As a greater number of people access the Internet, use of the keyboard has become common. Many individuals want to transition from looking at their fingers while they type and would like to increase their typing speed.
A common method to hone typing skills is to make use of a pangram (Greek: pan (every, all) grammar (letter)). A pangram is a sentence that uses all twenty-six letters of the alphabet. While it is used by typists to test their keyboards, it can also be used for typing practice to sharpen typing skills.
By typing a pangram, using the correct finger placement, a person trains their fingers to use the right keys.
While a number of sentences utilize all letters of the alphabet, one pangram that is recognized and used frequently is the following example: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. This humorous pangram creates a vivid mental picture, which makes it easy to remember. It is short and, more importantly, it can be quickly mastered with practice.
The article Learning Typing: Finger Placement on Alphabet Keys discussed correct placement of the fingers on the keyboard and suggestions for daily typing practice. Once mastered, a user can progress to the next step: using a convenient pangram to type all letters of the alphabet.
Using a Pangram for Typing Practice
A user begins by placing fingers on the middle row of keys, then typing the following words, using successive letters of the pangram and fingers indicated in brackets.
- THE: T (left index), H (right index), E (left middle)
- QUICK: Q (left pinky), U (right index), I (right middle), C (left middle), K (right middle)
- BROWN: B (left index), R (left index), O (right ring), W (left ring), N (right index)
- FOX: F (left index), O (right ring), X (left ring)
- JUMPS: J (right index), U (right index), M (right index), P (right pinky), S (left ring)
- OVER: O (right ring), V (left index), E (left middle), R (left index)
- THE: T (left index), H (right index), E (left middle)
- LAZY: L (right ring), A (left pinky), Z (left pinkie), Y (right index)
- DOG: D (left middle), O (right ring), G (left index)
This sentence should be typed 5-10 times daily. A good rule of thumb is for users to start slowly and strive for accuracy over speed. Once letter locations are completely familiar, speed will naturally follow.
A few minutes each day of typing practice will go a long way in honing typing skills, helping individuals to transition from slower "look and peck" to actual speedy typing.
Additional Typing Practice:
Melody Rhodes - M. Rhodes is author of the Bedbug Books. She's been published in Canada, U.S. U.K. & NZ and has won awards for her poetry/prose.
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