Learning to touch type can seem like a tedious endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of online sites that offer free typing lessons that include fun games to make things more interesting, but after a while you might become bored. However, if you use material that interests you, you may find yourself enjoying the process of learning to type. Here are some things that are both fun and useful to type.
Creative Writing
Combining typing with creative writing is an excellent way to have fun while typing. If you’ve ever considered yourself a budding poet or novelist, get your creative juices flowing as you type up your masterpiece. Often when you sit down to write something creative you may freeze up or become blocked because you want it to be perfect. The beauty of this exercise is that you can remove all pressure of having to write something brilliant because, after all, this is merely a typing exercise.
Old Letters
If you have old hand-written letters or a diary belonging to a grandmother, grandfather, or relative from way back before the time of email and computers, you could type these up for posterity. Not only will you learn some important family history, but in this way you’ll ensure that the letters will last as a family heirloom long after the ink has faded and silverfish have eaten through the paper.
Foreign Language
If learning to type is getting you down and feels like a waste of time, why not kill two birds with one stone? Typing text in a foreign language can help you to learn the foreign language and type at the same time. If you want to free up your eyes and test your listening skills as well as your spelling skills in a foreign language, then get a book on CD or an audio download in a foreign language and type what you hear. This is even more fun and challenging.
Blindfold Fun
When you are certain you’ve become quite a proficient touch typist, you can put yourself to the ultimate fun test. Sit at your computer and have someone place a blindfold over your eyes. Next have your assistant dictate to you, preferably from something fun of their choice and that you are unfamiliar with. Once you’re done, check to see how many mistakes you made. If there are more than 10 mistakes in a three-minute dictation, then start over and try to improve your performance.
