Can you touch type?

[Olaf the Stout]

Lately (like the last few months) I have noticed that I have suddenly gained the ability to touch type. I think that posting on EN World has probably helped a lot in this regard (especially since I am posting a lot more frequently then I did previously).

I not exactly the fastest typist in the world yet, and I still hit the wrong keys quite often but I can correct any mistakes I make without having to look down at the keyboard. The only time I really have to look down is when I am doing any fancy characters and a lot of the time I still have a guess to start off with.

My next challenge is to be able to look at a piece of paper and type out what is on the paper without looking at the computer screen or my keyboard. Once I've reached that level I think that I would consider myself to have mastered the art.

So what about you? Can you touch type? How many words per minute?

Olaf the Stout

 

[grimwell]

I can touch type. I took a typing class in 10th grade (1987) and learned how to type on old typewriters from the 60's. Didn't do anything with it until I got into college and had access to computer games. When I started writing areas for a Diku mud I quickly took the crude and slow typing skills I had let languish for a few years and built up speed and endurance. I've done my fair share of web writing as well so it's never slowed down.

Typing speed? I don't know to be honest. After a six month hiatus of any computer access while I trained for the Army Reserves, I took a typing test for a placement agency and hit 61WPM -- and it felt slow and horrible.

Actually, I just took a typing test (see link below, it's Java) and scored 98WPM with 4 errors, adjusting me down to 94WPM on the Wizard of Oz test. Gives me a 95% accuracy rate for copying. I'm faster when I'm typing in the forums because I don't have to read and match, I'm just typing (different part of the brain I'm guessing).

The test site (first link in Google for online typing speed test)
http://www.typingtest.com/

 

[IronWolf]

Yes, I can touch type. I had typing in high school for one day before I dropped it for another class - so no typing classes for me.

Two things helped me learn to touch type - Instant Messenging and a first job in the tech field as a technical support rep who needed to log tickets while troubleshooting caller's issues. Between those two things I picked it up.

HHmmm, wpm... I think I am in the 65 to 80wpm range - maybe. it has been awhile since I took a typing test to see.

 

[kenobi65]

Aye, about 70 wpm.

I took one semester of typing in high school, because my dad *made* me do it, so that I'd be able to type up my own papers in college. I was paranoid that I was going to do poorly (the term "slow physical learner" has been fairly applied to me), and it was going to hurt my GPA.

This was a Catholic, all-boys school in 1982. You couldn't *take* more than one semester of typing. And, we all worked on 20-year-old manuals. I had to get 20 wpm to get an A, and I barely did it. My accuracy was terrible.

Years of working on the computer, through college and afterwards, have honed my skills a great deal, and now I thank my father for his foresight.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Yeah. Probably only about 60wpm @ 100% accuracy.

 

[trancejeremy]

Yup. While I took a typing class back in high school, it was really computers and the rise of the internet that got me good at it. It's weird, I almost never make a typo, but sometimes my brain will write the completely wrong word.

 

[Aurora]

My typing has gotten much better in the last few months. I still make mistakes, but I find I can actually look away from the keyboard and not screw up too terribly much. I never used to be able to do that.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I just took the typing test that you linked to. I only scored around 35-40 wpm. It's funny though because I found that, doing the test, I actually made more mistakes than I would if I was just typing something off of the top of my head. Perhaps it was because I was typing something that I had never read before. Or maybe it was because I was typing words that I'm not used to. I took the Wizard of Oz one for one minute if anyone is interested.

Olaf the Stout

 

[ssampier]

I can touch type, 60 wppm with a good degree of accuracy. Usually I spend more time thinking so that reduces my time considerably (especially if I can't remember how to spell a certain program name).

 

[TarionzCousin]

I can touch type. I took a summer class in high school to learn how.

However, the only one of my male friends who can touch type was a script writer for a few years, and he has more typos than anyone else I've ever edited.

Most of my female friends can touch type. The guys just hunt and peck.