Can You Touch Type?

[garro]

I was just wondering if many members of TV can touch type?

I tend to only use 1 finger or two on a good day but I can move fairly fast.

Is touch typing worth the effort to learn and how long does it take?

[markg]

I was just wondering if many members of TV can touch type?

I tend to only use 1 finger or two on a good day but I can move fairly fast.

Is touch typing worth the effort to learn and how long does it take?

Yes, i touch type.

It is supposed to be a little harder to learn for folk like you who already know where the keys are and are in bad habits ! However, it took me maybe a month to learn.

There are exercises that you should do which involve using a book, which gets you to type a series of letters that are only on one row of the keyboard. Once you've mastered those letters, you do another row on the keyboard. Then the two rows together. Then learn the 3rd row. Then all 3 rows together.

It takes quite a lot of perseverence BUT its worth it. We will all by typing more in the future.

I touch type at over 70 words per minute, which is pretty quick.

They key to this is to not cheat and look at the keyboard - however tempting it is. In fact, i now get confused if i try to look at the keyboard.

[PeaceBlondie]

I went to a 'state school' that didn't require us to fight in the schoolyard, so it was quite acceptable to take 'personal typing' as an extra elective, which I did at age 16. It paid dividends the rest of my life, long before the world converted to keyboards. Between two shoulder surgeries and a stroke, the fingers don't reach the remote keys like they used to, but I could probably still hit 48 words a minute. After these three recent incidents, I just got my fingers back into practice. I cannot imagine how you guys type with one or two fingers, but some folks are quite fast.

I recommend touch typing.

[Ijustwannateach]

I took a year of typing (on the old IBM Selectrics) in junior high school and as PB said, it has paid dividends all my life. By the end of college, I could type faster than most professional secretaries (and still do).

[RueFang]

Touch typing is extremely handy...no looking at the keyboard required and very fast, although I still have to look at the numbers!! Some people are super fast 2 finger typers so if you're happy doing that don't bother learning a new trick, but I find not having to look at the keyboard makes things easier and faster. There's heaps of free programs on the web to help learn to touch type.

[lazeeboy]

Touch typing is extremely handy...no looking at the keyboard required and very fast, although I still have to look at the numbers!! Some people are super fast 2 finger typers so if you're happy doing that don't bother learning a new trick, but I find not having to look at the keyboard makes things easier and faster. There's heaps of free programs on the web to help learn to touch type.

whats touch typeing ? how am i suppose to hold my fag and type ,impossibe..

[tuky]

It is not too hard to learn if you want to. I used a program with a lovely dark skinned woman as the tutor, Auntie Mavis or something like that. I never did get to the end which is a shame as I had really started to pick it up.

I am quite fast for two fingers and only need to look at the keyboard half the time, thanks for this thread as it has got me thinking about starting up again.

[girlx]

i took typing classes in school and failed miserably at touch typing, but now thati have been working on the computer for years i do it automatically, without thinking.

[chownah]

I can touch type the numbers!!!!!! the ones at the top of the keyboard, not the number key pad!!!! One of the tasks assigned me in my first engineering intern jobs was to type in a vast amount of numerical data (traffic counts)so that it could be analyzed digitally...I mean a couple of weeks worth of typing numbers all day long. I figured that if they were going to give me this sh1t work then I was going to take advantage of it by learning to touch type the numbers(at the top of the keyboard)...it was easy....just don't don't don't look at your fingers...just look at the screen and if you make a mistake then correct it without looking at your fingers...don't loook...don't don't don't. It was really amazing at how quickly you will learn if you just don't loooook...nonononononononnoono...STOP LOOKING.

[bendix]

yeap . i touch type.

I don't know how I learnt - it just developed over time.

[OneeyedJohn]

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Repeat, repeat, repeat

[tropo]

I was just wondering if many members of TV can touch type?

I tend to only use 1 finger or two on a good day but I can move fairly fast.

Is touch typing worth the effort to learn and how long does it take?

If you want to convert from "hunt and peck" typing to touch typing it's going to require a lot of dedication because you will slow down and get very frustrated before you start to improve to a level faster than your current speed.

Your finger dexterity and size will also play a large role in how you will ultimately succeed as a touch typist. If you're old, and have big hands it could be very difficult to touch type. Keyboards were not really designed for large-handed males. I have large hands, but I used to play a lot of piano, so finger dexterity was already there before I started. I chose to learn touch typing from the first time I used a computer keyboard.

I used 2 exceptional programs to learn and I would recommend if you intend to learn the craft that you have a look at them:

1. Fastype

2. TypingMaster

I did a thorough search for the very best programs and these 2 are probably the best. They are not free, but are worth the small investment.

[gburns57au]

I touch the button it types.......amazing !!!

Do this count???

[tropo]

yeap . i touch type.

I don't know how I learnt - it just developed over time.

Come on Bendex, pull the othe leg.

9 fingers cannot magically learn exactly where to stike on a keyboard.

[Scott]

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

That's the warm up phrase I was taught when touch typing.

I can and do--about 120 words per minute.

The funny thing is, if I am looking for a key on a keyboard, I can't find it. I only know touch typing. Had a fantastic, fanatical and mean teacher--he used to walk around with a wooden stick and if he saw anybody look at the keyboard they got wacked.

I don't think I ever looked a keyboard.

[Galong]

Yep, I can type as fast as I talk... I majored in Eastern Philosophy and I taped all of my classes. I typed my notes when I got home. Over the course of time, it just happened.

Now, I can watch TV while working. I don't give it a thought at all. Furthermore, I use keystroke shortcuts more than the mouse. In other words, I'm fine with the other keys such as shift, ctrl and alt. I still look at the "F" buttons though.

[tropo]

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

That's the warm up phrase I was taught when touch typing.

I can and do--about 120 words per minute.

The funny thing is, if I am looking for a key on a keyboard, I can't find it. I only know touch typing. Had a fantastic, fanatical and mean teacher--he used to walk around with a wooden stick and if he saw anybody look at the keyboard they got wacked.

I don't think I ever looked a keyboard.

Not that I don't believe you, but only some extremely advanced typists can type that fast. You'd have to be a career typist to attain those speeds.

A sustained typing speed of 150 wpm (50 minutes) is a world record.

.

[Tywais]

9 fingers cannot magically learn exactly where to stike on a keyboard.

Difficulttoaddspaceswithonlythefingers.

[tropo]

9 fingers cannot magically learn exactly where to stike on a keyboard.

Difficulttoaddspaceswithonlythefingers.

Tryusingyourrightthumbwhichistheusualmethodforaddingspaces.

Your left thumb is not used in standard touch typing...hence 9 fingers...or more precisely, 8 fingers and 1 thumb.

Edited August 16, 2007 by tropo

[mellow1]

Firefox has an add-on called Addictive Typing Lessons.It's helpful,and it helped me learn where the keys are.I'm sure if I practiced it a little everyday I would soon type more quickly.It's of course my fault that I don't.Check it out it's free,and it works.Just depends how motivated you are.

[GuestHouse]

I learned to touch type on a work placement durnig my degree. I sat next to an old school secretary who insisted I learn to type because 'it offended her eyes and ears to see me bashing the keyboard'.

I think even back then I knew what a blessing she was giving me.

[Big A]

.....I tend to only use 1 finger or two on a good day but I can move fairly fast.

OK, Garro. Childish double entendre over!!

Aithníonn cíaróg cíaróg eile!!!

Edited August 16, 2007 by Big A

[calibanjr.]

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Repeat, repeat, repeat

Yup, that's what Mrs. Perkins (still remember her 25 years later from H.S.) made us type incessantly, among other phrases, but that was one the one I remember most.

[Carmine6]

9 fingers cannot magically learn exactly where to stike on a keyboard.

Difficulttoaddspaceswithonlythefingers.

Tryusingyourrightthumbwhichistheusualmethodforaddingspaces.

Your left thumb is not used in standard touch typing...hence 9 fingers...or more precisely, 8 fingers and 1 thumb.

Hm, if you had asked me if I use my left thumb for the spacebar while typing normally I would have said of course. But then I taped my thumb down to make sure and absolutely no hinderance in regular typing.

[Payboy]

Can You Touch Type?

No, but my secretary can.

mine too, i only have to touch her in the right places....

[chinthee]

I learned to touch type when I was about 16, and believe it or not, was over 100 words per minute at one point. Today, I'm mostly all thumbs but probably can still do over 60 or so.

I guess I can always get a job in the secretarial pool if things go sideways....

I'll do you one better, I can type in several language keyboards, including a cyrillic one.

Edited August 16, 2007 by chinthee

[Tywais]

[Your left thumb is not used in standard touch typing...hence 9 fingers...or more precisely, 8 fingers and 1 thumb.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

Never noticed before, but yeah - right thumb only. Been doing it for so long never think about it. Beginning typing and advanced typing in high school. Then while in the military, communications specialist using teletype machines. 100-110 words per minute on a good day.

//Edit - in case some may not know what the sentence in italics is all about, it is a standard speed typing sequence using all the most commonly used characters.

Edited August 16, 2007 by Tywais

[meadish_sweetball]

I've typed through an entire course of touch typing but did not stick to it; the result is that I don't have to look at the keyboard anymore, but I don't use nine fingers as in regular touch typing, and don't use the base position recommended either. Instead, my hands rest flat on the keyboard with my index finger on 'E' and my left index finger around J/K.

I only use six fingers (plus both thumbs).

I use either of the thumbs for hitting the space bar, my little fingers for Enter, Shift and Ctrl, and I type in letters and numbers with with the index and middle fingers on both hands.

Works ok.

[garro]

Well I'm convinced so I'll give some of the typing applications a try.

I found one aimed at children on the BBC website and it seems very low intensity but unfortunately it is full of annoying children's songs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/about/

I might give some of the other ones mentioned here a try

[PeaceBlondie]

Like Scott, if I have to revert to one fingered typing, I will have to look to find where each key is. My recent disabilities proved that the keys were in places I'd hardly ever noticed. I forced my fingers to relearn their keys. Lately, though, my hands don't return to the keyboard properly after I lift them to use the number keypad or one of the furthest keys. ykrm o gomf ,udr;g fpomh yjod/ (which means, now I find myself doing this).

Last week my keyboard lost its a and q, and I was hopeless. We ran out and got a new board for 550 baht.