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Touch typing with ten fingers



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Sat Jun 19, 2010 8:06 am
Kibble says...



I'll be honest. Until about two months ago, I typed almost entirely two-fingered. Maybe a thumb on the SHIFT sometimes, but otherwise, my non-index fingers basically napped. I got through Nanowrimo two-fingered, so strong was my belief that I would never touch type.

Then I decided to give it a try. I got a touch typing program and even colour-coded my keyboard (green for index finger, yellow for middle, orange for ring finger and, fittingly, pink for pinkey). At first it was so hard and confusing, I sometimes felt headachey or physically sick after a few minutes.

I'm still learning, but the speed and error rate is not unbearable anymore, and I can do it for a while. I think it helped that I could already type without looking; I knew where the keys were -- the issue was simply hitting them with the right fingers.

Here are some tips based on my experience so far...

Advantages of touch typing
1. It's faster. I'm not sure I've quite reached my pre-attempt speeds yet, but I can see how this will make it much easier to type at high speed. Beneficial for note-taking, bursts of inspiration, and of course, Nanowrimo!
2. It feels cool. Your wrists don't move as much, and somehow using the whole hand (actually, both hands) feels very engaging.
3. If you're going for a career in journalism or other writing, touch typing ability will probably be required.

Disadvantages of touch typing
1. Learning can be hard or even painful. See above... I've actually heard of someone getting Repetitive Strain Injury from learning to touch type.
2. It slows you down while you're learning. I still haven't reached pre-touch-typing speeds.
3. Thinking about your typing can impact on your ability to think about the content of what you're writing.
4. People might think it's weird that your keyboard is colour-coded.

Kibble's Tips for Touch Typing
1. Find a free online program with those lessons. Admittedly I don't do the individual lessons much, but they have good instructions on how to touch type (specifics like which keys to hit with which fingers, etc). You can also test your speed and accuracy to ensure you're improving over time.
2. Don't give up. I mean, try not to have to do any two-fingered typing. You may have to resort to your old method in a pinch (if you need something written up fast when your touch typing is still slow). But try to use touch-typing for as much general stuff as possible, including web URLs, typing into search engines, posting on YWS... Just be careful putting in passwords -- if you make a mistake when typing it in, it's not visible and you might be locked out of accounts if you make too many failed password attempts.
3. Going with point 2, choose a time to learn to touch type when there aren't likely to be large amounts of things requiring fast typing, so you can slowly touch type as much of your writing as possible.
4. Check everything for mistakes. You might not notice them when you're focussing on typing, so check afterwards.
5. Colour code your keyboard. The point of touch typing (other than the ten finger thing) is that you don't look at the keyboard, but if you forget which finger you're supposed to be pressing "U" with, it's easier to glance down than refer to a touch typing chart.

So, has anyone else overcome the touch-typing hurdle, or trying? Has anyone here always touch-typed (with ten fingers)? Is it more important always hit the right keys with the right fingers, or do what feels natural?

Feel free to add tips, stories and advantages/disadvantages you've discovered!
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Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:13 pm
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Kale says...



http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/

That's the program I used to learn how to touch type. It's got a keyboard on-screen and overlaid hands that show you which finger should be pressing the correct key if you make a mistake so that it's easier to get into the habit of not looking down at the keyboard. There's also no need for color coding. :P

As far as advantages go, I used to be wicked fast with just two fingers, but touch typing, I'm even faster. I can actually type fast enough to transcribe what a person is saying as they say it. It takes a lot of practice, but once that's overcome, there's no going back. XD
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Sat Jun 19, 2010 5:47 pm
Rosendorn says...



Heh. I was taught touch-typing put then I got out of the habit and now I only look like I touch-type. I really only use my first three fingers and the thumb on one hand. My pinkies do none of the work and hover above the keyboard, lol. That probably comes from the very weird keyboard I had (ergonomic. Ie, it had a bulge in the center so your hands were better positions. But small hands on that, and with short/weak pinkies, even worse!) but the rest is probably because of the aforementioned short/weak pinkies. :P

I can type pretty fast even without using a couple fingers for whatever reason. Considering I had some of the highest word counts during JulNo's word wars, I'm going to go as far as to say I'm not hindered by only using eight fingers. Although it does put a bit of strain on my wrists by not using my pinky fingers, using them seems to cause more strain, so. xD

Good luck! One thing my teacher used to do to get us to not look at the keyboard was put a sweater over our hands while we were doing drills. It's an idea. :P
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Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:01 am
Kibble says...



Hey Kyllorac, that's the same program I used/am still using. I colour-coded mine because I switched entirely (except for emergencies) from two-fingered to touch typing in one go; I figured it was all or nothing or I'd just be undoing the lessons by typing other stuff my old way. So I had the keys coloured to remember where my fingers were supposed to go when I was just typing other things.

It's so cool that you can type at speaking speed. Hopefully I will be able to do that eventually! :)

RoseyUnicorn, your school sounds really writing-orientated. We never had touch-typing lessons, that I can remember, as least for any length of time. I wish I'd learnt it earlier, because I have a feeling it would have been easier then.

:D
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Sun Jun 20, 2010 2:12 pm
Kale says...



I colour-coded mine because I switched entirely (except for emergencies) from two-fingered to touch typing in one go; I figured it was all or nothing or I'd just be undoing the lessons by typing other stuff my old way.

Actually, it's better if you take it in stages. The reason you're feeling pain is because your hands aren't used to being in that position, so easing your way into it is better. It's kind of like going and lifting 500 kg without first warming up and building up the strength and control. :P

What I did was set aside one hour a day to practice touch-typing. Over time, I found myself naturally using touch-typing more and more until it was the only way I typed. Now I can't not touch-type. XD
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Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:45 pm
pinkangel54123 says...



From third grade to eighth grade they teach us to type. We got graded on our words per minute and my high is somewhere near 65. I always used to cheat and look down, but now they have these glasses for the little kids so that you can't look down. They're actually pretty cool. I actually didn't know that what I was doing was called touch typing.
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Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:58 am
Kibble says...



Actually, it's better if you take it in stages. The reason you're feeling pain is because your hands aren't used to being in that position, so easing your way into it is better. It's kind of like going and lifting 500 kg without first warming up and building up the strength and control. :P

Yeah, I do think I overdid it a little at the start. Nowadays I don't feel any pain, I'm just a bit slower than before. :D
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Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:29 pm
Merlin34 says...



I do kind of a weird mix of touch typing and hunt and peck. I use only my index fingers and thumbs but I can still go like a speed demon.
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