Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor for Windows

Teaches typing to people of all abilities

Master your keyboard and become a real typing ace. Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor is an instructive program aimed at computer novices who wish to get professional level typing skills through an enjoyable learning experience. It also provides an exciting way for more advanced users to hone their typing skills.

The first thing I liked in Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor (TTTT) is that it holds your hand from the start. As soon as you launch the program a rough looking, yet friendly Viking greets you and will guide throughout the lessons. You can always rely on him if you have doubts or questions. The first exercises are meant to teach you how to place your hands correctly on the keyboard and how to type common letter associations. As you move on the difficulty rises and you are asked to type longer key words at a faster pace.

Where you need to reproduce a certain key combination a pair of virtual hands shows you how it’s done on the keyboard. Whenever you make a mistake the letters will appear in red and you will hear a beeping sound. You can check statistics to see with what keys you make the most mistakes. Not one to overlook a detail, TTTT even gives you tips on how to sit correctly in front of your PC so that you don’t tire too quickly. For the more experienced, you can also set your Words Per Minute count to see if you are typing on par with professional standards.

Once you feel more comfortable with your typing skills you can try them out in the two games provided by TTTT: Safari Park and Brick Factory. Both challenges give you a time limit to type certain key associations. You can adjust the speed to make it more difficult.

The Songseeker option blends iTunes to Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor. This option can detect what song you’re playing and will download the lyrics if you click on the iTunes logo in the right hand corner. The program will display them and you’ll have to type in the correct characters. This is another way of learning how to type, and what’s more, you can enjoy your favorite song at the same time.

Depending on the language you’ve chosen when you installed TTTT, you can set the type of keyboard you are using. For example, English users will have a choice of UK, US and Dvorak keyboards.

If you don’t feel at ease with your typing skills, I strongly recommend using Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor. You’ll be able to learn at your own pace and will improve thanks to a multitude of exercises testing your hand placement, dexterity and speed.