Tekoon Is Better Now: New Sounds, A Spotted Background, And The Story Behind The Name
A good name is a small story you can carry anywhere. Tekoon, the free typing game app from Nkuzify, has just had its biggest update yet: a new look, new sounds, a spotted background and two brand new games. Here is what changed, and where the name Tẹ́kùn came from in the first place.
The Story Behind The Name
People ask me where "Tekoon" comes from. It begins with a Yoruba word, Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn, the name of a spotted big cat of the African bush. Some sources translate it as the leopard, and others say it is the cheetah. In Tekoon, I stand with the cheetah: Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn is the cheetah, and Tẹ́kùn is the cheetah. Say it slowly and you can almost see the animal moving: quiet feet, watchful eyes. In everyday speech the name shortens to Tẹ́kùn.
The tone marks and the dots under the letters tell you how to say the word properly in Yoruba. The trouble is that a child typing on a phone does not have those marks on the keyboard, and a search engine does not always know what to do with them. So the name had to change shape to travel. I kept the sound, dropped the marks, and spelled it the way anyone can type it: Tekoon.
That is the road from Àmọ̀tẹ́kùn to Tẹ́kùn to Tekoon. Inside the app I still write Tẹ́kùn with its marks, because a name deserves to be written properly wherever it can be.
So when you meet the cheetah cub in our games, he is not a stand-in. He is Tẹ́kùn. The cheetah is the fastest animal on land, which is exactly the spirit of an app about speed. The name keeps its Yoruba roots, and the animal on your screen is the cheetah.
If you missed how it all started, read Tekoon: A Typing Game App For Children And Teens. And for the other name you keep seeing, Nkuzify, read How Nkuzify Came To Be: To Teach Anyone Anything.
What Is New In Tekoon
- Two new games. The fourth game is ‘Professor Mbe’, a race to the water hole. The fifth is ‘Tẹ́kùn’s Adventure’, a 50-level journey home. With ‘Paw Typing’ (the one-minute speed test), ‘Word Rush’ and ‘Cheetah Chase’, Tekoon now has five games.
- A spotted background. The plain background is gone. A soft spotted pattern now sits behind every screen.
- New icons. Every game has its own sleek icon: a paw print, claw marks, a cheetah face, a tortoise and a little cub.
- Calmer sound. The wilderness soundtrack now sits softly in the background, with breeze, birds, river and night insects. It is made to soothe, not to shout, and it can be turned down or off.
- A keyboard guide. A small on-screen keyboard shows the next key, so a beginner learns where the letters live.
- Made for every screen. On a PC the games now use the whole window. On a phone the keyboard opens by itself and the word stays in view.
Works On Every Gadget, Anywhere In The World
Tekoon is a free typing game that runs in the browser you already have, so it works on phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers. That means Android phones, iPhones, iPads, Windows PCs, Macs and Chromebooks, in Lagos, Nairobi, London or Toronto. It is a progressive web app, so there is no app store and no big download. After the first visit it also works offline.
To install it, open nkuzify.com/tekoon. On Android, tap Download As An App. On an iPhone or iPad, tap Share, then Add To Home Screen. On a PC, use the install icon in the address bar. It then sits on your home screen like any other app. It has no ads, no accounts and no sign-up.
Teens, This One Is For You
If you think you type fast, prove it. Measure your words per minute, beat the rival cheetah, then try ‘Professor Mbe’ on Hard. Typing speed is a real skill for school, for exams that are now taken on computers, and for any job you will ever want.
Adults, You Are Not Too Old
Many adults still type with two fingers, one eye on the keys. A few minutes a day in a game is the least painful way to fix that. The old Mavis Beacon typing lessons helped a whole generation, and Tekoon is built in the same spirit for phones and tablets as well as computers. Try ‘Tẹ́kùn’s Adventure’ and see how far you get.
Parents And Teachers, Share It With The Younger Ones
Please pass Tekoon on to the younger ones in your life: your children, your little brothers and sisters, your cousins, your pupils. Ten minutes a day is worth more than one long session on Sunday. Give each child their own name in the app so their progress stays their own. If you teach, it works on one shared tablet in a classroom.
Read next: ‘Professor Mbe’: The Fourth Tekoon Game and ‘Tẹ́kùn’s Adventure’: A 50-Level Typing Game.
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