FluencyLesson 14 of 20 · Prose
Digits in prose
The number row, reached from the home row without looking, and the hyphen. Dates, times, prices and counts inside ordinary sentences.
- New keys
- 1234567890-
- To pass
- Done when the check reaches 94% accuracy and 36 words a minute.
Lesson 14 is locked
It opens when you pass the check in lesson 13 (Prose with full punctuation). Lessons open one at a time, in order.
The number row sits above the top letter row, and it is the row most touch typists never learn, because it is a long reach and because numbers are rarer than letters. Both reasons are real, and neither is a good excuse: a typist who has to look down for a 7 loses their place every time a date or a price comes along. This lesson teaches the digits the same way the letters were taught, as reaches from the home row with one finger each, and puts them straight into prose.
The fingering follows the columns. The left little finger takes 1, the ring finger 2, the middle finger 3, and the index finger 4 and 5. The right index finger takes 6 and 7, the middle finger 8, the ring finger 9, and the little finger 0 and the hyphen beside it. Each reach goes up two rows, so it is longer than any letter reach, and the hand will want to move with the finger. Let it move a little, but keep the other hand at rest so you have a home to return to.
The on-screen keyboard below the drills shows letter rows only, so for digits it will rest the hands and the strip above is your guide. That is deliberate: a board tall enough to show the number row pushes the hands off the bottom of the card. The strip shows the same information in the space of one line.
On 14 March 2026 at 9:30, 3 of the 12 were late; the fine was 45 each.