Touch-typing

[rachelmanija]

Where would one normally learn to touch-type, other than high school?

I taught myself to type and don't use all my fingers, and think that maybe changing my technique would help my RSI. (The occupational therapist thought it was worth a try.)

I am having a google fail moment, as various permutations of "touch typing class" "typing class" etc, and my location are not producing anything useful.

Comments

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Typing of the Dead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typing_of_the_Dead), if you can find an old Windows copy. :D

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is the old classic computer program that teaches it - there's probably updated versions out there now.


Yaaay for editing! I can fix HTML mistakes!

[emluv.livejournal.com]

I learned at my home town's continuing education program, which was held at night at the local high school and included business classes and things like calligraphy and pottery. Maybe a technical or secretarial school? Do secretarial schools still exist? Also, I believe there are computer programs out there that test the speed of your typing. Really, once know which key goes with which finger, it's just a matter of practicing and, in your case, probably unlearning old habits.

This looks like it might be useful:
http://www.customtyping.com/

[cofax7]

There is training software available; my dad taught himself to touch-type in his 50s.

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (http://www.download.com/Mavis-Beacon-Teaches-Typing-17-Deluxe/3000-2051_4-10441796.html) is a program I've heard about--free to try, if you're willing to go through it yourself.

I learned touch typing in elementary school :-D but had some luck teaching myself to touch type Dvorak with a possibly-similar program for the Mac. (Note that I am not advocating that you switch to Dvorak, unless you want to!)

Try "keyboarding"? Or maybe computer literacy classes would cover it as well?

[kate_nepveu]

My first thought was a community college, but then I realized that I always look through my local one's catalogs and haven't seen anything like it.

But if you want to learn in person rather than online, something like that is probably good.

(I learned on a typewriter, with a piece of paper taped on so that I couldn't cheat and look at my fingers. This was actually quite useful, even if it's probably harder to do on a keyboard.)

[ebenstone.livejournal.com]

The same way you get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice.

[habiliments.livejournal.com]

It's not quite teaching/classes, but for fun/practice you can always play Typer Shark (http://www.popcap.com/games/free/typershark) online! I guess, though, that it doesn't really help with making sure your fingers are in the right place and whatnot. But I find that it does sharpen my accuracy. And it's sort of addictive.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Theoretically, I learned typing as part of a series of video games for the Apple IIE my mother had when I was 10. However, all that really stuck was the home keys, and I developed what-finger-goes-where-without-looking much later, on my own. (Which means I probably have hand-posture as bad as yours.)

[thecityofdis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, everyone has already recommended Mavis Beacon, but it's definitely worth it.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

I type primarily with my right hand, except for a few letters, and it's a terrible habit. Self-taught. I've heard excellent things about Dvorak for cutting down on RSI strain. My brother the computer programmer knew lots of guys who used it, because they typed so much code and developed RSI. It's easy these days to switch any machine to that setting. If you're going to relearn to type, it might be worth looking into.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

There at least used to be software that would teach touch typing.

[octopedingenue]

I learned off actual typewriters in middle school, one of probably the last generation to do so. I'm still bad at typing numbers and using the correct opposite-hand shift key to Capitalize Things, but I got the home keys pretty much. Hmmm, things that helped me...

Typing games, but only if they're fun and/or you reward yourself for playing them; if they're deadly boring you'll never play/practice. Classes with an instructor/typewriter are nice in that there's someone to smack your hands if they catch you looking at your finger instead of the typing cards.

Speaking of: maybe pick up a set of typing practice cards, bound to be dead cheap in used bookstores these days or available at a library. They start you off transcribing pages of asdfjkl; and introduce one or two new letters at a time (e and c! YOU WERE MY BANE) until you get to The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog and such. They are deadly boring but maybe more useful for touch-typing than an onscreen typing game in that you can prop the book up somewhere awkward so that you cannot sneak peeks at your fingers/screen while you're reading what to type. (Blindfolding helps too.)

It's also a good idea to practice on several different types of keyboard, though you should get most comfortable with the one you use most often. I use a split ergonomic computer keyboard at home, which has been more comfortable for me after the forever it took to learn. But now on normal straight keyboards, my typing wobbles all over the place. I wonder how people using international or multilingual keyboards learn to type. (And where did the ¢ go from US keyboards? I miss the ¢!)

Gems of knowledge from typing class 10 years ago that may/not still be accurate: Stewardesses is the longest single word you can type with only your left hand, and lollipop/lollypop is the longest you can type with only your right.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I learned to touch-type three consecutive summers in summer school when I was a kid. Once on a manual typewriter, once on an electric typewriter, once on a Mac. REALLY made me appreciate word processors.

One thing that touch-typing does allow, and which might really help with RSI, is the use of a seriously ergonomic keyboard. As for example, Kinesis (http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/). I've been using their contoured keyboard for fourteen years (everything I've ever published professionally was written on a Kinesis keyboard), and it makes a tremendous difference for me. (I can use a standard keyboard for fifteen minutes max of steady typing before my wrists start to hurt; I still have to, you know, be sensible with the Kinesis, but it is a whole different world.) But the mere sight of the thing sends my friends who don't touch-type into fits and paroxysms.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

We use mavid beacon at school--and dots on the letters.

[sarge-5150.livejournal.com]

I taught myself to type through typing and eventually ended up using all my fingers and most of the "correct" movements. I made a conscious effort to change habits slowly (e.g., "now I'll use my little finger for 'p'"). Maybe that would work better than formal instruction, either in person or via software.

[seshat.livejournal.com]

I learned off of some old Typing Tutor program we had on an old Apple IIe when I was a kid. I think I vaguely remember seeing a diagram once that showed me which keys I"m supposed to be hitting with which fingers. I don't technically do it 100% correctly - I don't use my left thumb or either of my pinky fingers nearly enough, but I type quickly enough that I don't stress about it.

[msss.livejournal.com]

I used a typing program when we first got a computer. I suspect years of piano practice help too.