster at typing. From forty words to a hundred, the improvement will depend on method and practice hours.
With due amounts of practice, forming whole words will be easy. Mistakes will decrease as speed increases. This is one of the best benefits of typing!
3. Additional Information
One should not fail to spot the fact that using the calculator is also a form of typing. As our parents and grandparents are more familiar with that, it provides them a base for digital typing. It is interesting to notice the need for typing through ages.
As techniques of typing have evolved through time, it has become easier with each succeeding generation. Hence, the time taken to learn typing is less through time.
The learning also depends on how much one thinks of typing as a want or need, when one thinks of typing as a need, something essential for life, their practice hours increase, and vice-versa.
While the whole world is immersed in technology, we need to track our typing speed. The faster we write, the faster the response is expected to be. Long distances are made shorter with the help of typing. Work is made easier (especially during meeting minutes) and note-making in classes is made smoother without missing a word the professors say. Typing has become a routine to be in contact with close ones like family, friends and workmates. From one hour to several days, typing out messages has become a mandate in our daily routine.
One tends to rely on texting when we cannot call, another reason to have a grasp on typing. It helps in connecting with people, hence the skill. Ill requirement. So, forty words per minute is not seen as a spectacle anymore.
When typing for eight to ten hours, we should check our posture and strain levels. We should also be aware of a few concepts, mentioned right below, of speed and precision. Touch typing is also an important aspect to be understood, and also to know when to give our fingers rest.
4. The Concepts
Typing is usually counted on the ‘Words per Minute’ (WPM) scale, a formula that includes accuracy and timing to help type. A surprising fact is that many students have had basic Computer Science courses to help increase typing accuracy, especially through coding. Through this, half the duration for the average individual is cut down.
According to reports, an average student takes about eight to ten hours to learn typing skills when having high motivation and dedication. People usually start with a very slow speed of about 7 to 8 words per minute, and as time progresses, they improve in speed and correctness.
It starts with remembering the concepts of QWERTY and using certain keys, like the Caps Lock and Shift on the laptop and the keyboard switch for the numbers and the alphabet. Once the memory sticks, movements come smoothly. And as time progresses, practice makes one perfect.
Touch typing, which is elaborated below, is an approach that can be considered, apart from typing games. Typing courses are provided online and offline, depending on the location and need. Touch typing is a considerably new method to improve concentration, muscle memory, creative thinking and more. To touch type successfully, dedication and practice are the key elements.
5. Typos and Accessibility Keys
A fact that should be acknowledged is that the more we practice typing, the more the number of ‘typos’ is expected. Typos are mistakes one makes while typing; they can be spelling corrections and grammatical errors in digital and physical forms.
Typing concepts are also a blessing for the visually challenged and individuals with learning differences. Apart from the normal controls on devices, there are options to use the Accessibility Keys for keyboard shortcuts and text-to-speech controls. The letters F and J have solid lines below them for easier ways to locate the rest of the keyboard.
5.1 But, When To Start?
Questions are raised: What age should children be exposed to keyboard/typing skills? Some reports state that they should start from age 6, when their motor skills, habits and remembering skills would have just begun to develop. During this period, they will be able to grasp simple typing through games, toys, or just fiddling.
As students use typing skills more by the hour, student age is considered important. The age that is often considered is thirteen to fourteen years. In terms of typing experience, an average student can be a great typist, too. Institutions review students’ age and dedication to practising typing to assess their skills.
A person with weaker concentration will take longer to learn how to touch type correctly, but that will also improve their concentration skills. Children with higher levels of motivation and concentration would showcase better skills to touch type compared to ones with lower levels. Practice is the key, as to learn touch typing is not hard.
And for the amount of time to start with, one hour a day, for a few days would be enough. The time duration can be increased by availability, need and will to improve, or just to practice.
5.2 Touch Typing
Touch Typing is one of the most widely used among the many variations of typing. Depending on muscle memory and the ability to locate the keyboard keys it helps in many ways.
From studies showing its effects on handwriting to being better at the workplace, it has a lot of benefits on overall health, too. One’s ability to learn to touch type will help in the future, too, and comes under the subhead of technical skills,
Touch typing requires one to ignore the keyboard completely. To touch type correctly involves placing the fingers on the F and J keys, the Index Keys. This method is one way to type words easily and improves the brain speed of individuals with poor or weak concentration.
With the Index Keys comes the knowledge of the Home Keys, which include the A, S, D, F, J, K, L and the ‘;’. These keys are present on the home row of the keyboard, hence also called Home Row Keys.
A great place is to begin is by enrolling in a Typewiz course to learn how to touch type. From a gold standard to a bronze badge, Typewiz teaches the enrolled individuals to touch type successfully and even offers a seven-day trial for interested people.
The course also allows us to practice regularly and also guarantees that no bad habits are formed. Typewiz also helps us understand the concepts of the home row keys and have courses for people with learning difficulties too. Touch typing improves memory and saves more time while making notes, and Typewiz enhances these skills and more. Click here to visit their website!
5.3 Speed and Accuracy
Students rely heavily on typing. For assignments, tests, notes and even interviews, they are habitual to it. No matter how long we need to learn typing skills, switching our techniques to formal and casual takes longer. Hence, technical skills are very important.
Concepts plus the practical uses of typing can assist in better working experiences. It is crucial for every career to understand the basics of precision and speed in typing, as it will assist in working efficiently on projects requiring constant updates.
If one wants to be an expert in typing skills, one must not focus on the duration but should rather pay attention to the second aspect of typing, accuracy. That is what decides the counts for WPM, increase in speed typing and efficiency.
Many reports give graphs, accompanied by the amount of time taken to reach a certain goal of WPM. Some say 20 continuous hours of practice for 100 WPM, while some say a few months for the same result.
But, one should not confuse accuracy with the speed of how one types. The former is a way to check if the age group is reaching their goals of WPM. In short, accuracy calculates speed, but it is not speed. Relying on precision can increase your typing skills, while relying on speed would increase the number of typos.
WPM depends on an individual’s practice time and if they have a learning difference or learning difficulties. If people have a learning difficulty, like dyspraxia or dyslexia, they will take longer to learn than the considered average student. But, as mentioned, the will to improve drives motivation.
6. Typing Strains
Continuous typing can cause great stress to fingers, posture, and eyes and may cause headaches due to continuous movement and focus. This is termed as a ‘screen headache’, which we should be careful about. Throughout the learning and mastering period, continuous typing can cause strain. It is advised to take regular breaks while typing to relax the strained parts of the body.
The major joints that get strained are the fingers, especially the index fingers. While on phones, it is the pair of thumbs. In the latter, the other eight fingers provide support to the held device. On the keyboard, the index finger of both our hands is under the most pressure.
When the fingers are under continuous use, they eventually start to pain. Hence, one should care for the finger joints and give breaks between continuous duration of typing.
7. Conclusion
So, how long does it take to learn the skills of typing? There is no definite time period, as it is up to the person’s dedication, practice hours, and space to acquire more skills. The time period also comprises the individual’s understanding of the two aspects, so learning typing will be a breeze! It improves with each practice session added, providing better memory and movement benefits, proving to be a vital skill.
One must learn to touch type, as touch typing is important in today’s era. From games to courses, touch typing has become a crucial aspect of improving typing skills and our technical abilities. As we learn to touch type, we should not forget to do typing exercises and enable touch typing in our school, college, work, or home routines.
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Last Updated on by Janhavi Ramesh Kowligi
