Google has so many features that make our lives easier. But many of them, although extremely usuful and time-saving, don’t get the due praise and exposure they deserve.

The following 7 Google hacks will make you a better Google user. How many do you use already?

Google As A Dictionary

A simple, time-saving hack is to use the Google search bar to learn the definition of a word with a single click. Simply type the word “define” followed by the word in question. For example, type “define consumerism” and Google instantly gives you the following:

“the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers”

There you go!

This feature is especially useful for language learners as it helps boost vocabulary without the inconvenience of going back and forth between dictionary websites, or the drudgery of having to look up a word in a hard copy dictionary.

Google As A Converter

Just like word definitions, Google lets you instantly convert units from metric to imperial and vice versa. All you need is to type what you want to convert (for example, “100 USD to EUR”) and Google gives you the result you need (it’s roughly 72€, in case you were wondering). Apart from currencies, Google can convert any unit of measurement, weight, length, volume, temperature, and more.

Google As The Local (Or Global) Weather Report

Google gives you the day’s forecast in a single click. Type “weather” in the search bar followed by the name of your city, and you will instantly learn whether you should take that umbrella with you or not when you leave the house!

Google Translate

Although Google Translate can yield some funny results, especially when it comes to colloquialisms and idioms, it can be a very helpful tool for ESL learners and learners of other languages.

Google uses a vast array of online content to yield results and it even offers alternative interpretations, helping users to find accurate translations of a word or phrase.

Google’s Customizable Reading Level

This is a powerful tool, but one that not many people know about. However, it’s invaluable for ESL and other language learners, because it helps them find online related content that they can read and understand.

To use this feature when searching for a term (like “autodidactism”), go to “SEARCH TOOLS” – the last tab on the bar right under the search bar – and click “Reading Level” under “All Results.” Choose between basic, intermediate, and advanced to get the search results with the preferred reading level difficulty.

Google, Now At A Store Near You!

Not really, but it does a great job showing you where a local business is in your area. Simply type in the name of the business and then your city. The top search result will give you the address and other useful information like work hours and phone numbers.

You might even get a map showing the exact location of the business on the right side of the page, which links to Google Maps and lets you get directions from your current location to your destination.

Google Knows Your Needs

Lastly, among the thousands of features it offers you to make your life easier and solve your queries, Google also helps you search for particular file types, from pdfs to bmp images to exe files.

Simply type filetype:pdf into the search box, and the search results will exclusively be pdf files, just like you’ve asked for!

What’s the one Google feature you use daily, apart from Google Search?

Spring showers ruined your outdoor activities once again? Many parents dread rainy days because there’s not much room for creativity and play. Children easily get bored and distractions get into the way of learning – especially when the initial plan was to play tag in the yard and then go for a swim.

However, indoor activities can help your child learn new things and master essential skills. Indoor time doesn’t necessarily mean online games time. You can use technology in ways that are educational and constructive.

Vocabulary Improvement

Vocabulary is one aspect of language we never truly master. You can learn a new word every day and still have thousands of new words left to learn by the time you’re fifty. Why not invest in a vocabulary improvement software and play vocabulary games to improve the entire family’s vocabulary? People of all ages will benefit from adding new words to their lexicon.

A vocabulary exercise sharpens a child’s language skills and gives them new words and concepts to communicate with.

Spelling Improvement

Your child’s teacher might be doing an excellent job teaching students how to spell, but the true secret to spelling mastery is to learn to love spelling. Half the children in any given class probably hate spelling exercises, and most of the rest are generally indifferent. To get children interested in spelling the activities you engage them in must be fun. Did I say fun? I meant SUPER FUN.

Again, this is where a spelling program or website could come in handy. Create a two-hour spelling session with 3 to 5 brain breaks in between and play spelling games and other fun-based spelling activities like a spelling bee stand-off!

Keyboarding

While most online games don’t really help children learn to type, it’s a good idea to think of touch typing as a fun indoor activity that will entertain and educate at the same time.

Touch typing is crucial for your child’s academic performance this year, and will be needed until they graduate from college – and beyond. As technology becomes more entwined in every aspect of our lives, skills like keyboarding become the norm. The earlier your child learns to touch type the better off they will be.

Use indoor time to engage with a skill your child will benefit from throughout their entire life by helping them enhance their typing skills. The great thing is that keyboarding is one skill you can have a lot of fun with when practicing. In fact, you don’t even have to structure a keyboarding lesson as a lesson. After your child has learned the fundamentals, the entire learning practice can take place through typing games!

Reading Improvement

Reading has been touted as the key ingredient for personal success. Warren Buffet, the well known success maven, has testified to this, asserting that all he does all day is read in his office.

Unfortunately, cultivating a love for reading and learning in children can be a real challenge for teachers and parents. The secret is to make reading fun and effective.

What makes students dislike reading is often their lack of good reading skills. More often than not, they find reading boring because of bad reading habits, such as subvocalization and regression.

If children were to get rid of these reading-sabotaging habits then their reading speed would improve and they could effortlessly get through lots of reading material in less time.

Speed reading is more than the goal, it’s also a means to an end. When a student is a speed reader this further motivates them to study and learn more things. Essentially, a child enters a self-motivating circle of self-education and progress through the simple act of eradicating bad reading habits and improving their reading speed.

Indoor activity time shouldn’t be limited to sterile, uninspiring entertainment and passive pastimes like video games. Technology has spread out into the realm of education, and it is a parent’s duty to instill in their children a predilection for learning and self-development.

There are many online resources available where parents can find constructive, age-appropriate activities for their children. Here are some suggestions:

DiscoveryEducation.com,

PrimaryResources.co.uk

FamilyEducation.com

topmarks.co.uk.

Smarttutor.com

Raz-kids.com

Scholastic for Parents

These free, quality resources for parents will give you many ideas for learning activities and games for children from kindergarten up to 12th grade. For a more focused and structured learning experience on a particular skill, it’s wise to invest in the appropriate software. For instance, if you want to improve your child’s vocabulary you should consider getting a vocabulary program like Ultimate Vocabulary™.

Cross-posted on the Ultimate Vocabulary blog.

What comes to mind when you think of typing skills? Usually, we imagine a person typing with ease and confidence on a sleek, high-tech keyboard in a multi-million-dollar company.

When we teach young students how to touch type, the ultimate goal is none other than preparing children to grow up to become skilled professionals with bright career prospects ahead of them.

Of course, without other skills and education, a person cannot advance in life with typing skills alone. But it is perhaps the single most important tech skill right now.

Better Career Prospect

Every parent and every teacher wishes that the children in their care will be successful in life. Touch typing, although not the only vital life and professional skill out there, is still one that has timeless value in our increasingly tech-driven world.

Any tech skill is important, but those with advanced typing skills gain a head start over their competitors. They are more productive and focused in their work, hence more valuable and indispensable to their company.

Competent, Confident, Healthy Students

It is often the case that teens type faster on their smartphones than they can on their computers. This is because they didn’t have the support they needed to learn the right keyboarding techniques. Students who have received formal typing instruction through a typing software or school class have learned the typing skills they need to be able to type efficiently and without putting too much strain on their wrists, hands, and shoulders.

What’s more, an advanced typist is more likely a confident one, and a confident student will not be easily intimidated by school workloads.

Getting Rid Of Ineffective Typing Techniques

Anyone who didn’t have the chance to receive formal typing lessons has developed their own unique hunt and peck method for typing. In general, these methods use at maximum only four fingers. While this works with informal tasks like chatting or browsing websites, it’s neither efficient nor sustainable in the workplace, especially for anyone who has a computer-based job, such as a translator, a developer, a graphic designer, or a data analyst.

Touch typing lessons give you the essential know-how to type accurately. Through practice, you gradually improve your typing speed as well. With advanced typing skills you ensure you don’t fall behind in your school assignments that are keyboard-based.

Ultimately, touch typing offers immediate benefits for students that helps them better handle school projects and activities. Over the long term it lets them boost their professional image and employability prospects.

Cross-posted on the Typesy blog.

Do you think you know everything? If you answered “yes,” then you can stop reading! But if like most people you answered “no,” here are 10 websites you should bookmark.

These websites are brimming with fascinating facts, motivating articles to improve your skills, and lots of ideas on how to channel your creativity and innovative thinking into your work and personal life. Yes, it’s high time you stopped looking at cat videos all day long.

Freerice

How often do you get a chance to improve upon a crucial life skill and at the same time contribute to society as a whole? Freerice lets you have your cake and eat it too. Freerice lets you improve your vocabulary, and for each correct answer you get, the company donates 10 rice grains through the World Food Programme. Cool, right?

Gibbon

Forget YouTube hits playlists. Gibbon is the self-learning playlist many people swear by. With Gibbon you can collect various articles, videos, and other types of content under a particular theme or category. Think of it as the Pinterest for self-improvement. You can learn virtually anything under the sun, from how to code to getting into the basics of 3D printing.

Lumosity

Ever think your memory could use a boost? Lumosity is the site you want to head to. It’s a science-based game website that exercises your brain. From memory and verbal fluency to spatial skills and attention performance, Lumosity ensures you don’t lose your edge.

Khan Academy

This is your chance to master a subject you were too sleepy to wake up in college in order to attend. Khan Academy offers a multitude of courses, including Math, Science, Computing and Microeconomics, just to name a few.

Nerd’s Fitness

A CrossFit junkie goes to the gym, but where does a nerd go to? Nerd’s Fitness. This website is for the geek in every one of us. There’s no such thing as being too devoted about your body and your health,  and that’s why Nerd’s Fitness exists. It gives you informative articles and how-to’s on getting fitter and stronger – and always from a nerdy viewpoint. Their number one rule: We don’t care where you’re coming from, only where you’re going.

Information is Beautiful

This website uses the magic of visuals to represent interesting information. We must agree, information never looked so appealing before. You can get data visualized on everything, from who rules the world,to figuring out the potential tax revenue if drugs were legally sold.

Elite Daily

Self-proclaimed as “The Voice of Generation Y,” Elite Daily should be your browser home page. You can read anything about and for Generation Y, or find great tips on how to improve your skills and master new qualifications. Plenty of cute, inspirational content is always available too.

TED

Attending star-studded seminars doesn’t need to cost you a fortune. TED brings them all to you for free. TED shares  the best stories and ventures right on your screen; you can watch inspiring videos on initiatives that seek to change our thinking, our world, and our future.

Unplug the TV

This website lets you shun the urge to sit on your couch passively watching whatever’s on TV. “Unplug the TV” recommends interesting videos you can seek out and watch on your computer or device. Once you start using these links, we can confidently say there will be no more NCIS reruns for you!

The World FactBook

Get mind-blowing facts about your own and other countries, and you will have ample conversation starters for the next office cocktail party!

Were you taught how to touch type at school? Do you devote part of each class session to keyboarding practice, or do you move quickly to other IT skills with your class, thinking there are more important things to focus on?

There are many reasons why keyboarding classes should be available for students in schools. Let us give you three.

Typing is a basic requirement for scholastic and professional excellence

Touch typing, or keyboarding as it’s known today, is an essential computer skill. Everyone has their own way of typing; some use the hunt and peck method, others develop a unique way of touch typing that’s efficient but not always as accurate as they want to.

Learning to touch type means becoming an efficient typist who can easily perform online research, type assessments, and take online exams. A touch typist succeeds because their typing skills not only aren’t a problem, they actually facilitate the whole process!

When a student learns to touch type like a pro they become more confident and more likely to perform well academically. Touch typing saves time during homework sessions, and allows students to focus more diligently on learning new things, rather than struggling with their keyboards.

It’s fun!

Tech-based skills generally always fun to learn and use. Most people, and especially most younger children, are enthralled by the possibilities technology provides, and touch typing is no exception. Give a student access to compelling, well-structured typing software and they will start practicing like there’s no tomorrow. Technology piques young people’s interest, and personally I’ve never heard anyone complain about having to practice touch typing. Most people do it every day anyway, so every digital task – chatting online, doing research, writing a paper – is practice time!

Doesn’t it make you feel efficient and productive when your hands smoothly clickity-clack on the keys with ease and elegance and accuracy? Students will feel the same way.

While the first few introductory classes will be about learning the basics of how to touch type with accuracy and pressing the right key with the right finger, the rest is all fun. You can choose to practice with a wide range of interesting, interactive activities and, of course, typing games.

Typing games is one popular practice activity for typists because it doesn’t feel like practice at all! Touch typing is one of the few skills you will have fun mastering.

A risk-free investment for the future

Technology is omnipresent, and as we talk more about the ever-growing virtual world of the internet and wearable technology, we all understand that sci-fi movies no longer seem so far-fetched. Technology is changing our lifestyles, our health, our education, and our society.

Touch typing is a widespread requirement in many classrooms already, and it is projected to be an even more crucial IT skill in the future. We will be using devices and keyboard-based gadgets more frequently in the years to come, so it’s only sensible to ensure we have the typing skills essential for keeping up with technology and making the most out of it.

Even if in our lifetime we don’t get to truly command our fridge to recommend a recipe by asking it to scan what’s already in our fridge and pantry, touch typing will be an skill both you and today’s students will be tested on in order to qualify for many jobs.

An argument for teaching keyboarding at schools

Keyboarding should be taught at schools, especially when it’s a skill that is not time-consuming or demanding to learn – if it’s done right. For instance, the developers of the well-known keyboarding software Ultimate Typing™ assert that with less than 10 minutes of practice a day, you will be able to see how much your typing speed and accuracy improve in just two weeks.

There are many more reasons why schools should devote some curriculum time to teach students how to touch type, but helping them improve and secure their employment prospects, and boosting their academic performance, are the two most important reasons.

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Ultimate Typing™ helps you improve your touch typing speed and accuracy. That’s what eReflect, the software’s developer, asserts. What do others say, though?

“Intuitive and advanced learning software with easy to use interface” – Typing Lounge

Typing Lounge has released a review on Ultimate Typing™ in which the reviewer gets to the bottom of the software’s features, tools, and technologies.

The goal-focused structure of the program is appraised by Typing Lounge, whose reviewer gives Ultimate Typing™ 9 out of 10 for goal management. As the review notes, the software is designed to be a tool for helping users achieve personal excellence. The typist is urged to practice until they’ve fully mastered their preset goals – and then to set new ones.

Typing Lounge praises the software’s adaptive learning approach, its video tutorials, and its advanced progress tracking tool designed for easy charting of the user’s typing improvement.

TopTenReviews awards Ultimate Typing™ its 2014 Silver award

Ultimate Typing™’s balanced focus on both typing speed and typing accuracy was the winning point that convinced the TopTenReviews editors to give the program their Silver Award.

The editors at TopTenReviews made sure to congratulate eReflect’s developers for their rigorous approach to teaching typing that consists of a step-by-step training module and video tutorials for guaranteed typing mastery.

Vocabulary Building editors declare Ultimate Typing™ “Outstanding”

Ultimate Typing™ helps people at any typing skill level to further improve their keyboarding abilities. From beginner typists to advanced users (people who type at 95 words per minute or more), the software has something to offer to everyone.

From interactive, fun typing games to structured, step-by-step lessons, typists can see concrete proof of their progress towards improved typing performance – just one of the reasons the Vocabulary Building editors used the word “outstanding to describe the Ultimate Typing™ system.

Software Review Boffin gives Ultimate Typing™ a five-star rating

Software Review Boffin awarded Ultimate Typing™ its Gold five-star award, stating that the typing tutor is the best one on the market at the moment.

The reviewer at Boffin analyses its top five features: the video tutorials and progress tracking features, its user-friendliness, the software’s multiple user account option, and the multitude of lessons and games available.

Ultimate Typing™ is praised for the quality of instructions and its groundbreaking user-friendliness, something not matched by any other software interface.
Its integrated progress tracking and reporting technology ensures the learner is aware at all times of how much progress they’re making, giving them a sense of direction as to how fast they’re learning and what they need to practice more on.

The reviews provided by third party review sites and organizations are testimony to the software’s effectiveness. Do you think you could use some typing skills improvement?

Cross-posted on the Touch Typing Software blog.

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How many practice hours does it take to become a competent typist? How long will it take to start typing at 120 words per minute if you’re a beginner at the keyboard?

There’s no one answer to these questions. How fast and accurate a typist you’ll become depends on factors such as your determination, your resources, your knowledge of typing rules — and, of course, how much you’re willing to practice.

Here are 3 tips to help you become proficient at typing.

Track your progress frequently

It’s important to monitor your progress at frequent intervals. After a few sessions of typing practice, take an online typing test to check how much you’ve improved. Keep track of your best words-per-minute rate and next time, try to break it.

Tracking your typing efficiency will keep you motivated to practice more consistently and it will help you fine-tune your typing skills in no time.

Keep a public or personal journal

Do you have something to rant about? Keep an online journal or better yet, get your own blog. Update it frequently with whatever you’re passionate about. It can even be work-related, or devoted to the novel you’re working on. What matters is that you use it as a way of improving your typing skills. And who knows? Perhaps you’ll get an online international audience while you’re at it.

Don’t think of typing as a skill

Think of it as the means to an end. If you’ve got this attitude, you’ll approach typing confidently and won’t regard it as yet another task on the to-do list, right up there with cleaning the house. Of course you will need to learn about ergonomics, correct wrist placement, key-finger correspondence, monitor distance and other rules, but what’s almost equally important is to have fun while learning.

The initial training period to learn these rules is actually very short, and it’s possible to learn all the principles of touch typing in only a few hours. The rest is all practice. The more you practice, the more refined your typing efficiency will become.

So how do you not think of typing as a skill to be studied, or worse, a chore? By making it fun. Online chatting, online typing games, PC-based instant messaging, or IMing through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media give you ample space and time to practice. What’s more, you’re killing two birds with one stone by using this approach: you’re improving your typing skills and also communicating and networking with people!

With simple tweaks to your approach to typing you can become proficient in touch typing effortlessly and quickly, and get the skill you need.

Is typing competency gender-specific? Do men have an inborn tendency to become great typists, or is it the other way around?

According to the US census back in 1910, 8 in 10 typists in the country were women. Women were just starting to enter the labor market and typing jobs were considered the perfect job for a woman — diligently typing away what their male bosses would dictate.

Typewriter manufacturers like Remington used to design their  first typewriter models with women in mind. In fact, typewriters would be adorned with flowers and other feminine décor to make women more comfortable working on them – or so the theory went.

Fast forward to the 21st century and everyone is today using keyboards and typing in one way or another. Who’s better at it?

Anatomy

It’s a matter of anatomy, many argue. Women often have slender wrists and dainty fingers and so their hands are more easily capable of efficiently and error-free typing away on a keyboard, which often has small, close-set keys.

In contrast to the more “manly” and often larger and more cumbersome hands, women’s anatomy seems to make them better at typing and other activities that require manual dexterity, like crocheting for instance.

However we shouldn’t forget that unless a man is in manual work that stresses and thickens knuckles and joints, men’s hands can be equally long and nimble, thus perfectly capable for touch-typing accurately and quickly.

Motor skills

Others in the scientific (and sometimes pseudo-scientific) fields seem to believe that women tend to have naturally better sensory-motor coordination than men.

A new study showed that young women have better visual-sensory motor skill coordination than their male counterparts, an argument many times confirmed. It is believed that women excel in fine motor skills while men are better at motor skills that necessitate more strength rather than accuracy.

A remnant stereotype

The stereotypical presentation of the subtly flirtatious secretary has also contributed in how we regard women as more naturally belonging in front of a typewriter/computer. It’s the aesthetically pleasing image of a hard-working, beautiful typist, elegantly and adeptly keystroking on her typewriter. A male secretary is, to this day, sadly an unusual sight in the professional world; something doesn’t seem quite right. What many people forget is that back in the 17th and 18th centuries, all “secretaries” were men!

Men can be better typists than women – or not

Many men tend to be seriously goal-driven and competitive and thus they learn to touch type efficiently to advance their career. Women may not be so concerned with career-ladder climbing, and they make do with an average word per minute score – or so some people say.

In fact, touch typing is a manual dexterity skill that’s gender-blind. Anyone with the willingness to devote adequate practice time to the process can learn to type efficiently and well. Touch typing is a skill that is equally available to men and women alike, and is decidedly a matter of practice, exposure, and expert learning.

Motor skills and visual-sensory coordination are skills anyone can improve on irrespective of their gender. Men and women alike can learn to touch type efficiently thanks to typing classes or with the use of typing software like Ultimate Typing.

Apparently, factors such as profession and lifestyle affect a person’s typing efficiency more than gender ever will. A programmer or data entry employee, for instance, is someone who is expected to have lightning fast typing efficiency, which is something they learn and improve on with practice.

To say men are better typists than women or the other way around is to lose sight of how touch typing is ultimately a skill that anyone can excel at.