TIMED PRACTICE · isiZulu
Zulu typing speed test
Flow like a stream. Space commits a word, backspace fixes the last one. Tab or Esc restarts.
Testing your Zulu typing speed
Zulu is written in the Latin alphabet. Every practice word here stays inside it: 26 letter keys and nothing beyond them.
Zulu is written with the plain Latin alphabet and nothing else: not one of the 81 practice words here needs a character beyond the 26 letter keys. That makes it the shortest route into touch typing, because every key you learn is one you already have. The only thing between you and fluency is the habit of not looking down.
Pick a duration or a word count, turn punctuation and digits on if you want them, and type 81 common Zulu words in whatever order the shuffle produces. Because the words come fresh each run there is nothing to learn by repetition — a second attempt measures you, not your memory. Afterwards: net WPM, accuracy, a consistency figure and the keys you missed most.
Zulu's 81-word bank draws on 22 characters, and they are wildly unequal in how often they turn up — the commonest is about 15% of all letters typed, the rarest a fraction of one. The lessons follow that gradient deliberately, which is why the home row comes first and the awkward reaches come last.
Accuracy first is not a slogan, it is the ordering that works. Typing Zulu quickly at a 90% hit rate is slower in practice than typing it steadily at 99%, because every error costs a backspace, a re-aim and the rhythm you had.
- Writing system
- Latin
- Keyboard layout
- Latin QWERTY family
- Direction
- left to right
- Practice words
- 81
- Distinct characters
- 22
- Average word
- 6.2 units
Characters you will press most in these Zulu words
- a74
- u72
- i53
- n50
- k41
- l27
- e25
- h24
- b16
- m16
- o16
- s14
Counted across the 81 practice words — the characters worth getting right first.
futhi ku na nge uku ngo kakhulu kahle khulu ncane sha isikhathiThree letters that are clicks
Zulu is written with the plain Latin alphabet and no diacritics at all, which makes it one of the easier languages here to type and conceals something genuinely unusual about it.
Three ordinary-looking letters represent click consonants: c is a dental click, made as in a sound of mild disapproval; q is a palatal click, like a bottle being uncorked; x is a lateral click, as used to urge on a horse. They are full consonants, they appear in everyday words, and they are why Zulu is easy to type and hard to read aloud.
Zulu also uses the digraphs and trigraphs hl, dl, ng, nk, ntsh and others extensively, and it is agglutinative, so words are long. The keyboard, though, is the one you already have.
Questions about typing in Zulu
Do I need a Zulu keyboard?
No. Nothing in these Zulu practice words leaves the 26 letter keys already printed on your keyboard, so there is nothing to install or configure.
Which Zulu keyboard layout do these tests use?
Latin QWERTY family. The 81 practice words between them use 22 of those 26, so 4 characters never come up in the practice text — these are the commonest words rather than an even sweep of the layout. The keyboard guide below the typing area shows the keys you actually press, which for an input method are the Latin ones already printed on them.
Does accuracy matter more than speed?
For a score, they are the same measurement — net WPM already penalises errors. For improving, accuracy matters more, because the fastest route to a higher number is almost always removing mistakes rather than moving your fingers faster.
How long should a Zulu typing test be?
Longer than you would like. A 15-second test measures your sprint and flatters you; over two minutes your sustainable speed shows up, along with the fact that concentration runs out. If you want one number that describes you rather than your best moment, take the longer one.
Why does my score change so much between attempts?
Partly the draw and partly you. No two runs of the Zulu typing test use the same words — they are sampled fresh from the bank each time, so one attempt can hand you a friendlier set than the next — and concentration varies more than most people credit. Take three and look at the middle one rather than the best.
What will I actually be typing in Zulu?
81 of the most common words in Zulu, drawn at random. They use 22 distinct characters between them and average 6.2 written units each, with the longest running to about 10. Short, frequent words are used on purpose: they are the ones your hands will meet most often outside a lesson, so the practice transfers.
Is Zulu hard to type?
No — Zulu is about as gentle an introduction to touch typing as exists. No accents, no layout change, a fairly compact inventory of 22 characters across the practice bank, and every key already under your fingers. Whatever difficulty you meet is the difficulty of touch typing itself, not of this language.
Do I need an account, and is it free?
No, and it is free either way. Every lesson, drill, test and game works signed out, with your progress kept in this browser. An account adds three things only: your progress and settings follow you to another device, your streak survives clearing your browser data, and you can appear on the leaderboards under a name you choose.
Also in Zulu: lessons and typing games.
Other languages written in Latin: Afrikaans, Albanian, Azerbaijani, Basque, Catalan, Cebuano. Or browse all 86 by writing system.
Further reading
- The number rowNumbers and symbols sit two rows above home, and almost nobody drills them. Which finger takes which digit, and when to use the keypad instead.
- How to type fasterSix changes that raise typing speed, in the order worth making them. Most people's fastest gain is not typing faster — it is stopping mistakes.
- What counts as a good typing speedGood depends on what you type and how accurately. A guide to the bands, why accuracy beats speed, and what employers actually ask for.