Hunt-and-peck? Full-on ten-finger?
I type with an extremely sped-up hunt-and-peck. I never learned to type with all of my fingers, but I am very speedy with my left index and right middle fingers, using my pinkies and thumbs for space/shift/enter/etc. I look at the keyboard only when typing numbers, for which I use the numrow-- I don't like the numpad, I have to reposition my whole arm to get my hand all the way over there.
How do you do it?
I have sort of a mutant touch type style. I did take a class in typing and I actually don't have to look at the keyboard when typing unless my hands drift*, but none of the proper form took. I primarily use my index and middle fingers and the thumb for the space bar, Pinky is only used for shift key or return keys. Fourth finger on my right hand I don't think gets used at all, though the left sometimes gets used for the "a" key: not sure why it worked out that way though. I can get some decent speed on it, as long as I don't think about it too much. :)
(* - which is good because due to the fact that I have longinsh fingernails, I wear the letters off keyboards and even wear grooves into certain keys after a while)
Typing on a keyboard is pretty much second nature for me these days, at least where typing letters goes. I need to be able to see to position my hands on the keyboard in my peripheral vision, but otherwise don't need to look except sometimes when typing numbers or odd punctuation or keys that are difficult to reach from the normal position.
For basic typing, like this, I'm pretty quick. Everybody who spends much time doing data entry or text typing on a computer should develop basic typing skills, IMO. But hunt-and-peck works fine for most people. The necessity of using a mouse makes it hard to keep fingers in the typing position anyway.
9 finger touch typing, 60 to 70 words per minute. Numrow is probably my biggest weakness (I tend to confuse the few on the end).
The bumps on F and J are your friends.
I use a right hand only letter hunting technique. And use my left thumb just for the "Shift" key.
Of course I have to call out each letter I type, but it's fun...in a way.
9 finger touch typing? What one don't you use?
I touch type pretty fast with all ten fingers, but i tend to make a lot of mistakes especially on my new keyboard (which has a harder shift and smaller space bar). I dunno my exact word count though.
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I just did a typing test and got 51 wpm. It was copied however, and Shakespeare so not the easiest to copy. I would normally get higher than that.
Way I learned, you don't use your left thumb.
Usually using practically the same method as Spud...
But occasionally I like to use my nose.
I use a similar method to Spud but I am not a very good typist. Usually, there are typos that I don't catch even after re-reading it. Usually have to have to use the backspace/delete keys rather often too.
With a pointy stick.
I mean, with all my fingers. Because I'm awesome. Also I have super-awesome numpad skills from my last job. Wait a minute. I just realized that I don't use my pinkies. Weird. Probably because they bend in really weird..
I had typing class in school, so I type fairly properly and at a pretty good speed. I tend not to use my pinkies though, because they're a little oddly shaped and make typing with them difficult.
I took a typing class in high school, but failed it miserablely. I had no typewriter at home or computer (this was back in the early 90s) so I had zero experience.
Once I hit University where I had to type 10-20 page papers several times per term I sped up real fast. My hands hover over the keyboard, not necessarily over the home keys. They're quite a bit more spread out, especially my right hand. It ain't hunt and peck though, I can type large bodies of text without ever looking at the keyboard and make only a couple of errors.
I never took typing in school. I use several fingers, but mostly my indexes, thumbs and pinkies. I actually just look at my keyboard while typing and only look at my screen once I'm done. I'm actually quite quick and my error rate is pretty low despite not watching what goes on the screen.
I took typing class in Middle school, cuz the cute girlz were in that class. Then typing got reinforced in my second year of High School when my computer teacher made us all learn typing and 10-key (I love the numpad) and we were drilled in it. Basically, I'm a trained secretary....and typing has been the most useful skill I ever learned in school. Almost every job I've ever had required typing.
I don't need to look at the keyboard and I can sense when i make mistakes even if I'm not looking at the screen.
It's a mixture of the both you said. :lol:
Took typing all through middle and high school. I use all 10 of my fingers and when I get on a roll I blister the keyboard. When I'm off... you hunt and peckers would kill me.
-MJB
Full-on ten fingers for me. I took a typing course the summer term before my freshman year in high school. I had a monotone teacher named Mr. Paulsen who was like a walking IBM adding machine, but he DID teach me how to type. My other motivation in that class was Louise, the brunette who sat at the typewriter next to me. Boy, did she make my head swim..... :wub:
EC
Ten fingers for me. I always say that typing was the only useful thing I learned in high school. ;)
I've got a question; in ten-finger, what do you use your left thumb for?
I'm a modified touch typer - I use all ten fingers in their correct positions, but look at the keyboard about half the time. I'm much better at ten-key, having spent several years in shipping and receiving for a large book store.
True story: My grandfather had two years of business school under his belt and was an accomplished typist when he enlisted in the army for WWII. This was a very unusual skill for man to have in those days and when the army found this out they fast tracked him to OCS and put him in charge of a supply company. He
followed the Normandy diversionary force and spent his time in Europe in relative safety following the front. I often credit my existence to the fact he could type.
Quote from: Midnight on January 25, 2008, 08:09:00 AM
I've got a question; in ten-finger, what do you use your left thumb for?
Officially, either thumb is used to space depending on which hand is busiest. On a practical level I probably space 90% of the time with my right thumb.
I'm mostly a combination of Spud and Glitchie. I make use of all fingers at random times. Mostly it's the index fingers and thumbs, though. Thumbs are mostly reserved for the space bar, whilst the pinkies are for shift keys. The middle fingers generally get used for the num row, cause they reach, and my right ring finger generally gets used for the backspace (often). The left one isn't employed all that much. But, I'm sure it is used at some point. Like others here, I don't use the num pad hardly at all. I'd use it more if I didn't have the directional keys.
I was a computer user for several years before I took my high schol typing class, and the proper ways of typing never clicked with me. Even using their blank keyboards, I could never type without looking at my hands. I knew where the letters were, just not where my hands were :D
That depends on what I am using to view the forums. Normally I touch type but right now I am writing using my stylus on my Palm TX, as I found FR defauts to a simple mode, so I can login anywhere with Wi-Fi.
One of my teachers in High School recommended that I take typing during Sophomore year, as I had an elective that I didn't have a preference for. That was the best advice I ever got. Working in Communications in the AF, I've had to type, on various different systems & keyboards, my whole career. Learning on a manual typewriter probably helps to emphasize some lessons better than on an electric or a computer keyboard. (most people have no idea how weak their pinkies are until they have to type out pizzazz on a manual typewriter)
And I confirm UY's thumb usage; it was taught that it was either thumb for space, but most righties tend to use the right. I wasn't until Middy mentioned it that I realized my left thumb pretty much sees no action.
With my hands. keyboard gets too stinky if I use my feet. :P
Seriously, though, I type kind of weird. I use my index fingers and occasionally my right thumb. And I'm left handed.
A little lugaru history:
When I was 15 I took a typing course and never did anything. At the end of the year I was supposed to turn in a huge book of exercises, or flunk. Having a couple of weeks to complete the thing, I've been a typing monster ever since.
I took a typing course in high school, which was correspondence, just like the rest of my classes, and did quite well in it. I can type in classic ten fingers mode quite well, and have found it to be the most practical class I've ever taken anywhere, and one that I use every single day.
I am a hunt-and-peck typist. Instead of typing in high school, I took a rhetoric and argumentation class. The deal was that people who took the class would learn typing on their own or take a summer class. I never quite did, though I did dig out my mom's old typing book and learned enough to touch type if I really needed to. But, at various times (the present included) I have been on marginal keyboards where I resort to hunt-and-peck again because 1) I do lots of coding where I end up looking for non-alpha keys whose positions I never quite learned 2) my hands don't really fit properly 3) I lose position whenever I reach for the mouse, or 4) the keyboard itself (as on my Dell laptop) is just really rubbish and skips keys or double-counts some keys. In those situations, I get lazy and hunt-and-peck, which is usable but leaves me a slow typist.
BTW, it isn't very often when I need to type anything where I can't look at the keyboard. I think there was a time when typists spent their time transcribing hand-written text or entering quotes from books or something. But, I don't do much data entry and most transcription I do is cut-and-paste.
(Just out of curiosity, I posted this via touch typing. Not too painful, but no faster than hunt-and-peck.)
Amazing that those of us who took typing class found it to be the useful class in school.... :D :D :D
When i started coding I found typing useful too...I haven't coded in years now and I miss it.
9-fingered (since as Middy says you dont usually use the left thumb) and fast. I had a middle school typing class and my dad has been into computers since Bill and Steve were building boxes together so i had a lot of at home training.
Thats not to say im a very traditional typist, i mostly just go as fast as i can with what i got. If i am writing from my own (ie not transcribing) i usually look at the keyboard and not the screen.
I will say the left thumb gets some exercise playing CoH since i steer with the mouse alot and jump with the left thumb. But other than that its only use is the space bar if the right hand is on the num pad.
I use a somewhat fast hunt and peck method.
I never took any classes for typing in High School (to wimpy in my day) ;)
i press my mighty hoof on the keyboard and what i want typed magically comes up :mrcow
well actually i do an uber speedy 10-finger type. I use the numberpad, the thing that most gives me trouble is shift and 1-0 at the top, though the trouble is limited because i am a godly typest.
agreeing with said before, F and J bumps are your friend. lol
Four finger typing. I used to be able to do 60wpm using standard typing techniques in college (a long time ago) but I put stress fractures in both wrists playing racquetball and after the half-casts came off, my wrists would cramp when I tried to hold them in the home position. By the time that passed, my typing skills were gone.
DK
I type pretty much with four fingers and thumbs. I didn't have a typing class and never could type at all until I applied for a job and the only question asked was "Can you type?" "YES!!", I lied, and got the job. That was over 22 years ago. Five more and I can retire on half-pay. :P
I always had terrible terrible handwriting but have also had computer access pretty much my entire life. So I learned to type but unlike most people that are self taught I learned the classic 10 finger typing method, I never look at the keyboard (not even for numbers 1234...) occasionally I'll use the numpad to put numbers in faster but I have to look if I do that. I played with a lot of computer typing games back in the day when I was younger (not for long mind you as very few were fun at all). I had to take typing in High School as it was mandatory but meh it was easy as I already knew how to type beforehand.
In all honesty I do not remember when I learned to type, I think my dad showed me how to place my hands and I just kinda took off from there. It was such a blessing being able to type way back in early school days with writing as terrible as mine, heh.
Lemme check. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Apparently I type with all 10 fingers, but in a rather bizarre fashion. Each key is never hit by one specific finger, but rather whichever one is closest to it at the time. This includes both thumbs; both of which I seem to use interchangeably to hit the space bar or sometimes the lower keys such as c, v, and b.
This results in a very bizarre looking display on my keyboard, but if may brag it results in rather speedy typing.. I was the fastest in my typing class back in high school. ^_^
My one other bizarre typing talent is the ability to rapidly type one handed with either hand by placing my hand sideways on the keyboard, (pinky on the space bar and the other four fingers splayed out over the keys); it's not as fast, but it's still speedy enough to look very strange.. haha... I learned this when I used to use my laptop on the fly as a giant PDA, and I would whip it out to type notes/assignments in my organizer app while walking.. heh..
Like Grizz, my typing has been a blessing because I have HORRENDOUS handwriting. I actually had a teacher who wanted to have me tested for dysgraphia.. (the one hitch there was my drawing abilities. :P) My girlfriend says it's cute, but the rest of the world doesn't share her opinion. :lol:
-CM