October 16, 2010 at 03:06Why you need and how you can learn to quickly print blindly
Due to the increased interest in blind recruitment, recently I would like to share thoughts and experiences on the topic. Many of this is not new at all and has already been encountered on Habré, so I’ll try to somehow generalize and systematize the information I know, and if possible add unique content.
This is not necessary for those who spend little time at the computer. The rest, in my opinion, is simply necessary.
When it comes to the benefits of blind printing, they usually talk about high typing speed. Typing fast means saving time, which is sometimes lacking. The advantages of high-speed printing are quite obvious, but not for all they are of critical importance. Some may reasonably say: “I don’t need to type quickly, because I don’t have to type large texts, and for correspondence and other household needs it’s quite enough to look at the buttons and press them with one finger” - and they will be right in their own way, because they are so comfortable. But the matter is not only in speed as such - there are two very important points regarding health, which for some reason remain unattended.
The first one is our eyes. If you type a long text, all the while looking from the monitor to the buttons and back, then your eyes begin to get tired very quickly. The reason is that the distance from the keyboard to the screen is usually different, there is constant refocusing. In addition, the position of the eyes when looking at the keys is often close to the extreme bottom, in which they are not easy to hold (this, of course, depends on the location of the keyboard). In poor lighting, the situation is even worse - there is a big difference in the brightness and contrast of objects between which our eyes move. As a result, at first the eyes may just begin to hurt, and then (probably) eyesight may deteriorate.
The second point is posture. The correct position of the body when working at the computer is approximately the following: the back is not bent, the neck is thrown back, the shoulders are straightened. And if you look at the keyboard, then you are drawn to hump, lower your head, in general, to earn scoliosis.
There is an opinion that you can quickly type only on some special “racing” keyboards, which is fundamentally wrong. High typing speed is achievable (with approximately the same effort) on any working keyboard, from netbook to extended desktop. Moreover, transferring from a standard office keyboard to a laptop and comfortably typing at your usual speed is a matter of several texts the length of this paragraph.
Separately, ergonomic keyboards should be mentioned. Their blocks of keys for the left and right hands are slightly spaced and are at such an angle that the hands do not bend, but are a direct continuation of the forearms. The “relief” of the keyboard can also be changed (different buttons are at different heights and have different surface shapes) - this allows you to take into account the length and position of the fingers when printing. It is really more convenient to type on such keyboards, but they require getting used to and, accordingly, getting used to using the usual one if necessary. Famous Ergonomic Keyboard - Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard
The dominant keyboard layouts used on 99.99% of computers are YTsUKEN for Russian and QWERTY for English. How and why they appeared is not important now, the main thing is that they exist, as well as others. Among the Latin, this is primarily Dvorak (several options) and Colemak , among the Russians - Typewriter, which differs from YTsUKEN by the position of punctuation marks and the letter.. It is believed that in traditional layouts the arrangement of letters is not the best for blind typing, while alternative ones partially solve this problem. However, the use of a non-standard layout is not suitable for everyone for obvious reasons. In addition to layouts, for convenience, there are also phonetic layouts in which the letters of the two languages are combined in harmony. They are intended primarily for foreigners.
The most common method is the usual ten-finger. It is he who is taught numerous keyboard simulators, some of which will be discussed below. The essence of the method is that in the initial position of the fingers (except the large ones) are located above the keys "F s In A " and " O L D E F " in Russian keyboard layout "QWERTY» ( " ASDF have " and " the JKL: " the English "a QWERTY "), Large - above the gap. The remaining buttons are pressed with the fingers that are the easiest to reach.
However, this method is far from the only one. For example, there is an “alternative” ten-finger method, which seems much more convenient than usual. In it, the starting position is not "F B A " - "T O L D "(index fingers in the bottom row, on the letters M and T). It is good because the hands are located more naturally, the hands are not bent outward (this is especially noticeable when the keyboard is close to the body). But there is a drawback - the load on the little fingers, which have to press a larger number of keys and drag on.
Both of these methods are based on the fact that each button is pressed with the same finger, which is most convenient for pressing it. Thus, it is possible to achieve a very large, but not maximum speed - the fact is that if a sequence of letters that are pressed with different fingers can be typed almost instantly, then the letters of the same finger will have to be pressed willy-nilly, which negatively affects the speed . An adaptive printing method comes to the rescue, which is usually individual for everyone: you need (ideally) to press each button with the finger that is faster at the momentjust click. In this case, the same letter can be typed with different fingers, depending on the previous and next letters. There are no specific rules and trainings (at least I did not find). Mastering this method is probably not easy, but it allows you to achieve fantastic speeds (more than 600 characters per minute on average ).
In order to type text without looking at the keyboard, it is not at all necessary to complete Solo. You don’t have to do anything specifically for this - just type in the text without looking at the keyboard :) Sooner or later, there will be less errors, and the speed will be more. At first it’s not easy not to look at the buttons - the eyes strive to glide down and peep at the letter. This problem can be solved in different ways - for example, buy a Das Keyboard , or stick all the keys with squares of electrical tape, or just mix them in random order.
Nevertheless, the most effective way is to go through one of the many simulators with lessons (preferably in both Russian and English). Unfortunately, simulators exist only for standard layouts and the standard ten-finger method - therefore, those who choose an alternative will have to be content with method number 1. All of the following applies only to standard layouts and the usual ten-finger method. The most famous simulator is Solo on the keyboard from Vladimir Shahidzhanyan. But it is not the only one, it costs money and, in my opinion, does not have such advantages over free analogues that are worth paying for.
One of the best, if not the best, simulator is All10(online, written in Flash). It has a simple and pleasant interface and a good base of lessons for Russian and English. Great for both absolute beginners and those who already know how to type blindly in some way.
There is also a great Stamina program with lessons and lots of fun text. However, teaching with her children is not recommended due to the content of the texts. True, a special patch is available on the offsets that fixes the problem :)
Learning to type blindly does not mean learning to type fast. Often, the speed after completing all the lessons is even lower than the speed of dialing "with spying." In order to type quickly, you need to practice a lot. Print a lot of texts. Those who already have to do this can be sure of good results. Well, I recommend Klavogonki to everyone else (and to them too) - these are fascinating races with real rivals on typewriters, naturally by typing. There are many dictionaries, modes and pleasant things like tuning. You can’t imagine the best way to quickly increase print speed - the competitive motivation is very strong. Caution! This is also a powerful timekiller :)
Another good exercise machine - Keybr.com. It is interesting in that it generates phonetically correct, but basically meaningless phrases, which allows you to learn how to type without thinking. There is also a highlight of "difficult" letters.
Who needs it and why?
This is not necessary for those who spend little time at the computer. The rest, in my opinion, is simply necessary.
When it comes to the benefits of blind printing, they usually talk about high typing speed. Typing fast means saving time, which is sometimes lacking. The advantages of high-speed printing are quite obvious, but not for all they are of critical importance. Some may reasonably say: “I don’t need to type quickly, because I don’t have to type large texts, and for correspondence and other household needs it’s quite enough to look at the buttons and press them with one finger” - and they will be right in their own way, because they are so comfortable. But the matter is not only in speed as such - there are two very important points regarding health, which for some reason remain unattended.
The first one is our eyes. If you type a long text, all the while looking from the monitor to the buttons and back, then your eyes begin to get tired very quickly. The reason is that the distance from the keyboard to the screen is usually different, there is constant refocusing. In addition, the position of the eyes when looking at the keys is often close to the extreme bottom, in which they are not easy to hold (this, of course, depends on the location of the keyboard). In poor lighting, the situation is even worse - there is a big difference in the brightness and contrast of objects between which our eyes move. As a result, at first the eyes may just begin to hurt, and then (probably) eyesight may deteriorate.
The second point is posture. The correct position of the body when working at the computer is approximately the following: the back is not bent, the neck is thrown back, the shoulders are straightened. And if you look at the keyboard, then you are drawn to hump, lower your head, in general, to earn scoliosis.
About keyboards
There is an opinion that you can quickly type only on some special “racing” keyboards, which is fundamentally wrong. High typing speed is achievable (with approximately the same effort) on any working keyboard, from netbook to extended desktop. Moreover, transferring from a standard office keyboard to a laptop and comfortably typing at your usual speed is a matter of several texts the length of this paragraph.
Separately, ergonomic keyboards should be mentioned. Their blocks of keys for the left and right hands are slightly spaced and are at such an angle that the hands do not bend, but are a direct continuation of the forearms. The “relief” of the keyboard can also be changed (different buttons are at different heights and have different surface shapes) - this allows you to take into account the length and position of the fingers when printing. It is really more convenient to type on such keyboards, but they require getting used to and, accordingly, getting used to using the usual one if necessary. Famous Ergonomic Keyboard - Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard
About layouts
The dominant keyboard layouts used on 99.99% of computers are YTsUKEN for Russian and QWERTY for English. How and why they appeared is not important now, the main thing is that they exist, as well as others. Among the Latin, this is primarily Dvorak (several options) and Colemak , among the Russians - Typewriter, which differs from YTsUKEN by the position of punctuation marks and the letter.. It is believed that in traditional layouts the arrangement of letters is not the best for blind typing, while alternative ones partially solve this problem. However, the use of a non-standard layout is not suitable for everyone for obvious reasons. In addition to layouts, for convenience, there are also phonetic layouts in which the letters of the two languages are combined in harmony. They are intended primarily for foreigners.
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About touch typing
The most common method is the usual ten-finger. It is he who is taught numerous keyboard simulators, some of which will be discussed below. The essence of the method is that in the initial position of the fingers (except the large ones) are located above the keys "
However, this method is far from the only one. For example, there is an “alternative” ten-finger method, which seems much more convenient than usual. In it, the starting position is not "
Both of these methods are based on the fact that each button is pressed with the same finger, which is most convenient for pressing it. Thus, it is possible to achieve a very large, but not maximum speed - the fact is that if a sequence of letters that are pressed with different fingers can be typed almost instantly, then the letters of the same finger will have to be pressed willy-nilly, which negatively affects the speed . An adaptive printing method comes to the rescue, which is usually individual for everyone: you need (ideally) to press each button with the finger that is faster at the momentjust click. In this case, the same letter can be typed with different fingers, depending on the previous and next letters. There are no specific rules and trainings (at least I did not find). Mastering this method is probably not easy, but it allows you to achieve fantastic speeds (more than 600 characters per minute on average ).
How to study?
In order to type text without looking at the keyboard, it is not at all necessary to complete Solo. You don’t have to do anything specifically for this - just type in the text without looking at the keyboard :) Sooner or later, there will be less errors, and the speed will be more. At first it’s not easy not to look at the buttons - the eyes strive to glide down and peep at the letter. This problem can be solved in different ways - for example, buy a Das Keyboard , or stick all the keys with squares of electrical tape, or just mix them in random order.
Nevertheless, the most effective way is to go through one of the many simulators with lessons (preferably in both Russian and English). Unfortunately, simulators exist only for standard layouts and the standard ten-finger method - therefore, those who choose an alternative will have to be content with method number 1. All of the following applies only to standard layouts and the usual ten-finger method. The most famous simulator is Solo on the keyboard from Vladimir Shahidzhanyan. But it is not the only one, it costs money and, in my opinion, does not have such advantages over free analogues that are worth paying for.
One of the best, if not the best, simulator is All10(online, written in Flash). It has a simple and pleasant interface and a good base of lessons for Russian and English. Great for both absolute beginners and those who already know how to type blindly in some way.
There is also a great Stamina program with lessons and lots of fun text. However, teaching with her children is not recommended due to the content of the texts. True, a special patch is available on the offsets that fixes the problem :)
What's next?
Learning to type blindly does not mean learning to type fast. Often, the speed after completing all the lessons is even lower than the speed of dialing "with spying." In order to type quickly, you need to practice a lot. Print a lot of texts. Those who already have to do this can be sure of good results. Well, I recommend Klavogonki to everyone else (and to them too) - these are fascinating races with real rivals on typewriters, naturally by typing. There are many dictionaries, modes and pleasant things like tuning. You can’t imagine the best way to quickly increase print speed - the competitive motivation is very strong. Caution! This is also a powerful timekiller :)
Another good exercise machine - Keybr.com. It is interesting in that it generates phonetically correct, but basically meaningless phrases, which allows you to learn how to type without thinking. There is also a highlight of "difficult" letters.
Couple of tips
- When learning from the very beginning, you need to make sure that you press the cipher and spacebar correctly. This should be done with the fingers of the hand that did not press the previous character. If you initially get used to reaping them with only one hand, it will soon become difficult to increase speed.
- First of all, you should pay attention not to speed, but to the number of errors. The fewer errors, the more speed you can achieve. By the way, I recommend the “Error-free” mode in Klavogonki - if you alternate it with “Normal”, the speed increase is much higher.