English Keyboard – Speed Tips!

Introduction

On the iPad and iPhone, there are many hidden features on the English keyboard. Let’s practice them! They will help you type faster in English.

1. Press “space bar” twice for a period

At the end of a sentence, if you tap the space bar twice, it will create a period and a space 「. 」It’s perfect for quickly ending one sentence then starting another sentence. It will also automatically make the next letter uppercase, because it’s the beginning of a sentence. So useful!! 😻

Try typing the following. Press space bar twice to create the period.
次の文を入力してみてください。スペースバーを2回押すとピリオドが作れます。

Hello. Nice to meet you.

2. Press “sHIFT” FOR UPPERCASE

Usually the keyboard will create lowercase letters. If you need to type just a single uppercase letter, than press the “Shift” key, then press the letter. There are two shift keys. Ideally, you should press the shift key with one hand (left or right), and you type the letter with the other hand. When typing fast, this helps with efficiency! 🙂

Try typing the following. Press ‘Shift’ plus the desired letter, and you will make an uppercase version.

Chris is from Canada. He likes Oita.

3. CAPS LOCK

The “Caps” part of “Caps lock” means “Capital letters”, as in 大文字. If you want to type several uppercase letters in row, then it’s easier to turn on caps lock. If caps lock is on, then all letters that you type will be uppercase letters. If you turn on caps lock, some keyboards will have a light which indicates that caps lock is on. On the ipad, a special symbol will appear on the screen near the place you are going to type. Turn on caps lock now, and try to type the following message.

Usually, we turn on Caps lock if we want to yell something.

Try typing the following using Caps lock. Do you see the special symbol near the text box? It lets you know that caps lock is on.

I LOVE ICE CREAM AND I EAT IT EVERY DAY!

2. SPECIAL CHARACTERS 🙂

If you press a letter and hold it for a few moments, you can select special characters. This can be useful if you want to type Satō or Kyūshū.

Try typing the following. Press and hold the letter. You will be able to choose special characters from a menu.

Mr. Kudō is from Nagasaki.

My name is Keishirō.

On-Screen Keyboard

Have you been using a bluetooth keyboard so far? If so, then please switch to the iPad’s on-screen keyboard now. There are two tips you should know about this keyboard.

2. FLICK DOWN

Just like the Japanese on-screen keyboard uses a “flicking” gesture, you can flick down on most keys, in order to get the secondary character. The main character is big, black and on the bottom of each key. The secondary character is smaller, gray, and on top. The most useful ones to remember are the numbers. For example, if you flick the ‘q’ key down, it will type “1”. Convenient!!

Try typing the following. Remember to flick down to get any special, secondary characters on a key.

I have 2 cats. Do you have any pets?

6. TWO FINGER CURSORS

When using the on-screen keyboard, if you press two fingers anywhere on the keyboard, then you will be able to move the cursor on the screen. It’s easy to forget about this function. But it can really save time.

Start typing something in the box below. Then use two fingers to move the cursor. Once you lift your fingers, you can instantly start typing again.