PDA

View Full Version : Need to learn how to type fast!



swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 05:20 AM
What do you think is the fastest way to learn? I played tuxtype for an hour, and I typed this whole thing without looking, so I guess that works a little. How long do you think it will take if I practice an hour a day? Took like 3 minutes to type this

chucky chuckaluck
March 9th, 2009, 05:28 AM
i learned to touch-type, then one day, i made the mistake of looking.

PurposeOfReason
March 9th, 2009, 05:30 AM
Type, type, and type. The more you practice, the better you get.

swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 05:31 AM
i learned to touch-type, then one day, i made the mistake of looking.

So what happened? Did you fall down, or something?

namegame
March 9th, 2009, 05:34 AM
Supposedly, switching to a Dvorak keyboard layout can increase your speed. I've personally never tried it. I've learned to touch-type on QWERTY and I can't break myself from it.

EDIT: Here's a link to what Dvorak is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard

Firestem4
March 9th, 2009, 05:36 AM
I took a keyboarding class in 7th grade (im graduated now) That didn't help me with my blind typing. It did however get my much more used to the keyboard than I was. (I used to two-finger typerwriter type.)

When i started playing MMO's my wmp went from 15 to, I think I exceed 140wpm now. (With a 3% net error margin)The repetition and need to convey what I can as fast as i can improved my typing skills

But the best thing is repetition, repetition, repetition. Eventually you will build muscle memory and it will become natural.

My advice though: Do whats comfortable for your figners/hands. There is a conventional form when typing (ie: What finger you use to type what letters.) I have a slightly unorthodox method that developed on its own. Don't fight it! Good luck!

Brandon.Viking
March 9th, 2009, 05:36 AM
3 words for you, practice, practice and practice.

The more you practice the faster you will get. Typing tutors can be helpful for when you are learning where the keys are but after that I suggest you get out your favorite novel and start copying. :) Enjoy a good story while you type.

Brandon. :popcorn:

Firestem4
March 9th, 2009, 05:40 AM
The first typing-tutor that I ever used was Ms. Mavis Beacon (or some spelling of that. It was a long time ago). It was great because the software displayed a keyboard with transparent fingers that helped you visualize your hands in your mind. WHen you clicked on a letter the fingers on the screen would move in conjunction. (Mind you, this also goes along with what i said about a Conventional typing method. But that develops over a very long time)

smartboyathome
March 9th, 2009, 05:44 AM
I would recommend blind typing. Blind typing is where you cover the keys and keep your fingers on home row. This forces you to memorize where the keys are. Typing a lot will make you type faster.

That is how I learned to type (if 4th-6th grades :P), but YMMV.

chucky chuckaluck
March 9th, 2009, 05:45 AM
So what happened? Did you fall down, or something?

yes, i fell and hit my head and noo, iff i lok up, i tyep muhs.

swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 05:47 AM
I would recommend blind typing. Blind typing is where you cover the keys and keep your fingers on home row. This forces you to memorize where the keys are. Typing a lot will make you type faster.

That is how I learned to type (if 4th-6th grades :P), but YMMV.

I wish I would have learned when I was younger. When I was in 4th grade typing was still for chicks, boy were we wrong.

y@w
March 9th, 2009, 05:48 AM
Learn how to do everything via the command line and keyboard shortcuts instead of using your mouse. You'll learn how to type faster just so you can get stuff done. That's how I learned, anyway..

swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 05:50 AM
Supposedly, switching to a Dvorak keyboard layout can increase your speed. I've personally never tried it. I've learned to touch-type on QWERTY and I can't break myself from it.

EDIT: Here's a link to what Dvorak is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard

That's funny, I knew it didn't make much sense the way this is layed out, now I know why.

swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 05:53 AM
Learn how to do everything via the command line and keyboard shortcuts instead of using your mouse. You'll learn how to type faster just so you can get stuff done. That's how I learned, anyway..

I started this today. I'm opening all my apps with the terminal moving files, and such, I forget how to create a folder though.

The Titan
March 9th, 2009, 05:59 AM
I started this today. I'm opening all my apps with the terminal moving files, and such, I forget how to create a folder though.

You can use the



mkdir dirname


And Just keep up the practice yo!

PurposeOfReason
March 9th, 2009, 06:03 AM
I would advise against using commands to learn to touch type. One mistake and a quick enter is all it takes to do the exact opposite of what you want.

swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 06:03 AM
You can use the



mkdir dirname


And Just keep up the practice yo!

That's right. thanks for the reminder :P

DOS4dinner
March 9th, 2009, 06:03 AM
1. Install DOSBox, and get some text adventures for it, or old command-line adventure games (Space Quest II or III or King's quest 1-3 are great) You'll learn quick.

2. Learn to Program in any language (C++, java, etc). That's how I learned typing, as you learn where every single key is fast...or else it takes three days to write a simple program:)

swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 06:14 AM
1. Install DOSBox, and get some text adventures for it, or old command-line adventure games (Space Quest II or III or King's quest 1-3 are great) You'll learn quick.

2. Learn to Program in any language (C++, java, etc). That's how I learned typing, as you learn where every single key is fast...or else it takes three days to write a simple program:)

My plates kind of full right now to learn programming, I tried teaching myself, wasn't picking it up to well

MikeTheC
March 9th, 2009, 08:19 AM
3 words for you, practice, practice and practice.

+1

Truer words were never spoken. Typing is not a skill you can cheat at while learning and still have the same results.

I started typing in my first year of high school (my elementary school didn't offer it), and I actually failed that business course (typing was one of the skills taught; oddly the HS I went to didn't have "just a typing course" when I'd started in 1986) but I was on the newspaper staff, and so I got to do a good portion of all the typing for the next three years, plus special announcement bulletins, plus "Senior Wills", and so on.

I "failed" my 1986-1987 business class at 34 WPM, and graduated in 1990 typing about 85+ WPM. I've more-or-less remained at that level since.

Doing blind typing (as described up-thread) is fundamentally the only really decent way to develop the "muscle memory" skill component necessary to touch-type. Doing *lots* of this will do more than not doing *lots*. Typing is one of those things where, the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it.

Someone upthread suggested learning Dvorak. With all due respect, I wouldn't bother with this because most businesses, even though their computer systems have the *technological* ability to handle Dvorak, are unlikely at best to have the configurations enabled to accommodate you. Moreover, at this point with the economy being what it is, the truly last thing you want is to appear -- even if it's only at first blush -- to be either less capable or in need of greater accommodation than the next person.

MikeTheC
March 9th, 2009, 08:23 AM
I wish I would have learned when I was younger. When I was in 4th grade typing was still for chicks, boy were we wrong.

Where in Cleveland did you go to school, if I might ask? (I'm from Euclid myself.)

swoll1980
March 9th, 2009, 08:26 AM
Where in Cleveland did you go to school, if I might ask? (I'm from Euclid myself.)

Mostly in Willoughby, went to Willoughby South high school. I lived in the Winchester Hills apartments right up the hill from Euclid on rt.6. I'm in Mentor now, got out of Cleveland like a year ago. I got stabbed by some guy from Euclid(Anthony Carter) a couple years ago at a Winghouse in Mentor. I also blew the whistle on the Revol phone scam, a year ago, and was interviewed by Lori Taylor. People see me all the time, and say hey aren't you the Revol guy, or weren't you the one that got stabbed at the Winghouse.

Ioky
March 9th, 2009, 09:34 AM
just type and type wouldn't get you any further once you can type reasonably fast. You need to keep try to type faster and faster as much as you can. That is how your brain learn. Keep typing in a same speed, we will end up at the same speed, no matter how long you have type.

Haha, after you master both hand type, then you should go to one hand typing, can train each hand. That sound crazy, but it is a lot of fun. Imagine one day, you can eat with one hand, and typing with the other.

I think the avg is about 60 word per minutes, but I personally have friend can type 120 or more per minutes. As I read the News long time ago, there is Chinese who can type over 350 Chinese characters per minutes. (They are like kid too.) Each character is about one English words, but it is not like English which you can type what you see. The method they use is that you need to break down each character, and each part is represented by a special character with can mean many difference part. I know that method, and it is pretty complex. But for some reason, people just can type so fast with it. but yeah, you get the idea.

and good lucky.

3rdalbum
March 9th, 2009, 11:22 AM
Just keep typing and soon you will be amazing passers-by with your typing speed. I mean that - when people realise that the consistent "brrr" sound they are hearing is actually your typing, they are often in awe of your skill and speed.

kvarley
March 9th, 2009, 11:29 AM
There are actually some flash type training games out there, just search for them!

The key thing is practice!

Eisenwinter
March 9th, 2009, 12:08 PM
I learned to type through spending countless hours on IRC. At one point, I actually spent 37 straight hours on IRC (yes, I know).

I can touch-type on qwerty in English, but have to look at the keyboard if I want to type in Hebrew (haha, explain that :P)

Also, being online so much is how I learned English.

JohnFH
March 9th, 2009, 01:07 PM
+1

Someone upthread suggested learning Dvorak. With all due respect, I wouldn't bother with this because most businesses, even though their computer systems have the *technological* ability to handle Dvorak, are unlikely at best to have the configurations enabled to accommodate you. Moreover, at this point with the economy being what it is, the truly last thing you want is to appear -- even if it's only at first blush -- to be either less capable or in need of greater accommodation than the next person.

huh? What do you mean? Most businesses are unlikely to have configurations enabled to accomodate you? You make it sound like some mysterious dark art. You just need to change the keyboard layout in the control panel of whatever operating system you are running. Changing the keyboard layout is as easy as changing directory.

I'm learning how to touch type in the dvorak layout and it's easier on the hands and faster.

pt123
March 10th, 2009, 09:03 AM
is there a typing program on Ubuntu that doesn't require you to install every font for every language on the planet

loell
March 10th, 2009, 09:29 AM
doesn't posting here in the forum make ones typing speed improve? :D

Johnsie
March 10th, 2009, 10:53 AM
I learned how to type really fast in a few days using Mavis Beacon for Windows. It's a really good piece of software. There are a few Linux typing programs available but to be honest they aren't very good. Mavis beacon taught me the techniques needed to type and started really basic, gradually getting more complex. Most other softwares simply give you a speed and accuracy counts. But Mavis Beacon can identify and help you improve your weak points.

It is better to learn QWERTY because many job interviews involve a typing test and some companies have strict policies when it comes to tampering with IT equipment. Also, that's what most laptops use. Learning the other keyboard is ok as a backup but in reality QWERTY is the most important one to know.

My quick advice: Try to use all fingers when typing. Start off slowly before you get fast and train yourself where the keys are. Try not to look at the keyboard at all. Some programs such as Mavis beacon will have an indicator of where the key is to help you type without looking at the keyboard.

pmlxuser
March 10th, 2009, 12:29 PM
to learn to type quick you need to
1. do a needs assesment of typing quick
2. hire a consultant to write you the requiement document
3. hire programers to do the coding
4. code a program that will type faster and also shorten the time you spend clicking keys
5. do an evaluatuion of the software
6. problem solved is the need is no longer there to type fsster/ quicker

;)

Thelasko
March 10th, 2009, 05:05 PM
I learned to type through spending countless hours on IRC. At one point, I actually spent 37 straight hours on IRC (yes, I know).

Yeah, I took typing classes that never helped. Talking to friends on AIM made my typing improve dramatically. Talking to my "grammar nazi (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Transwiki:Grammar_Nazi)" (please excuse the expression) ex-girlfriend on AIM really improved my spelling, grammar, and punctuation too.

Johnsie
March 10th, 2009, 06:07 PM
Just typing will like on IRC will make you quicker but you might miss out on some techniques. I've been a programmer for years and thought I was pretty fast with my two fingers. I am still amazed at how much of a difference learning the techniques of touch-typing were... Not only is it faster, it's easier, more accurate, I don't need to move my head to look at keys or the screen and I can type without even really needing to think about it. I would never go back to typing with two fingers....

...unless some terrorist cut my other fingers off!

Hells_Dark
March 10th, 2009, 06:12 PM
Try Klavaro !

It's a really good little soft to learn ;)


sudo apt-get install klavaro

Thelasko
March 10th, 2009, 06:30 PM
Just typing will like on IRC will make you quicker but you might miss out on some techniques.

Yes, a typing class with teach you basic technique*, after that, it's all practice.

technique* keep your fingers on the "home row" as follows.
left hand

pinky = a
ring finger = s
middle finger = d
index finger = f
thumb = space bar


right hand

index finger = j
middle finger = k
ring finger = l
pinky = ;
thumb = spacebar

Use you right pinky to hit enter, and try to only move your fingers to press other keys, and then return them to their starting position immediately.

gwenn
March 10th, 2009, 06:42 PM
Klavaro + DWORAK

swoll1980
March 10th, 2009, 08:48 PM
doesn't posting here in the forum make ones typing speed improve? :D

It is helping. Honestly I've only been at for a couple days, and I already see an improvement. Shouldn't be to long before I'm at full speed, a few months maybe. I play instruments, so the co-ordination is there, just need to remember where the keys are.