It's been a few months since I bought Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. And I'll admit, I tried it the first day and then kind of lost interest. I don't know if it was because of Xmas and the extra work load plus all the parties during the holidays, but I didn't really pick it up again until two weeks ago when I got Samsung flat screen for the Dell Tower as well as a real US English keyboard. Up until now, I had been using the laptop's UK English keyboard and MS Remote Control Desktop to access the Dell which had been sitting next to the desk for almost a year without screen (talk about a waste of a GeForce 4 video card). So when I got the new keyboard where all the keys are in the right place, I started up old Mavis and I will admit that I'm the first to be amazed at how quickly you start to make progress. I realize that there will be a point where the progess is less apparant as the keyboard layout becomes second nature and the only thing stopping you from moving on is the progress in speed. I think I read somewhere that only serious amounts of pratice will take you there: Duh! But what I do like is the fact that you are constantly being reminded to pratice the basic keys and the more you do that the more they become second nature and the more you go back to that basic finger location the least likely you are to make mistakes.

Foe example, this weekend I must of done about 4 hours of Mavis, and this morning when I got to work I had to answer more than few e-mails... I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it went. I hardly needed to look at the keyboard. Usually I am head down and hunting the keys. And wouldn't you know it, after a long day of hand-coding my neck is usually throbing. Well tonight I almost feel refreshed.

No miracles! But a little extra hard work sure does go a long way. (I guess you can class this in the: "stating the obvious" section of the Blogoshpere.)

I'll post more progress as I move out of beginner.
-You have my permission to laugh.