Welcome to my 100th post!

I have to confess that typing is not my strong suit.  Oh, I’m not terrible or particularly slow but I use a modified HNP that is not pretty or elegant.  It does get the work done, though.  My typing speed is somewhere around 35 words per minute.  It occurred to me that typing is an integral part of writing these days.

Speed = $$$

The cold, hard reality is that the faster you can accurately type, the more money you can make.   Suppose you could type at a lightning fast (but not impossible) 90 words per minute.  You have a client that needs 10 – 500 word articles.  That can be an all day time sucker if you’re a hunt-n-pecker or it can be a two hour gig.  I’m no mathemagician, but even I can figure that one out.

So, here are 10 online free typing tutor sites.  Enjoy!

• Dance Mat Typing – OK folks, hide your pride under the sofa cushions and open your mind.  This one is from the BBC and is aimed at elementary school kids.  Colorful and full of graphics, it starts you from the very beginning with the home row.  The Brit accent of the primary “cow” teacher is a hoot!  This one truly is my fav.
• Power Typing.com – Lots of different exercises here.  You can practice qwerty style keyboards or dvorak.  It is very straightforward and seems to be geared more towards just practice.
• Mr Kent’s Typing Tutor – No frills here.  Very simple and straightforward typing tutor that provides fairly detailed results from each session.
• Typing Web – Nice interface and attractive site with lots to do.  You have to register, which is a bummer – but it’s not too complicated
• Good Typing - Another havta register site but it really is worth it.  Bunches of tutorials and tests and a decent interface.
• Type Faster – Technically, not an online site because you have to download the program, but hey, it’s free!  The program has: A clear indication of which fingers to use;  A 3D typing game;Typing statistics and the option of practicing the least accurate/slowest/custom keys; Keyboard is not a fixed size; Multi-user support;  Completely free with full source code availability.
• Alfa Typing – Great tutor with tons of support.  Used by k-12 schools around the US.  Yes, it’s another havta register site.
• Nimble Fingers – Well, the trial version is free so I’ll include them here.  Pretty good information about all aspects of good typing technique.
• Pete’s Online Typing Course – Hey!  I love Pete.  Good sense of humor here, tons of lessons and a good interface.  Check this one out.
• Free Typing Games – Some folks learn better in a gaming format.  It’s a regular arcade over here.

There you have it

I hope you have as much fun checking out these typing tutorials as I had researching them.

Take the time to brush up your typing skills, you’ll be glad you did.