If you're ok to use an app on Ubuntu, I'd recommend klavaro
Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
21–30 of 105 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#22Make sure your fingers are warm... everyone types slower when your hands are cold.
This can also cause them to hurt quite a bit!
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#23My opinion is that past a certain threshold, it really doesn't matter. Knowing what to write is almost always more of a challenge than actually writing it. In most cases you will get better returns by finding ways to distill your thoughts more efficiently.
How exactly you do that... I'm not sure. But I think it's true.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#24Switch to an ortholinear keyboard like [the Preonic from OLKB][1]
These designs reduce motion (speed) and are uniformly laid out (accuracy) which is crucial because typing faster alone is not enough
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#25One of the things that helped me the most was moving to the Dvorak keyboard. Dvorak lets me type at a higher speed, with less mistakes, and most important of all: with no hand cramping.
As for public/other computers that I don't get to configure: I found that I never really lost any speed on Qwerty. Whether that's the norm or I got lucky, I am not sure. Also, I find Dvorak to be available on most systems where the user can configure their input settings. Windows, Mac, and most Linux has Dvorak support built-in that are as easy to add as if you were adding another locale's keyboard layout.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#26Context here matters. Why are you trying to increase your typing speed?
Do you hunt and peck, and you want to type faster? Do you feel you "don't type very fast," compared to some kind of standard? Are you competing in typing competitions?
If you hunt and peck, your best course of action is to break your habit and learn to type on homerow keys.
If you feel you don't type fast enough using homerow keys, your best bet is just to type more. Perhaps think out a sentence, then test yourself for how fast you can type it versus just typing things off the cuff. I find that when I know what I want to type (e.g. I know a sentence I want to say), I can type blazingly fast, versus typing words as they come out of my brain, which is much slower.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#27I learned basic touch typing from Mavis beacon. It would show you how to place your hands on the keyboard as you type which the bare minimum feature I consider when searching for typing software to recommend. Right now, It doesn't work properly on windows 10 because it is too old.
There is also https://www.typingclub.com/ which is also a good site but it is riddled by ads (removable by paying of course) and requires you to create an account.
I wish if there was an open-source alternative which is either a terminal or web-based version that also shows how to place hands on the keyboard.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#28It depends how fast you want to get. You need both skills and good keyboard. You can't type FAST with an average keyboard that doesn't register keys as fast as you can type.
With standard Qwerty touch-typing fingers position, you can build up to 85-95wpm easily. You need a lot of practice to build the muscle memory. You can learn basics in Typingclub.com and then you need a lot more practice in communities like typeracer.com.
If you want to get faster than that, you have to use advanced methods that competitive typist use which is fundamentally very similar to standard touch typing positions but slight difference to make it more efficient.
Different keyboard layouts have the same story. But you could also switch to Dvorak. It does theoretically give you speed boost while it puts less stress on your fingers.
If you don't want to become a competitive typist, better to not go above ~65wpm. You can really hurt your fingers without having proper exercises. You probably don't need more than that in regular jobs either.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#29There are some fun type racing games online that I love playing at hackathons. I bet if you played them for a few minutes, where you’re typing text as quickly as possible to race others online, you’d improve your speed!
Re: Ask HN: Best way to increase typing speed?
#30One of the things that helped me the most was moving to the Dvorak keyboard. Dvorak lets me type at a higher speed, with less mistakes, and most important of all: with no hand cramping. As for public/other computers that I don't get to configure: I found that I never really lost any speed on Qwerty. Whether that's the norm or I got lucky, I am not sure. Also, I find Dvorak to be available on most systems where the us…
I switched to Colemak and definitely noticed far less movement in my fingers when typing. When learning, switching back to Qwerty after spending time on Colemak I felt like my fingers were big flags waving around in the wind.
However, now several years after switching, I'm still not faster than I was before I switched from Qwerty. (On typeracer.com going between 100 and 120wpm.) I'm also distinctly crippled now when trying to type on someone else's Qwerty keyboard.
Still probably a good move from an RSI standpoint; just be aware before you go into it.