A soft touch for typists

Typing Tutor, from Pitmansoft, is a much easier way of teaching yourself to type than following the more-conventional textbook.

Suitable for absolute beginners or people just wanting to brush up their typing, the disc-based program is simple to follow and the exercises are carefully graded.

You start by doing the drill exercises.

A diagram of the keyboard is displayed on the screen and the cursor flashes underneath the key you should press.

You must keep your eyes on the screen all the time, never on the computer. If you strike the correct key, the cursor moves on to another letter and so it goes on until you have finished that drill.

If you strike the wrong key, you will hear a beep and the cursor will not move until you find the right one.

After each drill there are graded practice exercises using the keys just learnt. These are just words or sentences which you copy.

At the end of each practice exercise - and also the test passages which you come to later - your accuracy and speed are recorded at the bottom of the screen.

If your accuracy is below 90 percent in the easy exercises and 95 per cent on the others, you have the option of practising the words which you typed in incorrectly or else repeating the whole exercise.

You do not go on to the next exercise or drill until you score at least 90 per cent or 95 per cent accuracy, and you should aim for a speed of at least 20 words a minute.

However by pressing Esc-M at any time you can return to the menu, which displays the contents of each drill and exercise passage.

By pressing the appropriate number you can choose which one you want to type next. The program is well thought out and there are enough practice exercises and testpassages to make it varied.

There are clear instructions given on the screen as and when you need them.

The carefully-graded series of exercises maintain motivation throughout.

The immediacy of the feedback adds greatly to its effectiveness and gives you the incentive to pass your personal best.

It's hard to find fault with Typing Tutor. The program has certainly proved successful for me - now I can type.

Carole Sillers