tickling the plastics

Pete · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 14.38

I need to relearn how to type.

I bought myself one of those fancy split keyboard things and all those years of experience which made me a fast "three fingered flying" typist have gone out the window.

having said that, i'm speeding up slightly after an hour on the thing.

i'm wondering whether to download mavis beacon or the like to try and reteach me how to type. i've noticed in partiular i have trouble with the letter Y as i've always tended to use my left hand but its on the right side.

more importantly, does anyone properly touch type? watching the people at customer service in tesco its noteable how all young people type quick but not necessarily "correctly."

Please post your typing tales here

Gavin Scott · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 14.56

I touch type, having taken the O Grade in secretarial studies. What a poof, eh?

I fall into bad habits with my typing though - and tend to be fastest when I'm not actually thinking about it - or when I'm doing audio typing.

Tried a split keyboard, but it seemed too odd for my taste.

Netizen · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 15.01

I've got a typing test at an NHS job interview tomorrow. Hopefully they're only looking for speed and accuracy as I find touch typing utterly awkward and unnatural. Surely everyone's fingers sit slightly differently, so who decided that daft split keyboard should be called 'natural'?

Gavin Scott · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 15.14

Netizen wrote:I've got a typing test at an NHS job interview tomorrow. Hopefully they're only looking for speed and accuracy as I find touch typing utterly awkward and unnatural. Surely everyone's fingers sit slightly differently, so who decided that daft split keyboard should be called 'natural'?

It is more naturally the way your wrists lay, but even so its "unnatural" because I've become accustomed to a straight keyboard.

I did touch typing tests with an agency before I got this job. I was doing fine until I realised they were watching me like a hawk, and theb iyt akl weent wrongf.

Netizen · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 16.03

That's exactly what I'm fearing. I can just see some nurk with a clipboard standing behind me going "tsk!"

Stuart* · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 16.06

I taught myself to type when I was quite young and progressed from just the usual "three fingers" to probably quite afew more over the years, but nothing approaching proper "touch typing" skills. The Typing Manager where I worked many years ago was quite impressed at my speed, even though she couldn't understand how I managed it with such an unprofessional use of my fingers.

I'm probably quickest and most accurate when I'm drafting letters or reports, because I'm concentrating more on composing the document in my head rather than what my fingers are doing.

I recall using a friend's PC at work which had one of those split keyboards. I was too impatient to adapt my keyboard skills just for the sake of covering her task for a week, so I unplugged it and replaced it with a "normal" keyboard after only a couple of hours.

cdd · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 17.35

Hymagumba wrote:more importantly, does anyone properly touch type? watching the people at customer service in tesco its noteable how all young people type quick but not necessarily "correctly."

Yes, but I'm not sure my typing speed is that much faster than non-touch-typists. And I can't use Natural Keyboards. I thought they went out of fashion a few years ago, anyway, they were a fad of a few years ago.

Lorns · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 19.01

I got kicked out of my typing class at school. I was at the stage where the keys were covered with plastic colour coded tabs, i found it boring and apparently i was a distraction to the rest of the class. I'm a pretty speedy 2 fingered typer.
I wish i'd have taken computer studies at school. At the time i thought what will i want a pootah for i want to be a hairdresser. Oh how that has come back to bite me on the bum. I could do with some polished IT thingy skills right now.

Chie · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 21.32

I can touch type without looking at either the keyboard or the screen. In fact I've often found myself having a verbal conversation with somebody and looking at them while simultaneously typing at the same time.

Lorns · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 21.36

Oh stop showing off and go back to playing with lego.

Mr Q · Thu 09 Oct, 2008 22.28

Hyma - when you say a split keyboard, do you mean one of those "ergonomically" designed keyboards (though I always found them uncomfortable as hell) that became popular at the end of the 1990s and kind of died away? Or is something totally new?