How to learn touch typing from scratch: a step-by-step guide

The home row is the middle row of the keyboard: A, S, D and F under the left hand, and J, K, L and the next key (Ñ on a Spanish keyboard, the semicolon on a US one) under the right. Every other key is reached from there, and the finger returns afterwards.

Once you master that row, the rest of the keyboard is just stretching one finger and coming back. That is why a good course starts there and not with the alphabet in order.

Each finger has its own zone of the keyboard. The index fingers cover two columns each; the other fingers cover one. Always using the same finger for the same key is what builds muscle memory.

At first it feels slower than typing your own way. That is normal: you are replacing a habit, and the method pays off once you no longer have to think about which finger to use.

Fixing mistakes costs you more time than going a little slower. A useful rule of thumb is to keep your accuracy above 95%: if you miss more than one key in twenty, slow down.

Speed comes on its own once your fingers know where to go. Forcing it too early only turns mistakes into habits.

Fifteen or twenty minutes a day usually works better than two hours at the weekend. Muscle memory settles through frequent repetition and rest between sessions.

Looking at your hands slows you down and stops you from learning where the keys are. The F and J keys have a small raised bump so your index fingers can find their place without looking. If you are unsure, go back to them by touch.

Once you know the keys, practice with words and sentences. That is the time to use real text: news articles, or the levels of the DEDEA course, which goes from the home row to numbers and symbols.