Not sure if this is an apt post for MPU, but hey, we try to learn to be productive here, so thought will ask.
I currently type using only my index and middle finger (both hands). I don’t keep my index finger on J/F keys. I am a free flowing typer. Based on typeracer, I avg around 50-60 wpm on a good day with focused typing, 40-50 on other days.
I want to learn typing with all my finger with proper form (finger on J/K and using the correct finger to press the correct key), however, typing the correct way slows me down (20-30 wpm) during work hours, and I have to switch back to my old style which gives me better speed. Typing this way makes me focus more on typing and less on work stuff.
I try to type the proper way in the evening after work, but again have to switch back to old style to be productive at work. What should I be doing.
PS: Using keybr.com to learn typing. Use Apple Magic Keyboard or MacBook Pro keyboard. Didn’t ever feel uncomfortable on the keyboard. Like keyboards that make less noise
I don’t necessarily recommend this (and it doesn’t really answer your question about not slowing down your speed–I don’t think that’s possible!) but I learnt to type “properly” by switching to Dvorak. I was a quick typist on Qwerty, but didn’t type ‘properly’ and I do think I’m faster now - around 100wpm. Without changing keyboard layouts, it was hard to force myself to slow down and do it properly otherwise.
It is admittedly fun to watch other people try to use my keyboard.
This is a fair question. I’m …well, let’s just say I’m old and retired now. But I made my living as a programmer. And wrote a lot of supporting documents as well. So I’ve pressed a lot of keys in my time, but never managed to learn how to do it correctly. Always wished I had though.
So I commend the OP for wanting to do it the right way and making the effort to follow through on it.
There’s an argument to be made for reducing overuse injuries by spreading the work to more fingers.
This was part of the motivation for developing the Dvorak layout (and others). With vowels on the left hand, and consonants on the right, typing many words results in alternating between hands. Similarly, more common letters are assigned to larger, stronger fingers.
As an example, I can type my first and last name entirely with my right hand, save for one letter,
on the QWERTY layout. Using Dvorak it’s 5 left, 6 right.
QWERTY: R R R R R R R R L R R
Dvorak: L L R R L L R R R L R
I’m in the same boat. I have an odd form of typing that uses thumbs and index an middle fingers. And, like you, I am fairly fast at it but with certain common typos I use Typinator to fix for me. I also don’t watch what I am typing I look at my hands and keyboard all the time. I am trying to retrain myself as well.
This has been my tactic too. I am still really slow in Dvorak but I am getting faster when I practice regularly. 2 things that helped me. I got some thin flexible keyboard covers that fit over the keys from kbcovers that I can place over the keys on both iMac and laptop keyboards that show the Dvorak keypad layout. I also printed out a colored keyboard layout that showed which finger was to go on each set of keys and I tape it above my screen so I have a reference to look at but do not look at the keys. I can switch the keyboard to Dvorak for a while with the covers on. When I get tired or have to go faster I take the cover off and also switch the keyboard back to normal. The cover switch helps reset my brain and means I don’t have to worry about moving all the real keys or dismantling my keyboard. I have also used the app TypeFu to learn but an old rev 4.8.0 when it was still a separate app. That has tools to help you learn. Their new one is a Chrome based web app that won’t work in Safari so I don’t recommend them anymore but it used to be a great little app.
Your typing speed is impressive, imagine your output if you knew touch typing.Even if your typing speeds did not improve(hard to imagine) I find touch typing expends far less effort.
I would echo what everyone says about learning the Dvorak layout, but for another reason. In addition to more sensible finger use, it will create a mental separation between the layout you use at work and the layout you use at home. I type okay with on a Qwerty keyboard(look and type method - 3.5 finger method). I use a different muscle memory when I am using a Dvorak layout(touch typing).
Keep practicing with keybr at home (you can configure it with a Dvorak layout) and use Qwerty at work. You will make the typing gains you want without affecting your regular day speed.
As with anything new, you’ll go one step back to go two steps forward. I was fortunate to learn QWERTY in grade school on a typewriter. I don’t even think kids learn how to type anymore.
For those that use DVORAK, is your iPhone also on Dvorak?
I’m like a couple of others here, never learned proper touch typing. I do use all my fingers but have to look at the keyboard most of the time.
For those that do touch type, can you do it on an iPad? I have issues with the iPad keyboard with the special characters since they’re not in the same place.
These 2 quotes perfectly explain my typing style. Although learning to type properly would be good for my hands and my brain, this is not on my bucket list.
I think learning typing will have a threshold. For the first day or two you’ll make a lot of mistakes and be super slow. After a certain point, though, you’ll catch on and get all the gains you’re hoping for. Then you’ll only get better from there.
If I were you, I’d try to commit. Resist the urge to switch back in the day to day.
This goes for whether you’re learning DVORAK or QWERTY.
FWIW, while I appreciate the arguments of DVORAK enthusiasts, and it’s pretty clearly the better layout for English, I am very happy with QWERTY because it’s so mainstream. I don’t want to have to be slower if I’m using a colleague’s laptop for a second, or if I’ve just picked up my iPad. It would be nice if the whole world switched to DVORAK, but at this point it just isn’t going to happen.
I’ve been typing at 120+ WPM with QWERTY for 15+ years, with no RSIs or wrist issues. Make sure you have the right ergonomics though.
I used to think that, but this method (2 finger typing) does not scale well. I can only type so much faster, as compared to 4 finger typing which can go upto 80-90 wpm.
I have no magic bullet for you, but lots of practice works. Spend a lot of time on the keyboard and do a lot of practice tests. Like a video game, I’d do the same test over and over until I got faster. (I had a quiet help desk job in high school and when the calls weren’t coming in, I’d practice my typing.) Avoid practicing with numbers at the beginning. I used something like Mavis Beacon back in the day. My kids use this: https://www.typingclub.com.
Once you get proficient (whatever that means to you), start writing more. Long form writing–journaling, nanowrimo, anything–keeps your hands on the keyboard and when your mind is on output it’s easier to forget the keys and type intuitively.
iOS doesn’t allow this. It doesn’t bother me much, though, because tapping on the phone doesn’t really feel like typing and I never forgot the qwerty layout.
Yes, in landscape, anyway. It requires a different cadence since you can’t roll onto several keys at once to quickly make a word.
I recently got a new keyboard and decided I’d try typing “correctly” for a change; the way I learned many moons ago in high school typing class. After about two days of frustration I reverted back to my standard way of typing; all fingers left hand, two fingers right hand. This way was good enough for a 40-year work career where nobody. complained about my typing speed. Plus, you know - old dogs and new tricks.
I learned proper “touch typing” in 8th grade as it was a required class for all students. It was a full semester class that met 3 times a week and required daily practice. I hated the class, but I’m thankful for it every day since it has made my 35-year career as a programmer a lot easier.
That said….
the way that I was taught….
NEVER look at your hands. Watch only your output. Don’t tell me that you don’t/can’t do it that way; that’s the way it is done and how zillions of secretaries could type 90+ wpm.
Practice, practice and more practice. It must be systematic, and we were taught with a metronome. You must aim for constant rhythm. Turning on sound feedback on software keyboards helps. Don’t tell me that you gave up after two days. You can’t learn it that fast. It requires considerable dedicated practice. Old-school secretaries went to school to learn it.
Some people are just better at it than others. I only have mediocre speed. But I’m more interested in accuracy. I don’t want to invoke spellcheck any more than necessary. That takes up time in my opinion.
I find that proper typing is impossible on small keyboards. Unless you have fingers the size of toothpicks, I don’t think it’s possible on a phone. I even have trouble on the iPad Pro in portrait mode.
Any other games to recommend? I couldn’t get the one to work.****
I type with one hand. I know where the keys are at. I am the fastest one-handed typist you’d ever see. If I learned to type, I could write a book as long and as incoherent as Ulysses (because I love to write as it is).
I have carpal tunnel BAD. I think it is the trackpad mostly. My neurologist suggested a hand brace which I already have and ice, to anyone who might have it too. Very painful.
So typing like I am suppose to do would REALLY help. I did have sponge bob helping me a few years ago. That actually helped but still I type too fast with one hand.
