Poll: When did you learn to type?

[Valksy]

Self taught. I used to play a quiz on IRC and it only had so many questions so it often came down to how fast you could put the answer in. Not perfect by any means but can pretty much touch type about 50-60 words per minute.

 

[Treblaine]

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.

I don't think it's a matter of orthodoxy, I'm going to really consider touch typing if it really is going to improve efficiency and performance if it is worth while. I'm half way there already.

 

[XJ-0461]

Well I have to look at the keyboard as I type, so never?

I assume you mean touch type. Even so, I can type pretty fast using basically my two index fingers and the middle finger on my right hand.

 

[The Shade]

I learned to type through all the Runescape I used to play. Very fast and precise typist now.

 

[Abbyrose07]

In Jr high..the teacher used to put paper over our hands while we typed so we couldn't look at where we were placing our fingers on the computer keyboard and we had to memorize the key placements so I can type fast without having to look at the keyboard. Then there is my dad who types with one finger and my brothers who used to beg me to type up their school reports on the computer for them because they typed so slow lol.

 

[Brandon237]

I look at my keyboard most of the time but can type quite fast when I am playing a game or getting into a nice long post, Even when I didn't type fast it was much faster than writing. Garsh, I just did that last phrase without looking at the keyboard. Not doing it again.

I always get WASD right

 

[braincore02]

Started typing when I was 8, coz my parents gave me Mavis Beacon teaches typing for my computer and it was something to do. Lost interest after I got to 70+wpm

 

[TehCookie]

I can type without looking at the keyboard but it's a lot slower and It's not even close to how the school tried teaching me. My fingers are too small to reach that far so I move my entire hand.

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.

Not for me because I have to visual the keyboard so I can't read nor proofread and do that at the same time and I catch errors when I look at the keyboard because I see when my finger hits the wrong button.

 

[The Night Shade]

During primary school

 

[Booze Zombie]

I spent quite some time on the Internet, started around when I was ten... and now I can actually type without looking at the keyboard.

I learnt that skill more through brute-force repetition than actually trying to type though, also, fun fact, I learned how to write properly by posting on forums as I dropped out of school at age ten/twelve (I forget the exacts).

 

[Beartrucci]

I could always do a decent job of typing but I was never really good at it until I was about 11 or 12 and made an MSN account.

 

[Tartarga]

I was 12 when I learned to type. The timing seemed appropriate seeing as how I was starting to become fascinated with the internet.

 

[Pamela Blalock]

I was in elementary school when typing was introduced to me on the keyboard. I knew where most of the keys were because my grandmother made me type her letters on an honest-to-God typewriter, but my tiny seven-year-old fingers could only peck the keys to make them depress.

Ah memories.

 

[Gardenclaw]

Self taught on my dad's Amiga when i was about 10. Used to write stories on it just as i found using a computer to be amazing back then.

 

[Ultress]

I learned in elementary school that had a video tape on how to do it with ways to remember where the keys where, I was horrible at it, I can type pretty fast but I have to look at the key board.

 

[Nouw]

My first Christmas Holiday with the Escapist gave me my Keyboard Skills!

Thank You Escapist! I can now type without looking!

 

[ghostrider409895]

I am a good student, and I try to pay attention and learn the stuff I am taught. Typing was an exception. I never liked learning to type, and I never wanted to really take the time to try. I always thought it was too difficult, and I never could really pick it up. My mom even bought me a typing game for the computer to help me to learn.

I was doing fine by hunting and pecking. I was able to still type fast, whether I had to see the keys or not. I didn?t learn how to type without looking until middle school. The technology class was able to take me through the lessons, step by step, and from there I only had more practice as I was expected to type more and more reports.

Now I am fifteen, and I can type without even thinking about the keys. It is kind of funny, because after I learned everything I went back to play the typing game that I thought was so difficult, and I was able to beat it in an hour. It is kind of funny, that I once was the worst people when it came to typing, and now I can type pages of stuff easily.

I would recommend everyone to learn how to type at one point, probably before high school. If you can type from muscle memory, it will make typing easier, a bit more fun once you see how fast you can type, and it will help get homework finished much faster. It is actually kind of cool, once you can find yourself typing really, really fast. If you get a chance to learn how to type in school, I would say take it, because it is worth it. Especially if you have to start writing reports or anything that needs to be typed, muscle memory typing really can make a difference in how easily and quickly you can do these things.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

I can't type like you're suposed to be able to (with index fingers on the "f" and "j" keys and stuff) but I can type fast enough in my own way.

 

[GodKlown]

I officially learned in junior high, in the 9th grade as an elective class. That was way back in 1994, and I took a typing class in college in 2000. In junior high, we learned on typewriters and in college we were on PCs. I totally stunk at typing in junior high, but was at the top of my class in college (except for that one day when I forgot I had class and showed up a little late and stoned... that was not a good day for typing). I guess those years of Yahoo chat paid off!

 

[Cinnonym]

I'm a horrible typist--I'm such an advanced hunt-n-pecker that I can type without looking at the keyboard and still fly through the paragraphs just fine, but I'm still not as quick as someone who uses "proper" technique.

It's probably because I was tooling around the internet and WordPad before my curriculum ever decided to try to teach me to type... By the time they did (which I think was seventh grade?), I was already set in my ways.