Poll: When did you learn to type?

[DanDeFool]

By learning to type, I mean learning to type without looking at the keyboard; strictly using muscle memory.

I learned when I was in middle school (probably about 13). They had a few classes where they taught basic computer skills; I can't remember if they were mandatory or elective. I'm glad they did; High School would have been next to impossible if I had not learned to type. Nowadays, I can't imagine what my life would be like if I didn't know how to type. It's a skill I use almost constantly.

So when did you learn how to type? Did you take a class, or were you self-taught? What made you want to learn how to type?

EDIT: I just realized that not all the options are showing on the poll. I meant to have options for post-high school up to 40+ years, but the only one that shows up is "I can't type."

I didn't mean to sound like people who didn't learn how to type before they were 18 shouldn't participate. Sorry.

EDIT 2: Damn, now I really screwed it up. Oh well, I guess I'll just leave it until I figure out what I'm doing wrong.

 

[Treblaine]

I can only barely type entirely by touch, especially as I am all the time using different types of keyboards all day. Normally I have to look down every now and again to reassess my finger position. I can still type quicker than I can write.

But why can't I look at the keypad as I type? It's like being required to write without looking at what you are doing and many keyboard are backlit and loads of professional work laptops have LED lights or something to make the the keys are always visible even when it is pitch dark.

I never use the touch nobles, they are almost always FAR too small to find quickly, though my left hand is somehow always able find the WASD position so I work from there.

 

[HolidayBrick]

I played a crapload of starcraft online. I had to learn to type to communicate/trash talk.

 

[Emberwolf]

My answer is both quite cool and quite sad. By the time I was 6 I knew how to touch type 'load' 'input' 'return' 'save' 'stop' etc.

We had a Commodore 64 and I played it A LOT.

For proper touch typing, it was when I was about 10 or 11. I'm a writer, so lots of typing meant I just got used to it.

 

[Shock and Awe]

I actually can't type to well without looking at the keyboard at least a little, but I am doing it right now and not going to slow, but I can still type faster when I am looking.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Typing? Started out playing on a typewriter as a little kid and pretending to be one of those 'hackers' you saw in movies. Moved on to a Commodore 64 and typed on that for the better part of a decade before moving on to a PC.

I never learned to touch type the 'right' way, so while I can type 90 WPM easily I was basically kicked out of typing in high school because sometimes I hit a key with the wrong finger. I could've stayed I suppose, but only if I started over in the junior typing class. Yeah, to hell with that. Didn't help that it took me only half of the first class to learn to hate the teacher. Her pronouncement that my "horrible" typing technique would be a career limiter was, as I thought at the time, a load of bull. I've yet to meet an employer who cares. My clerical jobs involved a typing test to see if I could do the speed I said with no errors - if I typed by slamming my face into the keyboard, they wouldn't care as long as error-free copy comes from it. My technical jobs didn't even involve that much. (What can I say? Most of us are as comfortable in a CLI as a GUI. A fast typing speed isn't needed but is almost a given for a geek.)

 

[skitzo van]

Well I never learned how to type the damn numbers, but I still learned the majority of typing in sixth grade.

 

[Hollock]

like when I was 7. My dad still hunts and pecks.

 

[Formica Archonis]

But why can't I look at the keypad as I type?

If composing something, you can look at the screen to see what's being typed and thus catch errors faster.

If transcribing something onto PC, you can type it all in without having to look away from the paper once. Less chance of losing your place, less looking back and forth, etc.

Either way, being able to type blind is faster.

 

[Insanum]

I can touch type & i have a good idea generally where the keys on the keyboard are.

Started to learn to type with two fingers in Primary school, But working in a callcentre upgraded my skills.

 

[Chancie]

Well, I could type before but I wasn't good/fast until middle school.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

I still can't type, not blind and not in the proper form.

 

[MurderousToaster]

I can't remember. It was probably playing WoW. I never have to look at my keyboard now. The only time I have to look at my hand is if I'm using a laptop. It's damn frustrating having the keys in different places. Sadistic bastards, moving my damn keys slightly.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I still can't type really good (as in: fast and no mistakes), but I've been able to cope since I was 14 or something. Only learned to type blind 2 years ago (am now 23). All self-taught of course.

 

[Andalusa]

I learned in primary school, but didn't actually have any typing lessons. Since then I've improved and speed has increased. BUT I'm only really good with my own keyboard... I don't like using laptops because they're too flat/sensitive.

 

[DanDeFool]

But why can't I look at the keypad as I type? It's like being required to write without looking at what you are doing and many keyboard are backlit and loads of professional work laptops have LED lights or something to make the the keys are always visible even when it is pitch dark.

But that's exactly why you shouldn't look at the keyboard while you type; to see what you're doing when you're typing, you have to be looking at the screen. The backlit keypads are for getting your fingers into position in the dark, and for looking for keys you don't use frequently, or that are far from the home row (like insert).

I currently do not have trouble finding the little F and J nubs, but maybe that's just me.

I probably shouldn't be going out as a messenger of typing orthodoxy on a place as relaxed as the Internet... as much as I want to. Still, I find that typing by touch is one of the most valuable skills in my repertoire.

 

[Monocle Man]

When I was 11 or 12 in Primary school. You could have extra lessons after school once a week. Ah, the good ol' typewriter (not the very old, it was electric).

Gods, I hated that thing. I got a "silver diploma", which was a nice way of saying "You're below average."
It did give me a good base to build on, however. I can type relatively good now.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

I can't type without looking at the keyboard but my friends think I'm weird because although I never look up I still know what mistakes I make and can get rid of them and correct them without looking up and carry on typing reasonably fast. My school never taught us how to type and I think they should have. I tried to self teach myself to touch type but I couldn't seem to do it.

 

[Tasachan]

I learned how to type when we finally got internet at home/I started using MSN & chat rooms. So... I think I was 13?

My father still types unbearably slow, and he has worked with computers for a good 10 (or more) years. I hate chatting with him on the computer. -_-
"hey dad, how are you?"
(msn says he is typing a response)
(wait about 2 minutes)
"im good"

HOW CAN THAT TAKE TWO MINUTES?!

 

[senorcromas]

I believe it was second grade?

Maybe?

Well, my computer class had this weird program that I loved to play around with, and it just sorta went from there...