Welcome to the introduction in touch typing. The first what you need is a fresh installation of Fedora Linux. It can be downloaded here https://getfedora.org The correct ISO file which can be downloaded for free is “Fedora Workstation 28, 64bit, 1.7 GB, live image”. After installing the software (which takes around 5 hours for Linux experts, a typing trainer can be installed with:
dnf install klavaro
Until a newbee gets familiar with the software it can take around a year. The good news is, that it is not necessary to run the course until end. Complicated keys like numbers 0,1,2,3 are not needed to type also with touch typing. In reality, it is enough to learn the basic 26 characters from A..Z in small and big caps and the space bar, of course.
After the user is familar with touch typing with 10 fingers, the next challenge is to become familiar with the Lyx software. It can be installed with “dnf install lyx”. After he is an expert in this tool, he can try to improve his English skills. The best way in doing so, is to write academic papers in English and use a bilingual dictionary for unknown words.
Other typing tutorials
The Klavaro software is not very advanced, for example a measurement of the typing speed is not available. Other programs like Ktouch and online tutorials which runs in a browser window have such feature, but they are more complicated to use. The main problem with all typing trainers is, that using them is a repetitive boring task. The progress of the learner is low and in the worst case, he gets serious injured in his hand because he types too fast.
My advice is to use the most simple typewriter software, which is Klavaro, type in the examples in the slowest possible time and make many breaks between the training. IF something feels wrong in the hand, stop the training and reduce the speed further. In most cases a writing speed of 100 chars per minute is enough. If somebody is able to type in a essay in that speed blind he has finished after 20 minutes (2000 words), which is very fast compared to long tail handwriting.
How can somebody typing large amount of text without using touch typing, without using Lyx, without using the English language, without using Fedora Linux and without using Google Scholar? Right, there is no way. If somebody is not familiar with these skills he is not able to write anything or get knowledge about any subject. I would call these capabilities the basic skills every student should master, otherwise he is not a student but a gamer ... That means, if somebody is arguing that touch typing is not important, that mastering the Lyx software is not important and that he never noticed of Google Scholar he can do so, but then is not a real student.
Choosing the right keyboard
I can not recommend any of the ergonomic keyboards offered by Microsoft and Logitech, because the keys are break down after some weeks of typing and the consumer is forced to buy a new model. But, the technology is better than using pen&paper or a mechanical typewriter because both have no usb-connection.
Typing speed
Again, I want to explain how to prevent Injuries in the hand. The most important aspect is to reduce the typing speed. That means, even a newbie can type very fast, for example 200 chars per minutes it is important to artificially slow down the speed to 100 and below. Because, if somebody is typing with a speed of 300 chars per minute for a while he may be fast, but after some minutes his fingers can get be broken. The better approach is to type slow but constant over longer periods. That means, the user should take around one hour for typing in a small text, and if he is done, he will get no physical problems with his fingers.
In reality, the most interesting feature in touch typing isn't the raw speed, but the ability to type in the words blind. Because usually many errors are happening while typing, that means somebody wants to write a word like “Hello” but he is typing “jekko”. The trick is to recognize typing errors early and correct them life, this is only possible if the eyes are focussed on the monitor and the finger stay on the keyboard. In the example word, the user types in the first letter “J”, recognizes that the character is wrong, press' the backspace key and types in the correct “H” key. Even if somebody reaches only a slow speed in touch typing he is able to doing such operations on the fly, which increases the overall speed.