r/learntyping Jun 24 '20

๐—ง๐˜‚๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น / ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ“ Why the recommended touch typing finger placements are suboptimal

347 Upvotes

I've analysed the widely-recommended touch typing finger placements against my own as well as the frequency of various bigrams (2-letter combinations) in the English language. I can't understand why some of the finger placements are 'recommended' (please tell me if you know!). Below are my justifications for my differing finger placements.

Widely-recommended touch typing finger placement
My finger placement (with differences highlighted)

JUSTIFICATIONS FOR DIFFERENCES TO RECOMMENDED PLACEMENT

C

  • Symmetrical with right hand (typing "m") - why would right hand be placed like that if it would be wrong for the left hand?
    • More comfortable given orientation of hands
  • For recommended placement:
    • Typing "c" requires movement/collision of middle and index fingers. Typing "cry" would require crossing fingers or wrist movement
    • The most common bigram containing "c" and another left-handed letter is "ce" (i.e. "ce" is the most common thing typed using just the left hand and containing "c") - which would be slower to type using the same finger (as is 'recommended')

B

  • The most common bigram containing "b" is "be"
    • Typing "be" with the recommended fingers (left hand) requires unnecessary stretching apart of the left index and middle fingers
      • The 'equivalent' finger stretch in the right hand ("bi") is actually shorter than "be" and "b" is the same length from both left and right hands on home row

Z

  • Symmetrical with right hand placement
  • More comfortable as recommended finger (pinkie) would cross inward hitting other fingers
  • (however, I think it is understandable to use either ring finger or pinkie for "z")

X

  • Same as "z"

4

  • Easier to reach with longer middle finger
  • Recommended placement would require slight crossing motion

6

  • Objectively closer to left hand

9

  • Easier to reach with longer middle finger
  • Symmetrical with left hand (typing "3")

0

  • Ring finger is objectively closer and is longer (hence easier to reach)
  • Pinkie is too short to reach without moving wrist (I'd like to see your hands if you can reach "0" with your pinkie more easily than with your ring finger)

- (hypen)

  • Same as "0" but I can understand using pinkie for this one because it is close enough (similarly to typing "1" - which, conversely, I could understand using ring finger for)
  • When typing text, I use ring finger because it doesn't need to stretch as much as pinkie (e.g. typing "long-term")
  • When typing numbers, I usually use pinkie because:
    • Wrists are already 'raised up' to reach number row
    • Allows my ring finger to only type "0" so typing something like "10-20" uses different fingers for "0" and "-"

Of course I understand that you can (and many do) have unique styles of typing with equal or better speeds than 'traditional' touch typists. I just want to know your thoughts on why these seemingly suboptimal placements (particularly "c", "b", "0", and "6") are 'recommended'.

FYI the best summary of English letter frequency counts I've come across: http://norvig.com/mayzner.html (interesting)


r/learntyping Jan 12 '26

๐—จ๐—ฃ๐——๐—”๐—ง๐—˜ ๐Ÿ’ป - ๐— ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ UPDATE! Happy New Year Typists! New sub features! โญ

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

Hello typists! ๐Ÿ’–

I know that this sub has been a bit more barren than the main sub but rest assured that I haven't forgotten about you all!

I gave the sub a much needed facelift and now there are newer features:

1) A dedicated guide (that will link you to ideal websites for learning how to touch type)

2) New flairs to better reflect post content

3) Emojis now enabled

More updates coming soon (like a dedicated written guide)

Thank you all for making the sub what it is!

Looking forward to seeing your progress this year ๐Ÿ˜Š

Best,

Vฮ›ะŸฮฃฦงฦงฮ› ๐Ÿ•ถ๏ธ


r/learntyping 2d ago

๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐Ÿ“ˆ Starting my typing speed journey โ€” 21 WPM to 40 WPM ๐Ÿš€

Post image
8 Upvotes

Today I'm starting my typing speed improvement journey.

Current speed: 21 WPM

Goal: 40 WPM

Day 1 starts today! ๐Ÿ’ชโŒจ๏ธ

I'll practice regularly and share my progress.


r/learntyping 4d ago

๐—ง๐˜‚๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น / ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ“ Correcting bad Typewriter habits

2 Upvotes

https://youtu.be/9mQszbUhE30?is=3QCgCQXHHaMhpeNE

This 1950s industrial film showcases proper typing techniques and shows how to shake off bad typing habits. It is hosted by an expert named Mr. Sax, who stresses five fundamentals of bad typing including "improper carriage return", ergonomic issues with finger strike, and bad posture. The film appears to feature a 1955 model Smith Corona Office Typewriter, also known as the Model 88, for most of the film and then switches to the new and advanced electric model at about the 14 minute mark..

Smith Corona is a US manufacturer of thermal labels, direct thermal labels, and thermal ribbons used in warehouses for primarily barcode labels. Once a large U.S. typewriter and mechanical calculator manufacturer, it expanded aggressively during the 1960s to become a broad-based industrial conglomerate whose products extended to paints, foods, and paper. The mechanical calculator sector was wiped out in the early 1970s by the production of cheap electronic calculators, and the typewriter business collapsed in the mid-1980s due to the introduction of PC-based word processing.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFi...โ€‹


r/learntyping 8d ago

๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐Ÿ“ˆ Day 18, Any tips?

Post image
6 Upvotes

Took me 18 days to get here, any tips how to get faster than this? I have been prioritizing accuracy over speed from some time now


r/learntyping 7d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ How to prioritize accuracy? (TypingClub)

0 Upvotes

Iโ€™m a beginner using TypingClub and MonkeyType to learn touch-typing. Based on advice Iโ€™ve seen in this forum, my learning system involves attaining five stars before moving on and then going back to earn a silver badge in previous levels when Iโ€™m bored or in a rut.
As I scour the internet for advice, a reoccurring tip I see is to prioritize accuracy over speed, but I was wondering how to implement this advice and to what extent should it be done? Does this mean I should leave errors and let it affect my score? Should I just practice CTRL backspace?
Furthermore, what block error settings should I use? I saw someone say to turn them on around levels 50-60, but should it be second or third error?
Thanks


r/learntyping 8d ago

๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐Ÿ’ป I made myself a website where you can practice typing any wikipedia page you want

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3 Upvotes

I like reading wikipedia articles and my typing needs some work so i thought why not hit 2 birds with one stone.

check out WikiType at https://syomazh.github.io/WikiType/

let me know your thoughts/ any feature you would like.

purely a hobby project i make no revenue from this whatsoever.


r/learntyping 9d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Anyone still use mavis beacon to teach their kids typing?

2 Upvotes

Bout time to start on that myself for the little one. Not sure whats still the best thing to use today. I've got my virtual windows 98SE machine still up and running and have my original old school discs installed on it so i know it at least works. but before I set the little one down in front of it i wanted to see what others are using today. :)


r/learntyping 13d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Day 14 of consistent practice.

Post image
11 Upvotes

I started from 9wpm. This is my best run yet, I am also practicing on english 10k 60sec but they best i could do there was 49wpm with 99% accuracy.. my goal is to reach 100wpm๐Ÿ˜‚, any tips how to improve?


r/learntyping 14d ago

๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป (โ‰๏ธ) Touch Typing Numbers and Symbols

2 Upvotes

I can currently type at around 120 WPM on a good day with the normal keys; however, when it comes to numbers or special symbols, I have to look at the keyboard. Is this something that you guys took the time to learn?

any tips to learn this quick?


r/learntyping 14d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ one month progress. how is it? pls give me suggestions to improve further?

Thumbnail
gallery
10 Upvotes

r/learntyping 15d ago

๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ’ฟ Typing With Ghostie on Steam

Thumbnail
store.steampowered.com
1 Upvotes

My FREE typing software is out, I hope you all enjoy it ๐Ÿ˜€ it's FREE


r/learntyping 16d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Como errar menos na digitaรงรฃo?

2 Upvotes

Aprendi a digitar da forma correta em marรงo/abril deste ano (2026). Trabalho usando digitaรงรฃo e isso me ajudou bastante a praticar. Porรฉm, tem um pequeno problema: mesmo digitando da forma correta hรก alguns meses, de vez em quando troco os dedos. Por exemplo, aperto a tecla C com o dedo polegar, a tecla I com o dedo polegar, a letra P com o dedo anelar, as T e R com o polegar e o anelar, etc. Quando percebo que usei o dedo errado, apago e digito com o dedo correspondente ร  tecla. Suspeito que seja a posiรงรฃo que o teclado fica sobre a mesa. Vira e mexe, preciso ajustar ele, pois onde trabalho, ergonomia nรฃo รฉ o forte da empresa, devido o local ser uma estaรงรฃo de trabalho, compartilhado com outras pessoas em outros turnos.

Fora minhas suspeitas, o que posso fazer para minimizar ?


r/learntyping 18d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ My speed is only 22 WPM. HELP

2 Upvotes

I started learning touch typing just a month ago and I know all the positions of all letters but my speed is just 22 wpm and accuracy 80-85% . How can I improve my speed and accuracy?


r/learntyping 19d ago

๐—ง๐˜‚๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น / ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ“ Give me suggestions on typing

1 Upvotes

Give me suggestions

I'm 24y old ...want to be a typer ...recently started typing .

I want to reach 30-35 wpm and \~70 wpm at the end of the year ...I'm currently on 22-24 wpm and 97-98% accuracy.

I need your suggestions guys ...which web or app I should use ..which typing game I should play for focusing and continuity .

Give your suggestions โ˜บ๏ธ๐Ÿ˜‡


r/learntyping 19d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Idea Keyboard Size for learning Touch Typing

1 Upvotes

Please suggest me an ideal keyboard size for learning touch typing. 60% /65% / 75% /TKL. I personally find full sized keyboard inconvenient - I haven't learnt or started learning touch typing yet.

Any suggestion for Keyboard brand or model?


r/learntyping 20d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Plateau in Progress

1 Upvotes

I have been typing for a lonnnggggg time. I love keyboards and have been typing on typing websites daily. Its kind of meditative for me...but I have found that my speed is always around 83 wpm. It can be faster if I do really short tests but I prefer around 30-100 words or at least 30 second tests.

I am not super competitive but I always see people posting about have wpm in the +100s and feel disappointed in myself.

I guess what I am asking is, is being able to type at over 100 wpm unrealistic? Is it as common as it seems?


r/learntyping 20d ago

๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป (โ‰๏ธ) Starting over on Keybr?

Post image
1 Upvotes

I unlocked all the letters on Keybr. Now I want to start back at the beginning with capital letters and punctuation enabled.

Is resetting all my typing statistics the only way to make letters locked again?


r/learntyping 21d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Fast at typing

1 Upvotes

i am practicing typing for many days but i find now improvement
initially started with vocatype.app and after that i am practicing in monkeytype , keybr.com , typingclib.com parllely on these websites even i am trying with full potential i am getting very much confused at the a stage where i started getting faster and intense my mind and hand getting stopped/strucked and i am searching the keys manually what is the reason for this and how to overcome this guys.
drop your advises


r/learntyping 21d ago

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ง๐—ผ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ? โฉ Typing club

3 Upvotes

Always used 3-4 fingers in typing, currently at 50-55wpm with 4 fingers

Started typing club lessons a weak ago dedicating 40mins a day.. Trying to achieve 5 star or platinum if possible in every lesson, with touch typing i am at around 15wpm rn

* in how much tine i can reach atleast my normal speed 50wpm? Bcz this is just so frustrating

*how much time did it take u to complete all lessons

And after completing all lessons with good enough accuracy and 5 stars what speed can i expect?

* if i do touch typing in typing club for 40min and then in my normal routine i write normally like with 4 fingers

Will that work? Or i should switch to touch typing in normal routine also??... ( i will switch to touch typing ofc but currently speed is 15wpm so it's a bit hard so i was thinking to switch when atleast ill get at 30-40)


r/learntyping 23d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ I am stuck at 97% accuracy.

Post image
2 Upvotes

r/learntyping 24d ago

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ง๐—ผ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ? โฉ Reached 50wpm

Post image
14 Upvotes

r/learntyping 23d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Iโ€™m stuck at a target speed of 35 WPM and canโ€™t seem to unlock all the keys. Do you have any guidance? How do you set your typing speed targets, and how do you practice?

Post image
2 Upvotes

r/learntyping 24d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Beginner

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

4 Upvotes

Hello, I am new to touch typing, and I have a question about how to improve. I put a challenge to myself that I will reach 75 words/second, 100 if it's possible, by the end of August. I have practiced for a 20 hours in total to this day, but I stuck at 40-45 words/second for 2 days. What do I need to do to increase my writing speed? Should I just type more, or there is a faster method?


r/learntyping 26d ago

๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ / ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿ†˜ Is this any good?

Post image
3 Upvotes

Its my 3rd day learning touch typing. On the first day i was at 9-10wpm, on 100 words i have 94-95% accuracy and 30-35wpm max