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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Touch typing
#18318194 - 05/25/13 10:42 AM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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Some how, I made it through my 35 years without learning to type by touch. It's never been a problem before, but since I've been learning programming it's been a real burden. Today I decided to do something about it. I bought a super ergonomic keyboard and have been (painfully slow) typing everything with correct form.
For those of you closer to my age that learned to touch type later in life, how long did it take you to get good at it?
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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Dark_Star
train driver pervading a desktop


Registered: 08/20/04
Posts: 31,859
Loc: Uranus
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Re: Touch typing [Re: automan] 1
#18318210 - 05/25/13 10:46 AM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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Touch type? You mean the method where you use all your fingers? I still use the hunt & peck method.
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Cynosure
allow me to be your guide.


Registered: 10/06/09
Posts: 4,228
Last seen: 11 months, 11 days
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Re: Touch typing [Re: automan]
#18318232 - 05/25/13 10:52 AM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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It didn't take me long at all; however, we had to take a class back in middle school on learning to type. I've been using computers heavily ever since. It didn't take more than a semester for me to get the hang of it and before long I was typing 120WPM with only a few errors.
I'd say the ergonomic keyboard (if they're the ones split in half) will probably kill your progress as when you're placed in a setting without one you will be useless.
There are many websites that have "typing speed tests" and other games to help improve typing skills. Start slow, until you've learned the placement, and keep at it. It may help to hide your keyboard, on the pull-out sliding keyboard rack (if your computer desk has one), behind the front of the desk.
From the site here: http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
I just scored and haven't attempted anything like this in many years:
Quote:
Your speed was: 112wpm.
You made 2 mistakes, your mistakes are shown in bold text:
Programming always slows me down with '{}.->==+-()" symbols like that. However, if you find yourself a nice IDE (like Visual Studio 2012) these types of things will auto-fill for you.
EDIT - You also don't have to be "proper". When growing up, we were always taught that certain fingers hit certain buttons; however, I developed my own style. For instance, I use my middle finger to hit "o, p, k, l" and use my pinkie for everything to the right of that. They say using the pinkie is supposed to use less muscle movement, but I don't buy it. My pinkies simply don't work like that.
-------------------- "You can peel it [language] off the ceiling and make it dance in front of you" - McKenna <3 .
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Quote:
Dark_Star said: Touch type? You mean the method where you use all your fingers? I still use the hunt & peck method. 
Yeah, touch typing uses all 10 fingers without ever looking at the keyboard.
Up until now, I had an advanced hunt and peck style that was super fast, but I had to keep looking down at the keyboard.
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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blackhawk
Newton's Law of Majesticity



Registered: 04/02/11
Posts: 8,465
Loc: Where Jimmies are Rustled
Last seen: 1 hour, 37 minutes
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I learned how to use home row keys in my freshman year of high school, but I only used it for that one class. Never used it afterwards.
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abltsandwich
JFK = Jelly Donut




Registered: 06/16/09
Posts: 11,537
Loc: Dildoville
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Re: Touch typing [Re: automan]
#18318249 - 05/25/13 10:56 AM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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Use a standard keyboard. Those split in half ones fucking suck. So do laptop keyboards and Mac keyboards.
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Cyclohexylamine
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out



Registered: 09/08/10
Posts: 14,327
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Re: Touch typing [Re: automan]
#18318260 - 05/25/13 10:59 AM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
automan said:
Quote:
Dark_Star said: Touch type? You mean the method where you use all your fingers? I still use the hunt & peck method. 
Yeah, touch typing uses all 10 fingers without ever looking at the keyboard.
Up until now, I had an advanced hunt and peck style that was super fast, but I had to keep looking down at the keyboard.
Still haven't mastered 10 finger typing. I use two to three fingers and can type extremely quickly - and my job is as a software eng. so my entire day consists of a lot of typing. I do not have to look at the keys though - I know the placements of them now by heart.
-------------------- Yes this is tymo - I just changed my name Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to awake from that dream? How would you know the difference between that dream world and the real world? There is NOTHING better than feeling that warm dissociative fuzz creeping up your body from IM K Something abut that anaesthetic rush... Qualitative Research Chemical Effects and Experiences The Wonderful World of Methoxetamine The 3-Meo-PCP Chapters, Part One
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Dark_Star
train driver pervading a desktop


Registered: 08/20/04
Posts: 31,859
Loc: Uranus
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When I was a youngin' my parents had me use the Mavis Beacon teaches typing program. I thought it was lame, didn't see the point & didn't want to learn, so I blew it off. The hunt & peck method works for me though.....I don't do any programming though, so I do kinda wish that I knew how to type now, but not enough to learn.
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abltsandwich
JFK = Jelly Donut




Registered: 06/16/09
Posts: 11,537
Loc: Dildoville
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I want a Swype-like keyboard for the PC. Shit's so ballin' on my Android phone.
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Lynnch
Strangerer



Registered: 04/29/09
Posts: 7,855
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I dunno ive been on a computer for most of my life, so I hardly even think about typing anymore... Though I was too trained in elementary/middle school -whole nine yards, they would cover our hands with a cloth during tests. I think quick backspace use is more essential than proper 10 finger usage.
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
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Re: Touch typing [Re: Lynnch]
#18318425 - 05/25/13 11:38 AM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yeah, I "hunt and peck" and feel like I do pretty well. I can actually type without looking at the keyboard.
Very often I'm typing sentences from scratch so I don't need to transcribe and/or read anything else. Have to re-type something slows me down quite a bit. I guess I'm only 50-60 wpm when transcribing (e.g. retyping) and 75-85 when writing something new.
All be said though, it's more important for me to develop the actual content, not necessarily do it quickly.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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VivaLaMushie
RIP LS :(


Registered: 07/23/12
Posts: 15,711
Loc: Switzerland
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Re: Touch typing [Re: badchad]
#18318558 - 05/25/13 12:19 PM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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I used a WEBTV growing up, chatting with random people in chat rooms. By 7th grade I had the record for the schools fastest WPM.
I haven't had to look at the keyboard to type in, well, years. The split keyboards are a little more challenging but I love typing.
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SurReality
PsychAdemic


Registered: 12/21/06
Posts: 11,808
Loc: Colorado, USA
Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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i learned it pretty young but i don't think its like learning a language or anything. it should be something you can learn completely in a few weeks without looking at the key board and get fast the more you type like that... if you get a typing program and put in at least an hour everyday.
i know a lot of people use the forums by phone, i use it by laptop because for me its way simpler having a keyboard... until i start getting a little intoxicated and i end up with a bunch of typos... also i don't think a mac/laptop keyboard is much different, it take some adjustment switch from a desktop to a laptop but nothing that should stop you from being able to type at a similar pace.
-------------------- ProDOPEFiend Diary: (my public diary) PodCast
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teamkiller
ghetto drama whore



Registered: 06/06/11
Posts: 8,806
Last seen: 3 months, 11 days
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i learned typing because i played starcraft. Couldn't look away from the screen and no voice chat.
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psi
TOAST N' JAM


Registered: 09/05/99
Posts: 31,456
Loc: 613
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I learned touch typing when I was doing a job that involved a lot of data entry. I have since switched back to hunt and peck though.
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pwnasaurus
Stranger



Registered: 07/16/08
Posts: 12,317
Loc: Canada
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Re: Touch typing [Re: badchad]
#18318737 - 05/25/13 12:59 PM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
badchad said: Yeah, I "hunt and peck" and feel like I do pretty well. I can actually type without looking at the keyboard.
Very often I'm typing sentences from scratch so I don't need to transcribe and/or read anything else. Have to re-type something slows me down quite a bit. I guess I'm only 50-60 wpm when transcribing (e.g. retyping) and 75-85 when writing something new.
All be said though, it's more important for me to develop the actual content, not necessarily do it quickly.
You can hunt-and-peck at 85 wpm? I find that hard to believe. That's a ridiculous hunt-and-peck.
I type around 120 wpm - I got my mom to buy me Mavis Beacon (a learn to type program) when I was in grade 3 and I mastered it pretty quickly. I'd say it took 2-3 weeks before I was faster typing than hunting and pecking, and from there you get faster just by virtue of typing all day.
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SurReality
PsychAdemic


Registered: 12/21/06
Posts: 11,808
Loc: Colorado, USA
Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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yea obviously you type faster when typing your own words that typing someone elses... although that will also get you to not look at the keyboard because you need to see the screen to know what your typing unless you have a really good memory.
-------------------- ProDOPEFiend Diary: (my public diary) PodCast
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,372
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Quote:
pwnasaurus said: You can hunt-and-peck at 85 wpm? I find that hard to believe. That's a ridiculous hunt-and-peck.
Maybe closer to 70? I'm not entirely sure. Usually on "typing tests" like the one above, I get 55-60 wpm. When I'm writing non-scripted things, I can type much, much faster.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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SurReality
PsychAdemic


Registered: 12/21/06
Posts: 11,808
Loc: Colorado, USA
Last seen: 1 year, 6 months
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Re: Touch typing [Re: badchad]
#18318911 - 05/25/13 01:44 PM (10 years, 8 months ago) |
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i can type non script things faster just using one finger:
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
i typed 100 characters in less that ten seconds
-------------------- ProDOPEFiend Diary: (my public diary) PodCast
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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I got a split keyboard this morning and it's been helping a lot
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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