I'm sure that you already know that touch-typing is a technique, wherabout you type without looking at the keyboard. In normal society this is the chief merit of being able to touch type. There are other merits such as leaving work early to go to karaoke, and looking as cool as James, but for us, at AMS, being able to touch type or not is a matter of life or death. Do you understand?



This is what happens if you cant tou-ARGH!




I think you get the picture. Look at the keyboard each time, and there is no way you are going to get them. It's like facing certain death. If you want to be able to live to take your pension, start training.

So let's start with the most basic of basics, the Home Position. The Home Position is how you place your fingers on the keyboard when you are typing. It it crucial to touch-typing.

Place and keep your eight fingers over the center eight keys as shown in the picture. This is called the Home Position. Don't just put your fingers anywhere! You have to place your left index finger over the F key, and your right index finger over the J key. Do you see the raised marks over the F and J keys? They are there to help you find them without looking.

Okay, now you know the home position keys. Don't forget to always return to the home position after typing. Simply by doing this, you will make considerably less mistakes. Typing isn't so difficult as long as you remember to keep touching those little marks on the F and J keys. If you forget everything else, at the very least, don't forget the Home Position!

Now it's time to start your left hand finger movement training. Let's confirm which fingers are responsible for typing which keys.

These are the four keys that the left hand little finger is reponsible for. At first it will be a little bit difficult to move your little finger as it won't be used to it, but with practice, it will become very quick.

These are the four keys that the left hand ring finger is responsible for.




These are the four keys that the left hand middle finger is responsible for.




These are the eight (yes, eight) keys that the left hand index finger has to type. This finger is relatively dexterous and therefore has to do alot.

Let's begin the right hand finger movement training. Firstly I am going to briefly explain the keys that each finger is responsible for.

Just like the left index finger, the right index finger handles eight keys. Watch out for the Y and 6 as they are quite far from the home position.



Let's move on to the right hand middle finger. This is the area of keys that this finger is responsible for. Many people don't realise that the right hand middle finger types the comma, so pay extra attention to learning this key.

Now we'll learn the four keys of the right ring finger. Just like the comma, there are loads of people who can't remember to type the period with the right ring finger. Don't be like them!


And now we finally come to the last finger, the right hand little finger. This finger is responsible for ten keys. I know, that's alot of keys but they are not all used so often, so don't worry.


To master touch typing, it is essential that you press keys only with the fingers that are responsible for them. There are so many people who have been typing in their own way for years without learning touch typing. Such people either aren't keeping the home position, or they are using the wrong fingers to type the wrong keys. Don't be like one of them. Do you really want to master touch typing?

I'll explain a few things before we move on the the shift special key training session. When you type while holding the shift key down, you can type totally different keys. These are called the shift special keys. There are symbols above all of the numbers keys. These all appear when you type with the shift key held down. Try to remember where all the symbol keys are located.

Okay, time for some practical instructions. There are two shift keys, one on the left, and one on the right of the keyboard. They have the same function so it doesn't matter which one you press. However, to master touch typing, you should be aware of the differences. The following instructions will be difficult, so pay close attention.

If the special key that you want to type is in the left half of the keyboard, then you should press the right shift key, and if the special key you want to type is on the right half of the keyboard, then you should press the left shift key. Be careful not to press another key by accident!

At the moment, the !, the @, the #, the $, and the % are being highlighted. These are originally the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 keys that you type with your left hand. In short, there is no reason why you should break the home position if you press the right shift key when typing special keys with your left hand.

Now the ^, the &, the *, the (, the ) and the ? are highlighted. These are originally the 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 and / marked keys. Do you see? The reason why there are different keys for the left shift the right shift keys is in order not to break the home position. You must learn this.

There are other shift special keys too. These keys are used alot. The next lecture will be about these keys.

You should also master the knack of typing the number keys. The game doesn't judge you on whether or not you use the correct shift key, right or left, but in order to get a firm grip on touch typing, you should make an effort to use this technique.

In this chapter you will be instructed in three techniques to help you to master touch-typing. There's nothing unusual about this training, so relax and read.

The essential element to mastering touch-typing - even more important than touch-typing quickly - is to keep the home position. You must always be touching the raised marks above the F and J keys with your index fingers. You should return to the home position after every word that you type. If you remember to do this throughout the training, you ought ot naturally begin to master touch-typing. It will be a hassle until you get used to it, but by just keeping the home position, typing will be alot easier than you can imagine.

Now for the next technique. To touch-type quickly, you should try to move the palms of your hands as little as possible. Keep your palms in the position they are in when you assume the home position and only move your fingers. You will be able to type all the keys. If you move your palms while you are typing, you will lose the home position and start to make typing errors. Always be aware of your palms are and keep them fixed to the home position. Let's continue.

Finally, we come to the last technique. This technique is to single-mindedly, and fervently, practice. You should practice while bearing in mind everyone you've covered until now in these lectures. Also, if you're training and look down at the keys, this shows that you haven't yet remembered where all the keys are. I suggest that you cover your hands with a towel or something like that and practice without looking at the keyboard. Practice keeping all of these points at the forefront of your mind.