Do you type properly?

[GoldenEagle]

I am trying to learn how to type properly. How many of you do?

it took me 2 minutes to type this.

[Draft Dodger]

no.

i do type rather quickly, mostly using index and middle fingers. but I'm definitely not typing the "right" way.

[stkelly52]

If it took you two minutes to type that, then it would behoove you to learn how to type properly. It makes working on the computer much easier.

That said, I do usually still look at my fingers as I type, I only use the left shift key, and I still rest my palms on the bottom of the keyboard. All things that I was lectured about when I was taking my typing class

[Draft Dodger]

i think the idea was that it took him 2 minutes to type it the correct way (asdf)

[sabotai]

Nope, I don't type properly at all. I think I mostly use index fingers, I know I use my thumbs the press the space bar. I don't know. I've been developing my own system since I was 7 or 8 when I had a C64. I type quite fast now.

[MacroGuru]

I type mainly with 3 or 4 fingers per hand but I am on an ergo keyboard, so I am generally pretty fast at it, and I do not have to look at my fingers or the keyboard anymore. I still avg close to 65 to 70 wpm....

[BigJohn&TheLions]

Nope. I don't type good. It takes a while, but it gets done. I mostly look at the keyboard and use multiple fingers, but can't do it the right way. When I see someone do it the right way it really blows my mind how fast they can go... I took a typing class in H.S., but broke my right hand really badly about a week in. It pissed the teacher off to have to give a guy credit in a class for typing with one hand. I think he thought I did it intentionally...

[Deattribution]

I type properly... once you get use to it, makes things much much easier... I never even have to look at the keyboard.. makes typing almost like talking once you adjust.

[SnowMan]

I type properly, except that I always use the left shit key, no matter what. Someday I'll break that habit. Good typing skills are the best way to win a chat-room fight, because you can type and read at the same time, firing back quickly with witty retorts and scathing insults. ...or so I've heard.

[GoldenEagle]

I can type fast normally but it is the appeal of being able to type faster that is driving this.

[Karlifornia]

I type properly, except that I always use the left shit key, no matter what. Someday I'll break that habit. Good typing skills are the best way to win a chat-room fight, because you can type and read at the same time, firing back quickly with witty retorts and scathing insults. ...or so I've heard.


If my computer had a "shit key", then I'd not only win more chat-room fights, but I'd be a walking reference guide.

[MikeVic]

I don't type properly at all. I use the index, middle, and pinky fingers the most, while looking at the keyboard a majority of the time. I CAN type properly if I wanted, but I seem to type so much faster with the way I'm currently doing it.

[Fonzie]

I type "properly" - thanks to having taken a typing class back in high school. In retrospect it was one of the most useful skills I developed during that time. And I can tell you that it makes a world of difference with regard to typing speed and error reduction. Back in that class we would time ourselves in words-typed-per-minute, and I was routinely in the 50-55 WPM range. Most of that speed comes from practicing the proper typing "technique."

A more practical example of the benefits of proper typing technique can be seen in what I was doing during this very post: because I didn't need to stare at the keyboard while typing this, I was able to utilize my eyeballs for absorbing the critical information contained in the hardcore pornographic pictures I had downloading in a separate window. Sweet, huh? ;)

[Desnudo]

I took typing in 8th grade. Probably the only thing I remember from any class that year.

[Eaglesfan27]

My mom was a secretary who started teaching me to type when I was 5. As a result, I type "properly." I usually can type about 90 WPM with only a few mistakes. However, my mistake rate has been rising lately.

[SnowMan]

If my computer had a "shit key", then I'd not only win more chat-room fights, but I'd be a walking reference guide. Haha! Apparently my f key only works when I actually hit it...strange...

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I type properly, except that I always use the left shit key, no matter what. Someday I'll break that habit. Good typing skills are the best way to win a chat-room fight, because you can type and read at the same time, firing back quickly with witty retorts and scathing insults. ...or so I've heard.

But then how do you masterbate while typing?

[SnowMan]

Doesn't everyone have 3 arms?

[Vince]

Yeah -- I don't even know where I picked it up, since I never took a course.

[wade moore]

I took a class about 10 years ago in high school and as others mentioned, it is probably the most useful class I took in High School...

It makes me able to my job faster, made me able to write papers much faster in College, makes me able to more effectively multi-task, etc.. It's nice to be able to correct errors on the fly because you are watching the screen as you type and see them as they happen...

Right now I type around 100 words a minute... Best I've done is 107 words a minute with no errors...

[gottimd]

6 hours past and no "Do you wipe properly?" thread.

[PilotMan]

I went through college never typing properly, even though by 20+ page reports never seemed to take that long. Now, mainly because of FOFC, hattrick, and various other things I am typing properly, and improving greatly. I still make a ton of errors, but am working on that. I am guessing in the 40wpm range.

[Blackadar]

I took a class about 10 years ago in high school and as others mentioned, it is probably the most useful class I took in High School...

It makes me able to my job faster, made me able to write papers much faster in College, makes me able to more effectively multi-task, etc.. It's nice to be able to correct errors on the fly because you are watching the screen as you type and see them as they happen...

Right now I type around 100 words a minute... Best I've done is 107 words a minute with no errors...

Ditto. Except I never learned how to type quite that fast. I was always in the 40 WPM range

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog...how many times I have typed that sentence?

[Balldog]

I type with my own variation of the "proper" way.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I agree with the others about the value of typing class in high school, and like them, feel like it was the most useful class I had there.

That said, I think practice (using the skill regularly, not doing drills or such) is the most important thing now. That's based on the difference in my typing ability today versus 10 years ago. Then, I spent probably a couple of hours a day typing non-stop & I was around 80 wpm. Now, with most of my typing taking place in Excel a few characters at a time instead of text, when I try to type longform stuff, I'm down to about 50 or so wpm.

[Huckleberry]

I echo some of the above comments. I'm not sure that I type "properly", but I don't have to look at the keyboard and I use all my fingers. I never took a typing class, although my mother bought me a typing software program back in the day. I learned how to align my fingers from that program, but then I just skipped straight to the practice tests, etc. No time for learning. Trial and error, baby.

I too am a left shift key elitist. That damn right shift key is too far away from the rest of the commonly used keys.

And I really don't understand how some of you can create so many and such long posts without typing more quickly than you're claiming right now.

[MJ4H]

I type somewhat normally but not totally. Like I know I do weird things like hit the Y key with different fingers sometimes. But mostly I type normally. In fact, I was paying attention when I typed this, and I almost alternated which hand I use to hit the Y key. Sometimes left, sometimes right. Other than that it's pretty close to normal for me. I've taken tests recently because some people wanted to know how fast I type and I'm in the high 80s in WPM pretty consistently.

[Suicane75]

6 hours past and no "Do you wipe properly?" thread.


We've been admonished. :(


And i don;t have to look at what im tyypoeuing butm i go pently hast as well.

[cuervo72]

I type properly, except that I always use the left shit key, no matter what. Someday I'll break that habit. Good typing skills are the best way to win a chat-room fight, because you can type and read at the same time, firing back quickly with witty retorts and scathing insults. ...or so I've heard.

Hey, I'm the same way with the left-shift for whatever reason.

I took a couple of classes in typing as electives, so I type pretty well. Well, except for now when I'm really really conscious about it. I think I gave up having to look at the keys long ago, and usually know immediately when I've made a mistake. One summer in college I took a typing test at a temp agency, and scored close to 50 wpm? Something pretty high. What did they immediately ask if I could do? Lift boxes. So much for stereotypes.

I'd say my typing reached its fastest when I started mudding in college. I'd play two characters at once, and actually have arguments between them (on two different terminals with two different keyboards). I've gotten slower since then, though various boards and a chat or two have brought my skills back up somewhat.

[wade moore]

I agree with the others about the value of typing class in high school, and like them, feel like it was the most useful class I had there.

That said, I think practice (using the skill regularly, not doing drills or such) is the most important thing now. That's based on the difference in my typing ability today versus 10 years ago. Then, I spent probably a couple of hours a day typing non-stop & I was around 80 wpm. Now, with most of my typing taking place in Excel a few characters at a time instead of text, when I try to type longform stuff, I'm down to about 50 or so wpm.

I should qualify -- I typed about 45-50 words when I left the class. My repeated use has had it fluctuate up and down with my increase in the last few years beginning with working at a help desk where I was an agent for about a year and had to get information into trouble tickets very quickly on the fly... now I am not on the phones so I probably do not type quite as fast.

[cartman]

Nope, I don't type properly at all. I think I mostly use index fingers, I know I use my thumbs the press the space bar. I don't know. I've been developing my own system since I was 7 or 8 when I had a C64. I type quite fast now.

What he said, except I use more than mostly index fingers. I too was self taught on early computers (TRS-80, VIC-20, C-64), so I developed my own style. It works pretty well for me. I'll use both hands, but sometimes they are both on the right side of they keyboard, other times they are both on the left. I tried to take a typing class in high school to learn the "proper" way, but after the 1st week, the teacher told me it was hopeless. She would cringe everytime she saw me type. :)

[JeeberD]

Took a typing class my freshman year of high school, so typing properly isn't a problem most of the time...

[BrianD]

For those that spend a lot of time on a computer and haven't learned proper typing habits, it would probably be helpful to learn. I never took a typing class, so I had to force myself into learning the proper habits. When I started this process, my WPM score dropped from 30-35 down to about 5, but they eventually went up to about 75. It is quite painful in the beginning, but it helps in the long run.

Once you learn proper typing, you can even continue to type messages on this forum while looking at the co-worker by your desk and pretending to listen to him/her.

[rkmsuf]

Looking back typing class was the greatest class ever taken.

I'm in the type properly, don't generally have to look camp. Doesn't mean I type well since I go too fast at times.

[tategter]

I also took a class in HS so I type fairly well. My mom was also a secretary and tought me how to increase my typing speed once the key locations are memorized. Worked pretty well since I can now type faster than most receptionists I know.

[digamma]

asdf jkl;

[judicial clerk]

and I do not have to look at my fingers or the keyboard anymore.

This si the key.

[vtbub]

30 WPM one key at a time.

[gottimd]

Typing Test (http://www.careerstep.com/typeintro.html)

68 WPM blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back and my co-worker throwing trout at me from the adjacent cube.

[Ksyrup]

78 WPM.

[gottimd]

79 WPM

[Glengoyne]

I'm consistently in the area of 40 wpm. I do better(50+) when typing longish documents for a few days in a row. If you want to imporve your typing skills, I really reccomend Mavis Bacon(Beecomb)? Teaches Typing. It is bargain bin stuff, and it helps. Also popcap.com has a nifty typing game with sharks.

[NoMyths]

90 WPM.

[Franklinnoble]

I took a typing class for two semesters in high school. Mostly because the teacher was a hottie, and liked to lean over my shoulder and show me what I was doing wrong.

But, yeah, knowing how to type properly definately has helped me throughout my professional career. I wouldn't want to go back to the days of hunt 'n peck.

[Wolfpack]

I also had a typing class in 9th grade. Quite possibly the most important class I ever took in high school WRT to where I ended up in life (programmer). I still have the nagging problem of my mind outracing my fingers and therefore typing in a dyslexic fashion sometimes (that and fat fingers). Still can get 65-75 WPM, though.

[Ben E Lou]

I took typing in Junior High, and I generally type properly although I stray from my teachings a bit when I have to type numbers.

I got 94 GWPM, 88NWPM on the test given above.

[hhiipp]

I type with the proper fingers and all that jazz, but for some reason I still have problems with the numbers. Could be due to not exactly having long fingers or just a lack of numeral usage. Unl355 1'm typ1ng a11 l337 s7yl3.

[hhiipp]

Dola:

Gross Words Per Minute (GWPM): 79
Net Words Per Minute (NWPM): 77

Bastards graded me down 2 net words per minute because I was mid-word when the time ran out.

[PilotMan]

I scored a 45-50 on the test. Better than I thought, but if I can get my mistakes down it will be much faster.

[Barkeep49]

When I bother to "practice" or am retyping something that I orignally wrote I can get in the 100s. At the moment the test graded me at 88 new wpm which was actually higher than I was expecting as I often get in the 70s on these sort of tests.

As many have already mentioned I too am a left-shifter and numbers slow me down quite a bit.

[rkmsuf]

Real pressure was using a typewriter. This word processer stuff is child's play.

[Fonzie]

Wow. I'm better than I thought.

Gross Words Per Minute (GWPM): 110
Net Words Per Minute (NWPM): 109

[korme]

i took a typing class in 8th grade and my senior year.

i still type with my index and middle fingers only.

fastly, however! :)

[BrianD]

Gross Words Per Minute (GWPM): 88
Net Words Per Minute (NWPM): 86

[Raiders Army]

81, 81

[Glengoyne]

55 - 53 Some of you folks are amazing.

[Eaglesfan27]

91 and 89. Right about where I expected.

[terpkristin]

Career Step Typing Test
<hr> Gross Words Per Minute (GWPM): 95
Net Words Per Minute (NWPM): 95

Not too bad. That was on my laptop with a keyboard I'm intimately familiar with. When I try to do things, for example, on my dad's laptop, I get a little messed up because of minor variations in the size of his keyboard and positions of some of the keys. Granted, I took typing my sophomore year of high school and have done nothing but type most of my schoolwork through college (including my oh so fun thesis), so I've had a lot of practice.

/tk