How Do You Type? Do you type correctly, or did your skills evolve uniquely?

[rob86 2]

I was trying to learn Vim the text editor and found it very awkward to use, which made me start to examine how I actually type. My right hand fingers are usually on the JKL; keys, with my pinky reaching the enter key with ease. I have relatively short fingers, so I think that's why I do that. My left hand, however, spreads out a lot, spanning different rows. My left pinky is always on the CTRL key,my thumb always on the space, (though my right thumb does jump in to push space once in a while). What's interesting is that my left hand and right hand share responsibility. I notice that even in a sentence, both hands handle the H key. My left hand spans more than half the keyboard (the part with the letters), and evidently handles more than half it's share of typing though my hands sort of move back and forth when I start typing. Really, they seem confused when I actually sit and think about how I type, but I type very fast so I don't know, maybe I'm on to something. I never experience tired hands or sore hands from typing. I've always found the standard way with the home row stuff very difficult and slow, plus it's a stretch to reach the enter key. I took typing classes years ago, and it seemed so strange to me to study how to use a keyboard. I always did what felt natural, and with experience, became a fast typist.

[networker 0]

I took typing in College and just passed with the minimum required words per minutequota.I've forgotten all the typing technique I learned and I'm really just a onefinger typist these days, although an extremely quick one, probably becauseI have always had really quick reflexes. No, I probably wouldn't be the one to ask for typing lessons.

[dolrich06 0]

I thought I was fast enough when I used one finger.I downloaded a practice typing software, it feels awkward and slow the first time, but for hours of practice, you'll get acquainted with it.It feels good when your not anymore looking to the keyboard to find those letters, it is also less stressful when all your fingers are working.

[BCD 1]

In my first days on computer I used to see and type and continued doing so without actually caring for the correct usage, I mean using all fingers appropriately. And when one day I saw the typing courses and the format to use the fingers, it was very difficult for me to stop by and use the fingers correctly. I suppose its even more difficult than beginners once you are used to single finger typing.

[shadowx 0]

With my feet.No i joke, watching my hands as i type this i realize that my left hand probably does a little more than the right, but only a bit. My left hand straddles the "ASDF" area of the keyboard and my right sort of rests the index finger on the O key, but then im left handed, so i suppose it makes sense for my left hand to do the most work.

[rayzoredge 2]

Good 'ol QWERTY, baby. I can't remember how I started, but I do remember taking Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing on the old Macintosh at about 1st grade or so. Since I've kept the fingers on the home row keys, I've had them since forever. I'm interested in learning DVORAK at one point or another just because it would be cool to be able to efficiently type with just my left or my right, but I'm already used to somewhat typing with one hand on QWERTY... just with a little sight assistance when the hand goes to the opposite side of the keyboard that it's unfamiliar with. When it comes to numbers, I'm STILL a little iffy reaching upwards to get the right number, so when I can, I use the 10-key pad (which I'm also proficient with).Found out that I have 150+ spm with 10-key and 95+ wpm using QWERTY, so I suppose that strict regimen paid off. That's actually against the clock and typing up the simple drills that they offer for free online... I'm sure that I type slightly slower casually.

[dolrich06 0]

Found out that I have 150+ spm with 10-key and 95+ wpm using QWERTY, so I suppose that strict regimen paid off. That's actually against the clock and typing up the simple drills that they offer for free online... I'm sure that I type slightly slower casually.

Wow, you can reach 95+ wpm...
I can barely reach 60wpm typing those simple drills.

The fastest typist in the world uses DVORAK keyboard. Where could i buy one?

[freshpub 0]

Never took a typing lesson in all my life, and I type at around 25-30 wpm when thinking up fiction. I tend to be just a little bit quicker with non-fiction for some reason. I use QWERTY now, but I started with AZERTY and used to be quite a bit quicker. Even the little changes make a big difference.My left hand usually sits above SDF, and my right hand actually hovers HJK just like you rob86. But the rigfht definetely does most of the work as I prefer to use the numeric pad to type numbers, and I use the arrows keys a lot...I do what comes naturally and I have no intention of learning to type faster, that's what Dragon Naturally Speaking is for !

[rob86 2]

Hey rayzoredge, it was just the other day I was interested in learning how to type with a Dvorak layout. I was reading about it and trying it out a bit, and wasn't sure if it was worth the effort to learn. I have no real desire to type faster as I'm already fast enough and QWERTY works for me. Mostly I just wanted to try something different. It seems like a lot of work though just to type slower than I already do for a long time. The thought of slowing my typing speed that much for months or years isn't very appealing. I don't think the benefits of being different outweigh the drawbacks of the effort it takes to relearn everything.I think I can reach about 120 wpm on a paragraph-typing test if I'm really trying. This is a normal paragraph out of a book mind you, not one iwth a bunch of funny big and complicated words nobody ever uses. It slows me down trying to figure out how to spell lol. I guess I type about 90-100wpm for copying something normally, and about 80 wpm if I'm casually posting on trap depending on if I know what I'm going to say, of course. I could type 100 wpm years ago, so I don't think speed gets much higher than that. At least, I haven't improved much since then. It's been a while since I did a typing test, I'll have to try it and see. Has anyone tried typing with their eyes closed? I do it once in a while, to see how I'd manage if I was blind. I find that I don't need my vision at all to type. My hands seems to know the feel of the keyboard now.

[rayzoredge 2]

@Rob86: The only reason why I would even think about maybe using the DVORAK variant of typing is when I need to type with just one hand while multi-tasking or if I'm just too lazy or want to be able to type with my left hand and mouse with my right.Typing with eyes closed? Once your index fingers find the home row with the raised bars on F and J, I think that most people can manage. It's the number of mistakes that will go uncorrected while typing blindly that is the real question...

[iwuvcookies 0]

I think I type about 70 wpm but that's with some errors though. It all depends on the surface I'm typing on. I'm much better on the individual keyboard than the laptop keyboard but that's mostly everyone. lol. I barely use the numbers on top of the letter keys. I just pick my right hand up and use the keypad. I typing skills are as efficient as they should be but it meets industry standards. As long as I don't have to be one of courtroom "transcriptionist" because I can not keep up with what people are saying. haha