how fast can you type?

[AngryBeaver]

9 minutes ago, FadedCrown said:

Ever since I started typing at a young age I was always using 2 fingers. Even as I went through school, I found it difficult to unlearn and relearn typing again, because around 5th grade, I was already a decent typist at that age. Is it worth it to try and learn home row now?

If you don't want to look like an old man trying to use a keyboard for the first time then YES. Honestly, there is no reason not to learn how to type properly in this day and age.

[FadedCrown]

Just now, AngryBeaver said:

If you don't want to look like an old man trying to use a keyboard for the first time then YES. Honestly, there is no reason not to learn how to type properly in this day and age.

I mean I type pretty quickly without looking at the keyboard, so I don't look too bad, do I?

[AngryBeaver]

Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

The only advantage with touch typing I see is you can see what you type as you type it. Though I'd imagine with enough time and with the same keyboard, you can achieve something similar with two-fingered typing.

 

But whatever works for you works for you.

IT all depends on what you consider similar. If you are saying within 30 wpm, then maybe. That aside though I do not see it being anywhere close to the same speed. There is just too much movement of those fingers to type as fast as already having a finger in close proximity. I would also argue that accuracy would take a hit here as well.

[Razor Blade]

65WPM is screaming only using 4 fingers...especially if you're not making and counting a bunch of mistakes. The fact that you're posting here asking if you need to learn home row tells me one of two things...

 

1. You're trying to brag about typing fast with only 2 fingers. In which case, no, you should stick to what you do.
2. You're unhappy with some aspect of your typing. 

 

If the reason is the 2nd then is there something specific you aren't able to do? Measuring typing speed is one of those things that is subjective to the testing material. For example many typing tests have you just replicate something on the screen or a paper. If that is not the kind of thing you do when you type then maybe you're taking the wrong test. If what you do is programming then you're going to be typing out code and not necessarily sentences and words like a secretary would. If you are a technician typing service reports, you end up typing out part numbers or other non conforming verbiage that again isn't common to traditional typing tests.

 

There are a lot of websites that allow you to practice on tests that conform to your style of typing and subject material tailored to you. Many are free. One I've used before is simply "typingtest.com" but you may need to look around to find one that you like.

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, AngryBeaver said:

IT all depends on what you consider similar. If you are saying within 30 wpm, then maybe. That aside though I do not see it being anywhere close to the same speed. There is just too much movement of those fingers to type as fast as already having a finger in close proximity. I would also argue that accuracy would take a hit here as well.

The average touch typing speed is accepted to be around around 40 WPM, and the world's fastest texter (as of 2014 anyway) typed the equivalent of ~100WPM. And while the distance to travel is shorter, there's less room for error so I'd argue that balances it out.

 

But anyway, I've seen a few fast two-finger typists and you can optimize your motions. Even with touch typing I find some movements awkward, like type "t" followed by "z" in quick succession (I don't know if I need that combination, but just an example of something weird), possibly because I keep my fingers on the home row, and that's like playing DDR by returning your feet to the center after every note press.

[r2724r16]

I suggest that you learn touch typing, my speed before I learned it was around 60 WPM and now it's around 95 WPM. Sure, you might be fast with two fingers but it kinda looks weird in front of other people. Also, I'm sure your speed won't increase if you continue to use only two fingers and the only way it'll increase is if you use more fingers. Another advantage of touch typing is you can get work done faster (because you can type pretty fast) and you don't have to look down at the keyboard at all, which is important if you're doing time sensitive work at work or something. 

[AngryBeaver]

9 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The average touch typing speed is accepted to be around around 40 WPM, and the world's fastest texter (as of 2014 anyway) typed the equivalent of ~100WPM. And while the distance to travel is shorter, there's less room for error so I'd argue that balances it out.

 

But anyway, I've seen a few fast two-finger typists and you can optimize your motions. Even with touch typing I find some movements awkward, like type "t" followed by "z" in quick succession (I don't know if I need that combination, but just an example of something weird), possibly because I keep my fingers on the home row, and that's like playing DDR by returning your feet to the center after every note press.

Yes the average when you look at all the numbers. There are far fewer extremely fast typers than extremely slow.

I can tell you now that in my experience most people who do a lot of typing for a profession are able to hover in the 60-80 range. I mean I am not saying you cannot limp by when using 2 fingers, but it will NEVER be faster than using all 10 fingers with touch typing. That is assuming you are taking a similar skill level people for the comparison.

 

I grew up using 2 fingers and fought changing over to touch typing until I was in high school, but the difference in accuracy and speed is real. Now that I am older and it comes naturally I can see the huge advantage it has.

 

So I stick to my original stance. That 2 finger typing can be viable, but it is not ideal and will not be superior to touch typing.

[Mira Yurizaki]

7 minutes ago, AngryBeaver said:

That 2 finger typing can be viable, but it is not ideal and will not be superior to touch typing.

I'm not arguing against that, but I'm not going to I'm not going to believe the notion that two-finger typing is always slow and/or inaccurate. It just depends on how much you practice.

[kirashi]

1 hour ago, FadedCrown said:

Ever since I started typing at a young age I was always using 2 fingers. Even as I went through school, I found it difficult to unlearn and relearn typing again, because around 5th grade, I was already a decent typist at that age. Is it worth it to try and learn home row now?

59 minutes ago, AngryBeaver said:

If you don't want to look like an old man trying to use a keyboard for the first time then YES. Honestly, there is no reason not to learn how to type properly in this day and age.

58 minutes ago, FadedCrown said:

I mean I type pretty quickly without looking at the keyboard, so I don't look too bad, do I?

15 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I'm not arguing against that, but I'm not going to I'm not going to believe the notion that two-finger typing is always slow and/or inaccurate. It just depends on how much you practice.

As @M.Yurizaki has said, you don't have to learn to type using Home Row keys if you're already a proficient typist using "hunt and peck" or what I like to call "sloppy row" finger placing. I'm typing this entire paragraph with my left hand sitting around the WASD keys and my right hand floating to cover all other keys on the keyboard, and am typing around 55-75 WPM, give or take due to my brain having trouble formulating this reply because I may have woken up after having one too many beers last night.

 

Anywho, if you're capable of typing out full paragraphs with only having to look at the keyboard a couple of times, then I too really don't believe in learning "proper" typing these days. Home Row died when touchscreens became mainstream, as one cannot use Home Row finger placements on those devices.

[Mira Yurizaki]

In Final Fantasy XIV, people who execute hotbar actions with a mouse by clicking on them ("clickers") are looked down upon. There's someone in the guild I'm in who's a "clicker" and is consistently one of the best players.

 

I believe the guild's raid static has a few controller players. And controller play is also considered inferior to not-controller play 

 

If you're getting good results, you don't need to change your method

[TheKDub]

1 hour ago, FadedCrown said:

Ever since I started typing at a young age I was always using 2 fingers. Even as I went through school, I found it difficult to unlearn and relearn typing again, because around 5th grade, I was already a decent typist at that age. Is it worth it to try and learn home row now?

Yes. I can do around 100-110 WPM by typing with the majority of my fingers, without looking at all.

 

I'm not saying you will be able to type that fast, but moving away from only using two fingers may help you boost your typing speed.

[suddenblast]

While there is no real reason to learn to type now (Unless you need more speed). I learned home row very easily because I had remembered where all the keys were from when I was 2-finger typing.

[Yoinkerman]

Didn't read responses but yes you should absolutely learn home row 65wpm is not what I would consider an acceptable typing speed I would not consider you for any real work.

[Razor Blade]

4 minutes ago, Yoinkerman said:

Didn't read responses but yes you should absolutely learn home row 65wpm is not what I would consider an acceptable typing speed I would not consider you for any real work.

Good lord... 65WPM would be perfectly acceptable for the mass majority of jobs at least in the USA. Just peeked at Jobs.com and searched under "typist" and "full time" filters. Requirements seem to be around 40 WPM. Some are very low requirements like this one...

 

https://job-openings.monster.com/customer-service-sales-specialist-malvern-us-sykes/22/e3a481e9-e3f0-4206-b8e6-6aa2409402dd

 

Only 25 WPM for customer service?

 

 

Plus accuracy is very important. There are just too many out there that pound on a keyboard and rely on word's auto-correct to help them.

[Yoinkerman]

I see your point but I'm not really in the $9/hr demographic

[Tribalinius]

I just tried an online tool to see how I was faring. Considering the tool had words in english in no specific order (trust me, it's making a difference, my head was trying to translate all along the process) and I was not using my normal office setup, I was managing 55-60 wpm without any issues. I reran the test just on my laptop keyboard and I was up to 80 wpm. According to the webpage, I was better than 72% of the users taking their test at 55 wpm. I bet I'd be hitting at least 85-90 wpm with my office setup with real life content. If I compare to people around me right now, they're probably doing 35-40 wpm and it seems perfectly acceptable for what they are doing.

[Tribalinius]

13 minutes ago, Razor Blade said:

Plus accuracy is very important. There are just too many out there that pound on a keyboard and rely on word's auto-correct to help them.

There's that. No point in doing 120 wpm if even 1/4 of it is not typed correctly.

[dcgreen2k]

Yes, definitely learn home row typing. My typing is so much faster now that I've learned how to type properly, and the main reason I switched was because it was just plain embarassing typing with only two fingers. My advice is to just type slowly at first and focus on memorizing exactly where each key is and which finger presses them. Be as accurate as possible and speed will come later. This way, I was able to vastly improve my typing in only one summer, and I wasn't even using learning programs to help; all I did was type casually as I went through the day.

[Mugenjynn]

For about 3 months I’ve been using a computer, more accurately a laptop. In less than a month I’ll be getting an actual computer. Basically 3 months ago my fastest typing speed while looking at the keyboard was about 25 wpm. Now I can type a maximum of 55 wpm. Basically what I’m asking is how long will it take for me to become an absolute beast (~120wpm)  typing like those people you see on the movies?

[Mugenjynn]

I’m sure most of you guys on this site type pretty fast

[Amazonsucks]

Back in the early 2000s a few months chatting on AIM had me typing like a beast. 

[Mugenjynn]

29 minutes ago, Amazonsucks said:

Back in the early 2000s a few months chatting on AIM had me typing like a beast. 

Really

[Cyberspirit]

Having a nice keyboard will definitely help you but, it's mostly just practice.

[PCGuy_5960]

Typing fast is just muscle memory, the more you type, the faster you're gonna get. Just go on to typeracer and practice, it shouldn't take that long.

[Amazonsucks]

27 minutes ago, Mugenjynn said:

Really

When youre conversing with multiple people via text at once, you learn to type fast. When i took "keyboarding" in 9th grade i failed it. 

 

Gets instant messenger, in a short time i was typing super fast. I post on forums on an Android touchscreen since i dont really browse the internet on my PC anymore though.