Free typing practice that adapts to you
Lessons find your weak keys, then you type real books in your language. Every lesson is free, with nothing to sign up for.
How it works
Free, every lesson
Every lesson, book, game and leaderboard on lite-type is free, in all 32 languages, and none of it waits behind an account. There is nothing to install: the first lesson is at the top of this page. Ads pay for it.
Lessons that find your weak keys
Smart Lessons start you on six keys. Every lesson times each key you type and builds the next one around the key that is slowest for you, so your practice goes where it is needed. When every key in play reaches the target, 35 words a minute, the next letter joins. The keys above the lesson show how fast each one is, from red to green.
Real books in your language
Once the letters come easily, type passages from classic books: six in each language, from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Black Beauty to A Christmas Carol in English. Your language's own letters are in every lesson and every book, and lite-type takes them however your keyboard types them: one key, Shift, AltGr or Option, or a dead key then the letter.
Reasons to come back
Set a daily goal of 5 to 30 minutes and keep your streak going. Race the alphabet against your best time, steer through Pilot, a typing game, and see where you stand on the leaderboards, all time, this month, this week and today. Your stats show your speed over time and how far each key has come.
Learning to touch type
Touch typing is typing without looking at the keyboard, each finger keeping to its own keys. It is slower than looking at first. Then it overtakes it, and it stays faster and less tiring for good.
Start from the home row
Rest the fingers of your left hand on A, S, D and F and those of your right hand on J, K, L and the key after it. Feel for the small bumps on F and J: they let you find your place without looking. Every finger reaches up or down from its home key and comes back to it; the thumbs share the space bar.
Which finger for which key
Each finger owns a slanting column of keys. On the left, the little finger takes Q, A and Z, the ring finger W, S and X, the middle finger E, D and C, and the index finger two columns, R, F and V and T, G and B. On the right, the index finger takes Y, H and N and U, J and M, and the middle, ring and little fingers the columns of K, L and the key after it. The little fingers also work Shift, Enter and Backspace.
Your keyboard's letters
UK and US keyboards place a few symbols differently, such as @, " and £, but every letter sits in the same place, so the lessons work the same on both. Every letter in a lesson is lowercase, so you can learn where the keys are before you add Shift.
Keep your eyes on the text
Looking down is the habit to break. When you can't find a key, slow down and feel for it rather than look. Smart Lessons help by giving you only a few keys at first, so there are few places to look for.
Accuracy first, speed second
A mistake costs more time than a slow key. Type at a pace you can keep without slips, and let speed come with practice. Every lesson shows your accuracy beside your speed.
A little every day
Ten minutes a day does more than an hour once a week: the keys you type daily are the ones your fingers learn first. A daily goal keeps the habit, and a streak shows how many days in a row you have kept it.
Sit comfortably
Sit with your feet flat and your back supported, the screen at eye height and your wrists level, not resting on the desk's edge. Stop for a moment when your hands or eyes feel tired.
Questions
Is lite-type free?
Yes. Every lesson, book, game and leaderboard is free in every language, with no sign-up and nothing locked.
Why is it free?
Ads. One payment of £5 hides them on your account for good.
Do I need an account?
No. Without one, your progress is kept in this browser. Sign in with Google to keep it on your account, use it on any device and appear on the leaderboards.
How do Smart Lessons choose what I type?
Each lesson is about a hundred letters of real words in your language, using only the keys in play. Every word holds your current key, the one furthest below the target, and keys you haven't typed yet appear in several words so they are timed too. After each lesson every key's speed moves a little towards how you just typed it, so one good or bad lesson doesn't swing it.
Which languages and keyboards does it work with?
32 languages, in Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Devanagari, Tamil and Telugu script. Lessons check the letters you type, not the keys you press, so any layout that types your language works: QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, the Turkish F and the rest. Choose your language with the picker at the top of the page.
Does lite-type work with a screen reader?
Yes. The trainer tells your screen reader each word before you type it and, after a mistake, the letter to type. It has been tried with NVDA and VoiceOver. How lite-type works with screen readers
How long does it take to learn touch typing?
It depends on how often you practise. Short daily practice works best: the keys you type every day come to your fingers first, and Smart Lessons add a new letter only when the ones you have are up to speed.
Is my typing private?
Signed out, your lessons stay in this browser. Signed in, they are kept on your account to show your progress, and on the leaderboards you are a code such as usr-7k2qx, never your name.
Can children use it?
Yes. Nothing asks for an account or an email address, and nothing has to be bought to use any of it.
Can I use lite-type with a class?
Yes, with Educator: 10 classes of up to 50 students for £2 a month or £15 a year, free for the first 30 days, with no quote to ask for. Students sign in with a numbered seat, never their name, need no Google account and see no ads. You set the lessons for each class. About Educator
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
lite-type works in any browser, but touch typing is learned on a real keyboard. A tablet with a keyboard attached works well.