Typing practice paragraphs
18 texts from everyday office work, from a short email to an order full of symbols. Copy them into any typing program or load one into the speed test with one click.
18 practice paragraphs
- EmailEasy54 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Meeting confirmation
Hi Sarah, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I can confirm our meeting on Thursday at ten in your office. I will bring printed copies of the documents so we can go through them together. If anything changes on your side, just let me know. Best regards and see you on Thursday.
- EmailMedium58 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Question about an invoice
Good morning Mr. Patel, I have two questions about invoice no. 2026-0417 dated 12 September: first, the line for the training session on 3 September is missing; second, the hourly rate of 95 euros differs from the 90 euros we agreed on. Could you please check the invoice and send me a corrected version? Thank you in advance.
- EmailHard44 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Access details and links
Hi team, the new account is set up: username "m.keller@company.com", the password follows separately by SMS. The documentation lives at https://intranet.company.com/wiki/onboarding (section 4.2), calendar sharing under Settings > Sharing. Please change the password at first login and enable 2-factor authentication; questions go to it-support@company.com.
- Meeting notesEasy54 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Weekly meeting notes
We went through the open items from last week today. The presentation for the client is finished and will be sent out tomorrow. The team still needs a decision on the budget for the next quarter. Lisa is taking over the preparation of the workshop and will come back with a proposal by Friday.
- Meeting notesMedium50 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Decisions and actions
Outcome of the meeting on 24 September: 1. The relaunch moves to 15 November. 2. Marketing delivers three variants of the home page by 30 September. 3. The budget stays at 12,000 euros, of which 4,000 euros are for external copy. Next meeting: Tuesday, 1 October, 2:00 pm, room 3.12.
- Meeting notesHard50 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Technical sync
Open items (as of 24 Sep): API version 2.3 is switched off on 1 Oct; all clients must migrate to /v3/. The rate limit rises from 100 to 250 requests/minute. Errors 429 & 503 now return a Retry-After header. Owner: backend (O. Yilmaz), deadline 27 Sep; tests run on staging.company.com:8443.
- Customer replyEasy45 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Reply to a complaint
Dear Ms. Hoffmann, I am sorry that your delivery did not arrive on time. I have checked the order and arranged a new shipment, which will reach you tomorrow. As an apology we are refunding the shipping costs. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
- Customer replyMedium51 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Quote with terms
Thank you for your enquiry. Our quote for 25 licences comes to 1,875 euros net per year, which is 75 euros per user. This includes setup, email support within 24 hours and all updates. The quote is valid until 31 October 2026; we invoice after activation with 14 days payment terms.
- Customer replyHard58 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Support reply with steps
Hi Mr. Brown, the error "Access denied (403)" appears when the browser keeps old cookies. Please try this: 1) Settings > Privacy > clear site data; 2) reload the page (Ctrl + F5); 3) sign in again. If it still fails, send us a screenshot incl. time & browser version to support@company.com; we will check the server log.
- Project updateEasy56 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Status report
The project is on schedule. The first phase is complete and has been accepted by the client. In the second phase we build the interface to the ordering system and test it with real data. The only risk we see at the moment is the availability of the external provider, whom we are meeting next week.
- Project updateMedium53 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Milestones and figures
Project Northlight, status week 39: milestone 2 of 5 reached, 43 percent of the budget spent, 3 of 12 risks closed. The test phase starts on 6 October and lasts 15 working days. For training the 80 users we plan 4 sessions of 90 minutes each, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 am.
- Project updateHard47 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Change request
Change request #CR-0912 (priority: high): the Excel export (.xlsx) must encode special characters correctly (UTF-8 instead of ISO-8859-1) and output amounts with two decimals, e.g. $1,234.50. Affected modules: Reporting & Billing; estimated effort 3 to 5 person-days; approval by the steering committee on 2 Oct, 11:00 am.
- AI promptEasy46 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Prompt for a summary
Summarize the following text in five sentences. Write for readers who do not know the topic and avoid jargon. At the end, name the most important number in the text and explain in one sentence why it matters. Answer in English and in a factual tone.
- AI promptMedium57 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Prompt with structure
You are the editor of a trade magazine. Turn the notes below into an article of 400 to 500 words: 1. an introduction with a number, 2. three subheadings, 3. a conclusion with a recommendation. Audience: managers in mid-sized companies, aged 40 to 55. Use no bullet points in the body and at most 2 technical terms.
- AI promptHard45 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Prompt for code and data
Write a Python function `parse_dates(rows: list[str]) -> list[date]` that recognizes dates in the formats "09/24/2026", "2026-09-24" and "24 Sep 26". Invalid entries should be skipped and logged with `logging.warning()`. Add 3 unit tests (pytest) and a docstring; no external libraries apart from `datetime` & `re`.
- Numbers & symbolsEasy53 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Numbers in a sentence
In the first half of the year we won 214 new customers, 38 more than last year. Revenue rose by 12 percent to 3.4 million euros. For the second half we plan 6 new positions, 4 in sales and 2 in support. We present the figures to the advisory board on 15 October.
- Numbers & symbolsMedium65 words · 2 min at 40 WPM
Price list in prose
Price list 2026: Basic 29.90 euros per month (up to 5 users), Team 79.00 euros (up to 25 users), Business 199.00 euros (up to 100 users); annual payment with a 15 percent discount. All prices plus 19 percent VAT. Notice period: 30 days to the end of the month, minimum term 3 months. Phone: 020 1234 5678, Mon to Fri 9 am to 5 pm.
- Numbers & symbolsHard48 words · 1 min at 40 WPM
Symbol workout
Order #48213 (customer: Miller & Sons Ltd.): 12 x item A-3390 @ $17.50 = $210.00; 3 x B-771 @ $42.90 = $128.70; shipping $5.90; subtotal $344.60, total $410.07 (19% tax). Delivery by 09/30, payment within 14 days (2% discount within 7 days). Questions: [orders@miller-sons.com] or +1 (212) 555-0100.
Why real texts instead of letter drills
Typing programs start with "asdf jkl;", and for the first few days that is right: the fingers learn their places. After that it adds little, because in real writing single keys don't matter, the flow from word to word does. The Aalto University study "How We Type" measured what sets fast typists apart: they prepare the next keystroke while the current one is still landing. You only learn that on words and sentences where the next key is predictable. The 18 practice paragraphs here are therefore real work texts: emails, meeting notes, customer replies, project updates, AI prompts. What you type at work is what you practice here.
How to practice with the texts
- Pick the difficulty. Easy means letters and full stops only, medium adds numbers and colons, hard adds brackets, symbols and case changes. Start one level below what you think you can do.
- Accuracy before speed. Type a text staying under 3 errors, even if it is slow. Only then move to the next one. Speed comes on its own, errors become habits.
- Short and daily. One text a day, 10 to 15 minutes. That beats an hour on Sunday, because the movements consolidate between sessions.
- Measure. "Practice now" loads the text into the typing speed test and gives you WPM and accuracy. Write the value into the progress tracker. Brought your own text? The word counter tells you beforehand how long typing it takes.
What a good score is on these texts
The texts contain numbers, punctuation and symbols, so scores here sit below those of a plain-words test. 30 WPM on a hard text with fewer than 3 errors is a good intermediate goal; 50 WPM means the number row and the Shift combinations have sunk in. What employers expect is in the article on average typing speed by age and profession.
If the texts are still too hard
Then the foundation is missing, not the practice. The placement test shows which keys you already have and where to start in the touch typing course. The symbols that appear in the hard texts are on the special characters sheet, with key and finger.
Frequently asked questions
Can I copy the texts into another program?
Yes, that is what the "Copy text" button is for. The texts are free to use for practice.
Why do the texts contain symbols and numbers?
Because real work texts do. Anyone who never practices @, %, brackets and the dollar sign hunts for them at work every time. The hard texts exist for exactly that.
Will there be new texts?
Yes, the collection grows. If a type of text is missing for you, tell us through the contact page.
Sources
- How We Type: Movement Strategies and Performance in Everyday Typing - Aalto University, CHI 2016: preparing the next keystroke and little hand movement predict typing speed.
- Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis - Cepeda et al., Psychological Bulletin 2006: spaced practice beats massed practice.