The average typing speed test score is around 40 words per minute (WPM) or around 190-200 characters per minute. To give you an idea of how fast that is, consider this: a typical 13-year-old has a typing speed of around 23 WPM while experienced secretaries average at a typing speed of 74 WPM. These numbers, though, are for typing in the English language only. For other languages, the average typing speed varies because of the differences in the number of alphabets or the agglutinative nature of other languages. Also, these numbers only apply to the standard QWERTY keyboard, not the Dvorak or other purportedly more intuitive keyboard layouts that claim to make typing faster. You certainly wouldn’t want to be stuck with the typing speed of a 13-year-old, especially now that computers have become important things in everyday modern life. You don’t necessarily have to aim for the typing speed of a secretary or professional typist either. Acing an average 50-60 wpm score is a good enough goal and is not difficult to achieve. Here are some ideas that’ll help you improve your typing skills! Master the Keyboard and Practice Your Fingers An intensive typing training course is not a necessity. What’s important when it comes to improving your typing skills though, is to get used to the activity. It’s all about muscle memory. Think of it as if you were playing a console or computer game. You can’t do well if you don’t master the control keys and if you don’t spend time actually playing. You can read books that teach you how to use your fingers but these theories will be useless if you are not able to put them to practice. The first step in improving your typing speed, thus, is to master the art of operating the keyboard before you even consider taking a typing test. Be Sure to Use All Ten Fingers No finger should be idle unless you are typing an article that does not have specific letters assigned to specific fingers. The ideal finger-to-letter assignment are as follows: Left Pinky Finger – 1, Q, A, Z, `, Tab, Caps Lock, Left Shift Left Ring Finger – 2, W, S, X Left Middle Finger – 3, E, D, C Left Index Finger – 4, R, F, V, 5, T, G. B Left and Right Thumbs – Space Bar, Alt Right Pinky Finger – 0, P, ;, ?, -, {, }, “, \, Backspace, Enter, Right Shift Right Ring Finger – 9, O, L, > Right Middle Finger – 8, I, K, < Right Index Finger – 6, Y, H, N, 7, U, J, M It is recommended that the fingers are anchored on the home keys so they can easily reach the rest of the keys. The left pinky, ring, middle, and index fingers are anchored to the A, S, D, and F keys respectively. The right set of fingers, on the other hand, are for the letters J, K, L, and ;. Some keyboards provide small but easily felt bumps for the letters F and J so you can quickly locate these keys by simply touching them. Once you position your index fingers on their respective home keys, you can easily position the rest of your fingers to their respective home keys. Master Touch Typing With a Relaxed Stance Touch typing is basically typing without looking at the keyboard, and it’s an ingredient to the winning score for a typing test. It’s mastering the keyboard by touch, observing the use of the right fingers for the right keys. You will likely need weeks or months to master touch typing but you don’t have to devote a lot of your time for it everyday. Practice it whenever you have the opportunity. Prevent yourself from looking at the keyboard every time you do a typing job. Eventually, you will develop the skills to hit the right keys with the right fingers. Moreover, be sure that you are not doing a strained stance as you do touch typing. Keep your wrist and fingers relaxed. Remember that if it hurts, it’s not the right stance for you. Avoid forcing the speed if it leads to straining your hands. Don’t feel too bad about having to use the Backspace or Delete keys too often on your first few weeks or months of training yourself with touch typing. Try to minimize your reliance on them but don’t do the shortcut of correcting your misspelled words using the mouse or arrow keys to correct the wrong letters. Here’s a tip – it would be better to delete the entirety of a misspelled word by holding the Ctrl button and pressing the Backspace or Delete key. Doing this will quickly erase or delete an entire word, not one character at a time. Use Various Typing Speed Test Options and Training Tools There are many online and offline free typing tools that can help you improve your typing speed and typing test results. Don’t hesitate to use them. The good news? Many websites offer free typing tests that’ll help you practice for the real thing! Go for those that provide exercises or a mock one minute typing test featuring a variety of texts and give out detailed statistics regarding your typing speed, including the number of keystrokes, misspelled words, and keystroke errors. You may not realize it but the numbers you see every time you complete a typing test or exercise can be motivating. They make you want to improve your typing or notice how your typing speed is not being consistent or degrading. Participate in Typing Contests Sometimes you need motivation to improve your typing speed and you just can’t find this motivation on your own. Being involved in typing clubs and contests (usually online) can be a good way to find motivation. Learning together with others who are new to raising their typing speeds is often useful. Through these clubs or groups, you can learn from the difficulties encountered by others and find tips in addressing these difficulties. Are you ready to improve your typing skills and typing speed test score? Consider implementing the aforementioned tips and practice a free typing test whenever the opportunity presents itself. They wouldn’t cost you anything but time and effort, but you are sure to get something out of the process. Do yourself a favor and test your typing speed before you start training. This way you can measure your progress over time.