Learning To Type Properly

pickledegg

pickledegg

Active member
Nov 9, 2008
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chrisjallen.com
Even though I've messed with computers for over 20 years, I have neglected to ever get the hang of touch typing. I type like a retard who only has one finger on each hand, and I think its time I put 'touch-typing' on my bucket list.

Does anyone have any tips/tools to get me started? This two-finger shit has had its day.

Thanks.
 


I rock a well-crafted "hunt n peck hybrid" quite nicely. still glancing at the keyboard while typing sometimes has to slow me down a bit. there's always dragon though
 
I got a similar problem, I spent years as a kid playing online games like COD on the PC, because of this, i can only type with my left hand and control the mouse with my right. Although i am extremely fast with my left hand it still looks retarded when i type.
 
+1 for Typing of the Dead. That's how I learned touch typing many years ago.
 
Does typing with all fingers really speed you up that much? I type with just my index fingers, plus thumbs for spacebar and ring finger for the letter A, but I had a set of touchtyping lessons once, and I could type faster with two fingers than the teacher could with all of hers (and she wasn't just some part time secretary, teaching it was her fulltime job). I didn't really find using all my fingers helped with speed, so I just stopped using them, but maybe it's because I didn't continue doing it for long enough?
 
I type with all my fingers and can easily get 75+ words a minute, if you know about efficiency then no more needs to be said..
 
ALL the touch-typing tutors

My recommendations:
· Typing Master Pro (torrented)
· Stamina (free)
· Type Faster (free)
· Klavaro (free)

If you want your kids to learn, Stamina is good and also Rapid Typing.

I've read it takes 30-60 hours of practice to get to the point where you can touchtype @ 30 words per minute (average writing speed). At that point you stop using the software, and continue improving whilst doing your normal work. To get up to 80+ words per minute with 95%+ accuracy takes many dozens more of hours of typing.

Once you've learnt to type, the most fun game I've come across for improving your speed is this one: TypeRacer
 
this is a critical skill that I a so so thankful I learned. Took it in high school and I cant even imagine using the hunt and peck. You can train yourself to type in a month or 2 its all about muscle memory and repetition. Start small and just work on the letters and type a random words or letters. There are plenty of tutorials out there just find one and dedicate 10 to 15 min a day. Or you could practice when your typing your WF responses.

And remember the little bumps on the f & j keys are your home base (for your index fingers)
 
-joe- said:
Does typing with all fingers really speed you up that much?
Click to expand...

I write about three to four times faster.

I have no idea how you guys can be gay webmasters and only use two fingers. That's something only grandmas do. Hilarious..
 
Damn I learned how to type in jr. high. I couldn't imagine looking at the keyboard to type.
We had our hands covered and the screen covered when I learned how to type. It really
doesn't take that long to learn. I learned how to type in one semester when I was 12.
Just find a program and its pretty much like a game. Those little bumps on the f an the
j are your friend use them. HOME ROW ftw
 
You've got to learn your home keys otherwise if you try to speed up you're just gonna go back to your two finger approach.

Basically you need to learn your home keys and start teaching your fingers what finger hits what key.

Like your 'f' finger handles and shares all the keys in the middle with the index finger that is sitting on the 'J' key.

You need to start one finger at a time.

'a' hits z,q etc... so the programs are going to make you type all sorts of gibberish like

azq azq azq azq azq qaz qaz qaz qaz qaz 100 times until your pinky is 'trained' to hit those keys by muscle memory... do that for each finger and then practice with every day typing and AIM and you're good to go.
 
Yes. It helps a lot. I switched to colemak for fun, and after I switched back to qwerty, I realized then, that I never actually learned to touch type properly in qwerty.

I use Type Faster, it's the one that Chitataia recommended. You start out with lessons that use specific fingerings and rolls (don't know the proper terminology), and then gradually start adding more letters. Just put your fingers on the home row and let it rip.

I found it easiest to start touch typing in leisure activities for awhile, like chatting to friends on FB/aim, and then gradually switching over to the more boring/important stuff.
I'm only around ~80wpm which is pretty slow, but gradually improving it. It is a lot easier to type things closer to the speeds at which I talk normally.
 
i had a college roommate who could type 140 words a minute. he was basically a typing savant. words would just appear in bursts, as if out of the mouth of a stutterer. it was pretty amazing to watch.
 
pat J said:
I write about three to four times faster.

I have no idea how you guys can be gay webmasters and only use two fingers. That's something only grandmas do. Hilarious..
Click to expand...
Wow, that's a big difference.

But I type around 70-75 wpm with 2 fingers. Do you think there'd be much benefit in bothering using all fingers?
 
We had to take this shit in like 5th grade.. They covered the keyboard with a thin orange plastic mold that covered the keys and there were different levels on this program that you had to complete. Shit, its 2011 - If you're under 25 you should have learned that shit in school, early on.
 
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