Mavis Beacon Version 15 - Good job! (Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing)

Member Name: lora44

Product:	Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing
Date:	28/07/05 (2118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You'll see results,

Disadvantages: Hard work, takes time, some lesson too long?

I learnt to touch type several years ago now, and I have to say that it's one of the best things I ever decided to do. Normally I don't have the will power or the determination to sit down and do something like this for myself but I got such a sense of achievement at being able to do it, and that's all thanks to Mavis Beacon.

**What is touch typing?**
Touch typing is the ability to type without looking at the keys. A daunting prospect to those who type with just two fingers, especially when you actually see someone do it. I remember, back in Year 9 (so about five years ago) when I did I.T. lessons people would crowd around the computer in amazement when I could look them in the eye and still type both quickly and accurately.

It's an incredibly useful skill to have for those who use computers in the workplace, but also for students who have to type up huge assignments and for those who use the computer for hobbies - particularly when chatting on the internet in chat rooms or on Instant Messengers (IM). Touch typing allows you to keep up with what can often be quite fast-paced conversations.

I've found there to be only one disadvantage to touch typing and that is that now I find my fingers go faster than I can think sometimes, my fingers get so used to typing combinations like 'ing' that I find myself typing 'thing' instead of 'thin'. And sometimes I seem to subconsciously type 'now' when I mean 'not' which does have implications - after all:
'I can now help you'
'I can not help you'
Both of these make sense so confusing them in my typing sometimes confuses the reader or puts across the wrong message. However I think that this is just crazy ol' me and it's often a source of amusement for friends I talk to in IM conversations. Thankfully it doesn't happen that often and when typing more serious or formal documents I'm able to spell-check and proof-read!!

Other than this I think the benefits of touch typing far outweight the negatives.

**Who is Mavis Beacon?**
Mavis Beacon is the UK's number 1 selling typing software, and has sold over 6 million copies. According to my research, it's also won 15 'prestigious' awards. Try as I might I can't find that much information regarding the woman herself, if she even exists. But having a face to this software reiterates the fact that this really is like having your own personal tutor.

Mavis Beacon makes learning to type challenging and engaging, even fun at times. Of course, it's not easy. When I started (with version 9) it took me a long time to progress. At times I found it frustrating and came close many times to giving up, but the program helped me by targeting my weak areas. I'm the kind of person who'd much rather work on my strengthes and ignore the keys I'm no good at (namely numbers and symbols) but Mavis urges you to practice your weaknesses until you finally get everything up to a similar level.

Having reached the advanced level and averaging around 80wpm (words per minute) I actually somehow lost my Mavis Beacon disc so I have very recently purcharsed a more up-to-date version - 15. It's not the most recent, 16 is the most recent, but I was more than happy to get the 15th version, and that is the one I'll be reviewing.

**80 words per minute?! Why do you need Mavis Beacon now then?**
Well, touch typing is a skill that needs regular practice, no matter how accurate you are or how fast you can type, it's inevitable that over time your performance will weaken. So it's good to have a brush up.
Before I started learning to type I could already type pretty quickly - I've grown up around computers and got to know pretty quickly from playing lots of computer games which involved typing actions in where all the keys were. For those of you who used the 'hunt and peck' method of two-finger typing, don't despair! With the 'hunt and peck' method you'll average about 10wpm, with some perseverence, hard work and a little help from Mavis you'll be averaging the 60wpm of an accomplished touch-typist in no time!

**How will Mavis help me?**
There are several features with this program that for me make it stand out as one of the best out there.

# Adaptive Responsive Technology (ART) - As I already mentioned, Mavis is able to work out what your weaknesses are and she'll tailor lessons to suit an individual user's age and skill-level. This is one of the best features of the program in my opinion. Everyone is different and everyone learns at a different pace so I think it's great that a program can adapt to suit almost everyone.

# Variety - there are lessons on many different subject matters, at a beginner's level you'll type out letter combinations to build up accuracy, then you'll try practice sentences before working up to paragraphs and fun facts. You might find yourself typing famous quotes, or passages from classic literature such as 'Aladdin' or 'The Secret Garden'. Some lessons will test your speed, others your accuracy and some will test your rhythm. At the end of sections you'll be tested so you can see how you are progressing. For example, I just did a Paragraph quiz which involved typing a section from Washington Irving's 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and this is what it said:

Good job. Are you ready for the next lesson? Your accuracy was 96% and your Typing Speed was 97 WPM. You made 25 errors in this lesson, so your Adjusted Typing Speed was 93 AWPM.

# Extras outside of the classroom - you don't have to confine yourself to the lessons set by Mavis, there are other ways of improving your typing too:
- Media Centre - here there are interactive guides and videos on the importance of ergonomics and sitting correctly. Mavis will remind you to sit up straight from time to time during the lessons too! There are lots of practice lessons here too, so if you fancy typing some of the classic literature I spoke about earlier, or maybe about folklore or other topics, this is the place to go!
- Custom Lesson Designer - you can import things in to suit your own specific interests. I've never tried this before but I might give it a go!
- Games - there are 8 in total - all of which focus on different areas. For example, Far Away Adventures makes you work on your rhythm, Road Race helps you with your speed, Space Junk works on accuracy when typing common letter combinations like 'tion' 'ship' and 'ment'. Check-Out Time is the only specific number game, where you have to key in 'prices' on the checkout before they fly off. I enjoy all the games, though I do struggle with the rhythm one. The games can be incorporated into the lessons, and you can control how frequently (if ever) they occur by clicking on 'Settings'
- Individual Settings - this is a program which can be used by anyone aged 8 and up which makes it perfect for just about the whole family. Each member can have their own settings and their lessons will be specific to their own skill level. When you register as a user (a quick and simple process which involves you giving your age-range, what kind of keyboard you are using, and whether you want to type using the standard keyboard - letters - or the number pad) you can then set yourself a goal of how many WPM you want to type. Mavis will tell you when you reach this goal, you can change it at anytime and you get the option to print off a certificate when you reach your goal. You can even chose what kind of keyboard the guide hands type on - a standard or a Microsoft® Natural® Elite keyboard - which is one of the ones which is split down the middle.
- Progress tracking - Mavis allows you to see which specific keys you are having trouble with as well as seeing how you have progressed over time with regards to speed and accuracy.

**Technical Babble**
Graphics - these aren't superb on my computer. I keep getting an annoying pop-up thing telling me to change the resolution settings to get a better picture. But I don't like to fiddle in case I accidently blow something up (trust me, it could happen, I really am *that* bad with computers!) and to be honest it isn't all that bad as it is. The graphics in the games are good, but nothing spectacular, and as you can see from the photos I've included the layout for the lessons is rather basic. The 3D guide hands are rather impressive though, and I think that the basic look is fine for a program of this kind.

Sound - In short, you need it. To make the most of the dictation lessons, which are very useful and great fun you need a compatible soundcard (this is stated in the system requirements). However, for some reason on the old computer the speakers didn't work and I was still able to use Mavis Beacon. I didn't get to hear her words of wisdom or have her encourage me as she does if you have sound (might annoy you a little when she says things like "Good job!" or "Look out world, here comes a great typist!" but I think that it's a nice touch). I also had to skip past the dictation lessons until I could get this fixed. There is music and sound effects in the games, and music plays during the lessons too - this isn't too bad but you do have the option to change this or turn it off if it annoys you. One criticism I had of the earlier version was that you needed the disc in to be able to run the program - this is no longer the case so you can play a CD or have something else there while you're typing.

Other system requirements - A lot of this means nothing to me so I'll just give it to you straight and not say too much about it.
The program will run on Window® 98/Me/2000/XP and you'll need:
- Pentium® II Processor or faster
- 128 MB RAM
- 200 MB hard disk space
- 8 speed CD-ROM drive
- High colour 16 bit display
- Windows compatible soundcard and mouse

The program is easy to run and install - I've only experienced problems with it a couple of times, when it just said that it was experiencing a problem and needed to close - I just opened the program again and carried on without a problem.

In terms of disadvantages, I think that there are very few. My mum and sister have both had a go on this and have highlighted that it can be very frustrating learning to touch-type. I remember myself getting very angry with myself when I was learning and my sister, who tried also to learn at the same time I did was not able to work past this frustration and gave up. She's recently started again now I have got v15 and is progressing well. She started at a beginner level and already Mavis has introduced her to a lot of the keys. Once her confidence in using these keys is sufficiently high, Mavis will teach her the next set of keys..and so it will continue until she has learnt all the keys and is confident enough to progress to an intermediate level where she will face more challenging texts, be pushed to improve her speed and accuracy, and eventually tackle transcription and dictation tasks.

The texts for the transcription exercises are found in the user manual, which is on the disc itself. A good idea, since with my earlier version I lost the manual at one point, but this means that when the time comes you need to print off the relevant texts to complete the transcription exercises. The transcriptions for the dictations exercises can also be found on there I believe. Mavis will dictate in a clear voice and she does pause after 10 seconds or so of speaking. If she's going a bit too fast for you and you miss what she said there's the option to listen again.

To be honest, Mavis is such a good guide that you probably won't need to consult the manual too many times. Hold the mouse over something and a title will probably appear and Mavis will explain what it is. There's a quick help section on there, which allows you to click on things and it'll tell what they do.

**My Opinion**
I couldn't recommend this program more - it's been so helpful in getting me to my goal of being able to touch type quickly and accurately. Sure, it wasn't easy - it took me a couple of months to learn all the keys - including numbers and symbols and then several months to build up speed, accuracy and confidence. And in the years since I learnt to do that I've had to maintain it. So I'm not going to tell you that it's easy. But it's a skill that has made my life much easier. Typing coursework, letters, e-mails, and chatting in IM conversations takes a fraction of the time it used to. It's a skill I know I'll be using all the time at university - which is the main reason I chose to purchase another copy of Mavis Beacon. I did hunt for some online typing tutors, but found nothing in the same league as Mavis. Having to sit through the more basic levels which were incredibly useful to me when I was learning from the beginning would now prove very boring to me, but thankfully Mavis gives you the option to take a test and she'll determine what stage you need to be at, so thankfully when installing my new version I was able to start off from the advanced level again. If, on the other hand, you know that you're a complete beginner, and it takes you about 10 minutes to find the space bar, then you can just start right from the basics.

A criticism would be that sometimes the typing activities are a little long, but if you know that there is one you don't want to do, you can skip right through it (something I chose to do through some of the symbols lessons). The only ones you have to take are the quizzes, which help to monitor your progress.

All in all this is a great program, ideal for anyone wanting to learn to touch type. It's incredibly versatile, fun and you will see results if you stick with it - Mavis recommends 15 minutes of practice a day.

**Price and Availablity**
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Version 15 retails at £29.99 in most places - such as PC World, however you can get it for £24.99 on Amazon.co.uk.

I think that this is incredibly good value for money since it's a program that you will be able to keep on using - even once you reach the advanced level and can touch type with considerable speed and accuracy, it's good to keep coming back to Mavis Beacon to maintain the level you've reached. It can be used by more than one person, from ages 8 and above. I know that Mavis Beacon was used by the GCSE Business and Communication Studies classes at my old school as they had to learn to touch-type as part of their course and a friend of mine who was in my German class is now able to touch-type at a good speed and with very good accuracy. I therefore highly recommend Mavis Beacon to anyone of any age wanting to learn to touch type for any reason!

Thanks for reading and Happy Typing!

P.S. Apologies for any typing errors in this review - I know, it's hardly a good advert for Mavis Beacon, but it's most likely due to my poor proof-reading skills.

lora44

Summary: It's a great program if you're willing to put in time regularly.

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