Week 12: Symbols and AltGr

This week you do not learn new letters. You practice the symbols that you can type on the US English keyboard. Unlike the Turkish Q layout, the US layout does not use AltGr for these symbols. Instead, each symbol is typed with Shift on a key you already know, or with a key you learned in the earlier weeks. Symbols such as @, # and { appear often in email addresses, code and notes, so this practice is useful.

What you will learn

This week practices these symbols. Each one is typed with Shift on the key shown:

• @: Shift + 2, typed with the left ring finger
• #: Shift + 3, typed with the left middle finger
• $: Shift + 4, typed with the left index finger
• ^: Shift + 6, typed with the right index finger
• &: Shift + 7, typed with the right index finger
• *: Shift + 8, typed with the right middle finger
• [ and ]: typed with the right pinky, as learned in week 5
• { and }: Shift + [ and Shift + ], typed with the right pinky
• \ and |: typed with the right pinky, as learned in week 7

Shift is pressed with the pinky of the opposite hand. For a symbol on the left side of the number row, press Shift with your right pinky, and for a symbol on the right side, press Shift with your left pinky.

Technique tips

• Hold Shift down before you press the number or symbol key. This keeps the symbol clean and prevents extra letters from appearing.
• Keep the hand steady while the finger reaches the number row. Only the finger should move.
• For { and }, the right pinky stays on the bracket keys while the opposite pinky holds Shift.

Lessons

1. Lesson 1, learn (10–15 minutes): Watch the keyboard demo for the symbols in this week. Press each one with the correct finger and Shift combination.
2. Lesson 2, practice (10–15 minutes): Type short email addresses, code-like phrases and lists that contain symbols. Place each symbol in the right spot.
3. Lesson 3, review (10–15 minutes): Repeat the symbols you find hardest, then finish with the 2-minute test.

This week’s goal

Reach 28 WPM and 94% accuracy. Finishing the lessons earns 1 star. Reaching 94% accuracy earns 2 stars. Reaching 28 WPM as well earns 3 stars. Symbols are easy to mistype. Check each one before you move on.