Speed Transcription of Hindi Passages
The speed paper is a timed transcription of a printed Hindi passage. This domain tests the rate at which you can convert print into keystrokes without losing orthographic control, and whether you understand how the score is computed.
How speed is scored
Gross speed = words typed ÷ minutes. Indian typewriting practice counts five strokes (keystrokes or characters) as one word; the board's scheme fixes the duration, the qualifying speed and the penalty per error, so read the instruction sheet before the bell. Net speed = (words − penalty) ÷ minutes.
Technique that actually raises speed
- Place the passage on a copy-holder at eye level, just to the right of the machine.
- Read three to four words ahead; type in phrases, never letter by letter.
- Watch the printed line, not your fingers and not the platen.
- Hold an even rhythm. Bursts followed by stalls wreck both accuracy and average.
- Plan a long conjunct or a numeral half a beat before it arrives, not while striking it.
- Do not stop for an error. One penalty is cheaper than the seconds lost.
Worked example
A ten-minute paper; you type 1,850 strokes and commit 4 full mistakes at a penalty of 5 words each. Words = 1,850 ÷ 5 = 370. Gross = 370 ÷ 10 = 37 wpm. Penalty = 20 words. Net = 350 ÷ 10 = 35 wpm. The reasoning: the penalty is a deduction in words, applied before dividing by time, never a deduction in wpm.
Traps
Back-correcting in mid-run; deliberately slowing below the qualifying speed "for accuracy" when both speed and accuracy are separately assessed; leaving the final line half-typed; counting characters as words when the scheme counts strokes; losing the rhythm at a Devanagari numeral or an English proper noun inside the Hindi passage.