Discussion on:

Five apps to make you a better typist

I credit my high school Personal Typing class as helping hone my typing skills. Granted, that was back in the days of the original Macs & DOS/Windows 3.1 PCs, so we learned it the "old-school" way: on IBM typewriters (some of which had auto-correct ribbons installed, the rest requiring use of those "correcting" tabs that pre-dated White-out).

The authors and editors must be getting the message that the screen shot alone presentations are wasted on most of the readers as these blog presentation are satisfactory, if too brief, and can be easily printed or converted to PDF files for printing or future reference.

I may try one of the free programs---or one with an extended trial period just to see how it helps. I've never been a touch typist. Maybe now-----to some degree after some lessons.

I was looking for a list of typing software and this is very helpful. The screenshots also help so I can get an idea of the interface.

Thanks for the list... helps a lot

A few days ago, TR runs an article on the "inevitable death" of the desktop PC because of the massive wave of mobile devices poised to utterly wipe out every last piece of computer equipment currently in use and to completely transform our digital lives... but here we have desktop applications designed to hone typing skills on a full size keyboard, which we're led to believe will be extinct before too long.

*sigh* Whatever.

Just waht I needse

Tuxtype is free and cross-platform. Typing games aimed at children, but it works for adults, too.

The occasional missed letter means you probably just means you're not as good at typing as you think, we all make mistakes

Type Fu on Google Chrome seems to be a decent proficiency program. However, it does not appear to be designed for the beginner.

This site is designed for children, but my adult community college students and my 77-y/o Dad have benefited from it. Dancing, singing cartoon characters lead you through the lessons; so it's way less boring than the way I learned in HS back in 1975. If you can't always understand the characters' accents, just watch the screen for instructions...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

This method teaches the keyboard layout in 20 minutes, you then move to typing sentences and building speed. In a few hours you can become a expert typist! It's amazing in 2 hours I could type 25 words per minute with out looking at my fingers . Whats cool is because you learn which finger types what letters in 1 lesson you can touch type from the get go and every time you use the computer you are practicing typing. Check it out at http://www.almenausa.net!

I am quite proficient at typing, but have never used the number pad. Any apps teach that?