Advanced Skills in Hindi Typing

A major challenge when learning Hindi typing is learning to think mechanically instead of phonetically. The Kruti Dev Remington keyboard layout doesn’t transliterate in an English style. For some characters, there are no logical sound to key mappings. In lesson 38, we learn about the keyboard’s technical logic and how to work with the interferences of special characters and Alt code shortcuts.

Understanding the Remington Model

Just like the QWERTY layout in English based on letter frequency, the Kruti Dev layout in Hindi is based upon the frequency of text’s characters in Hindi. Most of the common matras and consonants are directly beneath your strongest fingers. Once you advance into more challenging documents, you will have to deal with less common characters that are cumbersome due to complex Shift key combinations and certain number pad controls. Such situations can hinder your text flow. The primary focus should be to deal with such characters as Macros or unified hand movements rather than individual key strokes.

The Alt-Code Methodology

While taking some of the government exams you will no doubt encounter certain characters that don’t have buttons on the primary keypad. These characters require special codes known as “Alt codes” (pressing the Alt key and a certain number on the number pad). While memorizing the Alt codes for common characters will help you, the important skill to have is one known as “Recovery.” If you type a character that you need an Alt code for, don’t let that throw you off your groove for the rest of the paragraph. Use the “Jump Back” method: type the Alt code, and then return your index fingers to the Home Row bumps (F and J) and reset your fingers to that position.

Minimizing Cognitive Interference

Cognitive interference is when your brain attempts to “spell” a word while your fingers are trying to type that word. This is a primary cause of hesitation. To become proficient at typing in an advanced level of Hindi, you will need to learn to type without most of the brain interference. You need to see a word and then move your fingers without saying the letters in your head. This is the skill that helps you build the direct “Eye-to-Finger” connection. To type at speeds exceeding 50 WPM using the Remington layout, this is the only way.