Ask Lemmy

I used to be able to. Then I got a new computer... and I was still able to.

Then a few months later my typo rate increased, correcting them quickly got harder, and I derailed more often. (How do I fiz my jeyboarf?) Sometimes it feels like I'm derailed even when I'm not.

QWERTY only, I have never even seen a physical Dvorak keyboard, or any other layout.

I was never able to touch type up through middle of high school despite typing papers and taking formal typing courses. Once I got into online PC gaming and also programming I got good at touch typing very fast. Is typing a skill you use daily? Natural practice beats forced if you already have the fundamentals down. QWERTY for me.

Yeah, ever since we learned it in middle school. QWERTZ

Been touch typing Dvorak for about 25 years, qwerty for about 10 years before that. My hands used to feel tired at the end of the day, when I broke my wrist the occupational nurse suggested Dvorak, so when it healed I taught myself to type Dvorak. Probably a few weeks to learn, six months to get speed. (The advantage of a cushy government job). I can type all day now without problems. If you’re going to spend any significant time at a keyboard, I personally think it’s worth investing the time to learn to type properly, whatever layout you choose to use.

I can't NOT touch type. I need to see what I'm typing to know if I'm typing without mistakes. When I look at the keyboard, I make so many mistakes.

Yep.
Went to an all-boys Catholic High School and there were no technical programs (shop, auto, woodworking) bc they couldn't afford the programs, nor the space. Barely had a gym.
Anyhoo, 'options' were typing, bookkeeping, and Latin.
Took typing for 2 years, buddy and I would race-type song lyrics out of our heads (lyrics often weren't included in the liner notes).

Elton John - Razor Face - GO!

I learned to touch-type QWERTY in late 90s chat rooms. By 2006, I was bragging about my 100 WPM speed in my online dating profile. I met one girl who challenged me to a typing contest. She won, then I won, and then we called it a draw. We've been married for 13 years and had our third child last month.

When I was learning to touch type, I found it helpful to practice in my head even when I was away from the keyboard. Like whatever I'm thinking about, I'm picturing a keyboard in my head and where each letter of each word is. It slows my thoughts down a little, but that's not always a bad thing.

Yup, I can type about 90-100 wpm on a QWERTY keyboard if it's normal conversational English. Probably half that if it's something that contains a lot of long technical words. The thing that got me over the hump with getting good at typing was a game called QWERTY Warriors. It was a Flash-based web game that I was playing like 20 years ago, so I don't know if it's around anymore, but it was a tower defense game where you had to defeat enemies by typing the word underneath them. It was a pretty painless way to practice touch-typing.

I can touch type most keys, though probably not with proper form. I have to look at some of the less common keys to find them with my fingers.

My schools did have formal typing classes but I wasn't exactly a star student. I think my typing speed at it's fastest was around 60 wpm, though I more commonly float around 40 wpm

I zan tough ty[e thos well.

I learned to touch type on QWERTY in middle school. I do it mostly conventionally except for some reason I never really used the right shift key. That locked in, amd I still don't. I just spread my fingers wide to capitalize letters on the left side.

For a data entry job I was taught to 10-key as well. It doesn't take long to learn, but it can save a ton of time.

No. And I've been programming for the past 20 years.

Yep. One of the best investments I ever made tbh. It has paid so many dividends over time.

Yes, but definitely not proper form, as my left hand rests on WASD+CTRL/Shift+Space.

I'm around 100 wpm, so maybe it doesn't matter.

While I completely understand people who can't get to 100 wpm (much like people at 110+ completely understand me), I cannot fathom young adults who cannot touch-type (barring disability, obviously).

QWERTY layout. I was never taught teaching in school because I was part of the "you should already know how to type" 2k schooling. I can also type due to muscle memory ( much more easily on a non-flat keyboard ) but it's not an efficient typing compared to someone my age from the past who was formally taught touch typing.

Edit:

It also doesn't help that I usually use just my thumbs, index, and middle fingers to type usually.

Yes, I can touch type. I had a computer class in my year of high school where they taught us all how to do it.

I took typing in school several times using QWERTY. I learned the IBM typewriters were really nice to type on, and what the "correct" way to type was. It didn't make any difference though at the time because typing speed was never the limit, it was thinking speed. Then in college I got into IRC and most things didn't need deep thinking and so typing speed was the limit so I learned to apply the "correct" way because it was faster which I needed. (I never did meet a worthwhile girl on IRC so it didn't do anything for me even though I now type faster)

Yes with one quirk. I don't use the right shift, just the left. Not sure why I've ended up this way, or if it's a common variation.

EDIT: looked it up. It's very common

Yes. You have no other choice when you’re blind. I prefer unlabeled keyboards.

I do touch type, but I don't use the standard finger placement. I had typing class in school, which I'm grateful for, but what really got my typing speed up were ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger.

Yes, QWERTY. My dad made my brother and I use Mavis Beacon as kids (SHOUT OUT TO MAVIS BEACON!!!) and I had keyboarding class in middle school. WPM is 70 to 80 depending on what I'm typing.

I learned how to touch type qwerty by playing Mario teaches typing 2, which taught proper form. It was one of the video games I was allowed to play when I was a kid. However, I did learn a few things wrong.

I never learned how to use my right pinky for shift and use left pinky for every shift. I also don't know how to touch type numbers or symbols. I could probably learn that, but I don't have to use them very often, so it's hard to remember.

Yes. My kids would laugh at me when I worked from home because I would not stop typing when I looked up to answer something they were asking me. I suck on the phone keyboard but good with QUERTY big keyboard. My fingers can talk on those

I've actually leaned that in school, on a fully mechanical typewriter. But i don't use this skill, as touch type is completely useless for programming.

I learned “proper” typing form when I was in elementary school. But what really thought me touch typing was trying to chat in games. Not only do you need to stay looking at what’s happening, but you need to type fast so you can get back to playing.

I’d more or less mastered touch typing by the beginning of middle school. By high school I got to about 100wpm which is where I’ve capped out since then.

left side only.

let's call ot WASD-typing :D

I taught myself to touch-type with proper form after I built myself a split keyboard with the Dvorak layout (I figured since I'd never learned to properly touch-type with QWERTY it'd be as good an opportunity as any to pick up a better optimised layout). I gotta say, it does feel pretty great being able to type something with my eyes closed, or more practically, qouting stuff from a textbook without having to look at what I'm doing on my laptop.

No. I depress the keys with telekinesis.

I can touch type, but not with proper form. I use a really fast "hunt and peck" method with my two index fingers and my other fingers for specific keys such as backspace, shift, space, ctrl, etc. I can typically type between 70 - 80 wpm with high accuracy.

I can't :3. I know how, but I basically never naturally do lol. I feel like part of the issue with touch typing for me, is keyboard spacing as I always find my right hand feels uncomfortably angled and cramped when I place them both on the home row :3. Something like a split keyboard would make it feel more natural I think

My laptops keyboard is completely black, with no letters on it. So even if i look down, its like staring into void lol

I type azerty

Yes, I had typing lessons for that when I was a kid. Learned on QWERTY and still use it to this day.
My form might not be completely proper (sometimes I use the "wrong" finger for a certain key), but it's pretty close to proper.

Mostly, sometimes I have issues with thezxcvbnm row.

I am old enough to have had a class in high school. On a normal keyboard, I can still hit 100 wpm with no errors. On a phone (which I don't use often), though, it's poke-poke-poke.

I recommend learning proper touch typing with the 'correct' finger position. Its benefit is that there's proper movement for every finger for every key, which is mostly symmetric and very regular, and it gets ingrained in muscle memory. Hence typing anything is quick even if it's not fast overall. The fingers 'know' what they must do for any letter, and it's often faster to let them do their thing than to e.g. reach for the mouse. You can actually feel when you press a wrong key.

In case of a mistake, it's faster to delete a few words and retype them than to move the cursor back and forth. And if you get an app like Alfred (for Mac) or Keypirinha (for Windows), you can invoke it with a shortcut and type a few letters faster than you open an app or click on some widget with the mouse — it's often quicker to switch apps via Alfred than via cmd-tab. Likewise, when you use a keyboard-heavy app like Emacs, calling its commands becomes a breeze.

I'd like to use Dvorak or at least Colemak, but I'm concerned that all shortcuts would be messed up. Especially since I'm a user of Vim-style movements and commands.

Also, TIPP10 app is pretty nice for learning. No fluff, no extra stuff. Initially took me about a month to learn with half an hour or so a day, and about a year to fully get used to it and develop the speed.

Yeah, managed to pick it up in a couple weeks, became more efficient over the course of a year or so. One thing that helped initially was learning on a keyboard with completely blank keycaps, therefore preventing me from cheating and just using my eyes.

I'm now still using the same keyboard, and can touch type flawlessly. However I still have trouble with number 6 :(. QWERTY.

Yes, since before I was 10 (qwerty).. Learned it on an electric typewriter. Once a colleague switched two keys on my keyboard around as a joke. I hadn't noticed untill he told me about it three months later.