Learning to touch type. Very frustrating.

[jeff_farkas]

I'd like to get to about 60-70 WPM.... 10 WPM is just pathetic

It took some time before I got used to tough typing. But in my case I was a programmer so I was able to get used to doing it faster because I had to.

I would just find a good site where you can practice and do it several times a day. You should see some improvement over time.
Time takes time and it's a skill that has to be developed. It's programming the brain to get your fingers to do something new.

J

 

[jeff_farkas]

When I was in HS my buddy and myself had to fill one elective course of our choosing. This was before desktop computers. We came up with the bright idea of taking the typing course because the class was always full of girls. They were the old fashioned manual type. Not even electric. It wasn't long we were typing like gangbusters. In fact, we did so well we were the top typists in the class and all the girls hated us. I believe my average was 95 wpm. Turned out for the best though since I've spent the last 30 some odd years working with computers.

My mom forced me to take a typing class. I was the only guy in the class. But I really have to say it was worth it in the end.

 

[jeff_farkas]

Links
1 https://www.typingclub.com/
2 http://www.typeonline.co.uk/copypractice.php
3 https://www.keybr.com/

HTH

 

[jc2000]

Never learned to type... wish I had.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

it's never too late to learn new things

 

[5F6-A]

I am not spring chicken (43) and I am learning....

 

[GitFiddle]

Its really not much different than learning your chords or lead patterns on guitar. Just takes repetition before it becomes muscle memory.

 

[dennis g]

Wanna talk about frustration? I took typing in high school and could type about 65wpm at the end of the course. Fast forward a couple of years and I'm in the Army in clerk/typist school. You think I wanted the Army to know that I could type? I'd have been painting jeeps or on permanent KP duty if they knew. So, for someone who could already type 65 wpm to have to sit there "learning" to type was painful, but necessary. BTW, of all the courses I took in HS, typing has been of the most use to me in real life. Stick with it, you'll get it. It's really nothing more than muscle memory

 

[SGeoff]

muscle memory...I asked em what they remember, they recall being bigger

 

[fett]

Way back when in college, I had to write a report on a typewriter. My best friend had his mom type his. The "Famous" it was due the next day. I hunted and pecked. I was on a Roll. It was around 2AM and I was almost done. I didn't like my closing paragraph. I was done with corrections. I just "X'd" it out and wrote a new one. I turned it in with all the warts. I was a Soc major and this was a Poli Sci course. Do you guys remember Blue Books? It was "Final Test" day. I was working to maybe get a "C". More like a "D". He returned our papers on that day. Yikes!!!!!!!! I got an "A-". Not only that, he thought my Paper was good enough for him to put it in his files. I got a "B" as my final grade and I don't know why.

 

[5F6-A]

Quick update:

I have persevered (and despaired at times!) for a few days now with this touch type malarkey and all of a sudden, about 10 days in, I am starting to make progress. It's amazing! I'm staring at the screen and almost as if by magic, the words start appearing on the screen without a single peek at the keyboard. Ha ha!

I still make mistakes and numbers and special symbols are still are no-no but there's progress. Funnily enough, the two systems are operating in my head and somehow competing but also kind of merging into one coherent system. Although there's a long way to go yet, I think I'll be able to touch type eventually.

Thanks for all your support and good advice.

 

[Chicago John]

This looks like a pretty good program:
https://www.typingclub.com/
https://www.typingclub.com/
https://www.typingclub.com/
I took this stuff in high school and I was really flying at one point. Can't get past 50 at the moment, but for programming, this is more than fast enough. You just have to dig in and practice, keeping your eyes off your hands.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Quick update:

I have persevered (and despaired at times!) for a few days now with this touch type malarkey and all of a sudden, about 10 days in, I am starting to make progress. It's amazing! I'm staring at the screen and almost as if by magic, the words start appearing on the screen without a single peek at the keyboard. Ha ha!

I still make mistakes and numbers and special symbols are still are no-no but there's progress. Funnily enough, the two systems are operating in my head and somehow competing but also kind of merging into one coherent system. Although there's a long way to go yet, I think I'll be able to touch type eventually.

Thanks for all your support and good advice.

told you you'd start to get it.

soon you'll be using short-cuts too, like 'Alt+Tab' to switch between windows, 'Ctrl+Tab' to switch between tabs, 'Ctrl+Shift' to highlight words, or just hold down Shift to highlight letters.

or when you highlight a block of text using Ctrl+Shift and the arrow keys up or down,...then hit Ctrl+i for italics, or Ctrl+b for bold, stuff like that.

Once you really start getting used to using the keyboard,..you don't want to take your hands off it for the mouse unless you really have to. Everything is easier with the keyboard.

 

[artis_xe]

Any tips appreciated BTW

start slowly . and focus on detail before speed . plan to fail when increasing speed . and go all in with a program like vim

( I assume that most users are on Win when I post these links . Linux users know the apt-get methods __ or whatever repositories they use )

http://www.vim.org/download.php#pc

originally intended for writing code __ it can be a killer word processing tool . you might as well hit the wall hard , and focus on another thing while learning how to type faster

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Vim is the editor of The Beast

I suck,..I use Nano.
..actually I use Sublime on both (Win and Linux) ..I use Nano when I have to.

....I really like Sublime for some reason. Though it's proprietary so Stallman would piss all over it.

It's fast though,...and the colors are pretty.

 

[5F6-A]

That last post is gibberish to me LOLD

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Vim is the editor of the beast

Vim

Nano

Sublime

Richard Stallman and proprietary software

 

[Chicago John]

For more fun, you could also build your own Vim form source