I always find this interesting. I always wonder how quickly my peers in high school type, but since I do almost all of my typing exclusively at home, I never really get to see others type.
1.) Do you type correctly or basically correctly (fingers on the home keys, using basically all of the correct fingers for each letter, etc.)?
2.) Did you ever have to take typing in school?
3.) Do you spend a lot of time on the computer each week?
4.) Take this typing test and post the WPM (words per minute).
I’ll just preface my score with saying that I’m a complete nerd. I played tons of computer games for the first few years of high school, and my typing got REALLY good from that (if anyone wants to know what game it was, it was StarCraft II. You basically had to click 200 times a minute or faster to be semi-decent at the game). I usually score about 115-120 WPM on typing tests, with between 95 and 99% accuracy. Just a life-tip, if you do type quickly, advertise it as much as you can when you’re doing work for someone. I was volunteering at a hospital over the summer, and they had me doing tons of their administrative work because I could just do it so much more quickly than almost anyone else in the office. It also helps you find decent summer jobs that don’t consist of manual labor, and it may prove useful in college if a professor needs someone to do data entry for them and doesn’t feel like typing it all out.
On 10fastfingers, I usually scored in the 80s, but one time I got 97 wpm I think. I bet I spend more than 25 hours a week on the computer in a normal school week without the weekend.
On this test, Aesop’s Fables, I got 77 wpm after a couple tries. My typing speed was 83 wpm, and my adjusted speed was 77 wpm with 6 word errors at 92% accuracy.
@Cosmological – I type close to my fastest when I’m not really trying nearly as hard as I can. My fastest ever required me to try incredibly hard (got ~140 WPM with 99% accuracy), but I think that when you relax you’re less prone to making mistakes and there’s less pressure to perform as well. I think this applies to a lot of stuff though, not just typing quickly haha.
In 8th grade, there was a required typing class, and in 9th grade, it was part of the curriculum for a required IT course, since I go to a technology magnet.
Way too much time. Practically all of my homework is digital, and I also waste a bunch of time.
103 wpm. It's slower when I'm not trying, with the exact slowness depending on the complexity of what I'm typing. I've noticed that people think in chunks of words rather than thinking of each word individually. If I see the word "kind" on a typing test when I'm trying to be fast, I'm going to end up typing "of" for the next word without even thinking. A new permutation of familiar words can throw you off almost as much as a new word.
@halcyonheather – That actually occurs in much of what humans do. It’s because we have neural adaptations (ie. muscle memory) that makes tasks much quicker and take less energy. It’s why running burns less calories after you’ve been doing it for a while and why people learn how to play faster songs and things like that. It’s not that they suddenly became much better, it’s just that they’ve done it enough that it becomes almost automatic.
2.) Yeah but at that point I could already type fast… and Mavis Beacon was incredibly annoying.
3.) Yepperooni.
4.) 135 WPM adjusted to 124 with 91% accuracy (lol). I was never too accurate, but that’s why we have backspacing. Also I suck more under pressure. oops
I touch type with muscle memory and scored average of 110-120 depending on the keyboard. Never understood the point of the home row mentality; do what works.
Correctly. I think I use the wrong finger for like, p, though? I dunno, that’s the only quirk.
Yep. Elementary school + it was part of my Geography class freshman year. But I two-finger typed even with the classes in elementary school–I picked up how to type properly by myself in junior high.
Yes. I spend far too much time on a computer.
I’m on my phone and my left thumb hurts. So I didn’t take it. But from earlier tests, I think I’m in the seventies? I don’t remember.
I do type with my fingers on the home keys. I cannot type numbers to save my life (I have to stare at the keyboard to do those)
After second grade, some students from the 4 elementary schools got placed into the honors program. The 30 of us had our own laptops, so we were required to take weekly typing tests without looking at the keys. If you did well you got airheads (airheads are the only reason why I know how to type to be honest).
I spend tons of time on the computer each week. When school is in session that typically involves typing book or lecture notes when I wake up at 2am.
Nope - I use my index fingers and right thumb, and occasionally my left thumb and right middle and ring fingers. My hand works in odd ways because reasons.
Yeah, in like 4th and/or 5th and/or 6th grade. It was awful and stressful and I learned nothing. All of the things were timed, and I have major anxiety about timed things (SATs, in-class writing, this typing test, games, etc.). I've also played piano from a very young age (before I could type) so not sure if that means anything.
Not really, no. I spend more time on my phone scrolling through things than I spend on my computer. I have problems with handwriting (messy/slow handwriting, writing numbers instead of letters and mixing up letters because of synesthesia, etc.) but I much prefer it to typing.
I can do 125 on a school keyboard. On my nice mechanical I usually hover around 110.
Never took a class, type frequently for homework since I do it all digital. Learned how to type from programming a lot when I was younger and I just sort of built the muscle memory for all the keys in their positions.
Also I suck more under pressure. oops