Students are experiencing two trends when it comes to actually putting letters on a page. 

• The ability to write with paper and pen over a longer period of time is decreasing. Students are increasingly complaining about the effort involved in having to write longer exams by hand, for example.
• Most students do not know how to touch-type (using all ten fingers to type without looking for each letter on the keyboard). Most students currently use the 'search-and-poke' method, which is far less efficient. 

Why should you learn to be a TOUCH-TYPIST: Automation (such as learning to walk as a baby) is the cognitive trick that allows us to expand our cognitive system. This also works in other areas, including language and text. The ease and fluency with which you can write words on a page has been proven to have an impact on the quality of the writing. This is due to the limitations of our cognitive capacity: the more attention has to be devoted to producing words, the less cognitive capacity is available for handling other tasks.

Practice makes perfect. 

• If you have to write a longer exam, you could prepare for it by taking notes by hand in order to practice handwriting.
• If you want to improve or build up your keyboard skills, you can do this with online practice programs. Practice regularly (for at least two months). Remember, it takes time to re-teach your brain how to complete a movement in a new way. 

There are only two rules when typing:

1. Never look at the keyboard! Your fingers should learn to find the keys. There is a small bump on the F and J keys on the keyboard. These serve as anchors for your index fingers.
2. Rhythm and correctness are more important than speed! 

There are several methods for learning Touch-Typing. 

• tipp10: Beginner Level.
  Advantages: free online version and as a software version for Windows, Mac, Linux.
  Disadvantages: Little to no explanation of hand position.
• Typing.com detailed descriptions, moderately animated.
  Advantages: Good for all typing levels and experiences. Easy to use. You are able to select your level of expertise. They offer games and explanation videos. 
  Disadvantages: The free version has ads.  

Our recommendation: If you already know how to do touch-typing, Tipp10 is a good choice. If you need explanations and value a pleasant writing environment, you should use TippLift.

Breuer, Esther. (2015). First Language versus Foreign Language. Fluency, Errors and Revision Processes in Foreign Language Academic Writing (Textproduktion und Medium, Vol. 14). Frankfurt/Main u.a.: Lang.