Why symbols feel so awkward
Almost every symbol requires a shifted reach to the edges of the keyboard, where the weakest fingers work. Unlike letters, symbols appear in unpredictable positions rather than in familiar word shapes, so pattern recognition cannot rescue you — each one has to be found deliberately.
Pairs before singles
Delimiters travel in pairs, so practise them as pairs: `()`, `[]`, `{}`, `<>`, and the quote characters. Training the opening and closing motion as one unit is markedly faster than learning each character in isolation and assembling them later.