Ask Lemmy

Yes, qwerty and Dvorak, although I have to guess and check with some special characters on Dvorak. I have an unlabeled Dvorak keyboard at work (this guy right here), but I only physically go in to the office once every few weeks nowadays, and I'm starting to forget where some of the symbols are.

I use DVORAK on my phone and after a day was faster than with querty.             

I also use a keybeard called unexpected keyboard (via the fdroid app store) that does not have autocomplete but instead its really fast & still accurate to type non letters and numbers without holding the key down and wait and then choosing something. Also it can do shortcuts like ctrl+a, +c & +v which is quite pleasant

I touch type on QWERTY with a few variations from the standard. For example, I use right shift seldom, to type a capital A I shift my left hand over, hold shift with my little finger and strike A with my ring finger. the Y key I type with either hand depending on what else is going on with my hands at the time, and the rules I follow I don't even understand, so most of those ergonomic split keyboards are no good for me. I don't know if I type 6 or B correctly, I use the right hand for both.

I was given typing tutor programs as a child, I took a keyboarding class in 9th grade, in fact I was in that class when the planes hit the towers. My typing proficiency really came from Yahoo! and MSN. Turns out, teens will pick up a skill on their own if it's useful for socializing with other teens.

Yes, Dvorak, I forgot qwerty. I was taught qwerty touch typing in grade school, and switched to Dvorak in college when my wrists hurt all the time.

I had typing class in school, but got better with it by video games. I now use Colemak, but can blind type in qwerty and colemak

I can touch type. A typing teacher would probably be horrified at my form because I followed absolutely no rules about finger placement whatsoever, but I hit a peak 138wpm before so I feel zero need to change to a more conventional style.

For what it’s worth, funny story but I learned both to touch type and to type so fast from playing Runescape.

Back before they added a central auction house you used to have to sit and type like “white:wave2:selling rune scimmy 25k - camel” amongst a sea of people doing the same thing when looking to buy/sell items. And your text disappeared after a few seconds so you had to keep repeating it over and over. I used to trade like that for hours every day and that repetition of just typing things over and over really quickly taught me to type like I do now.

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I switched to an ergomech keyboard so yes I have to touch type. My typing style on a normal keyboard is kind of dogshit though.

i can do something similar, but when they tried to teach me how in like 5th grade I was very determined not to do what my teachers wanted so I do it weird

I -can- do it, technically, with many mistakes and very slow, because it was forced on me in high school (around 2001), well after I’d refined my own typing style from chat rooms and instant messengers. I did it for that class, hated every second, and would go home to type the way I normally do, rather than practice it.

I type extremely fast despite using a mostly-sight-based, modified 2-3 finger hunt-peck. (As in one hand usually only uses two fingers, one uses three). I keep up with fast touch typers, around 90-95wpm, except when copying text verbatim (something I’ve never actually needed to do for any reason other than typing tests) so I have zero motivation to change what I do.

Yes, learned how with a program on a VAX computer ('80s) using a VT100 terminal. I managed to get through high school and college by hunt and peck, though. Definitely not recommended.

Yes. Qwerty. I can also touch type on my tablet using the onscreen keyboard which is helpful when taking notes while learning Spanish.

Oddly enough I've had a couple people who like to listen to me typing.

When I took a speed and accuracy test about 25 years ago I was around 35wpm and 95% I'm a lot faster now.

Yes although not great. I use the traditional home row keys and I had typing classes in both junior high and high school. Tried divorak but im to lazy to learn a new layout especially since I need to look at the keyboard and new things will always use the traditional design. Touch typing is the thing I recommend to parents and kids when they ask about courses to take or such. Earlier the better really. I can't imagine typing without looking without haveing had typing classes. I don't look as a matter of course but I still look as is.

I know where all the buttons are, but I have bad aim.

If I don't look at the keyboard, I hit the wrong letter.

Proper form? Strictly speaking no, but I’m close. I learned on IRC, and can crank out an acceptable 90wpm - though that’s small potatoes compared to pros.

I formed my own way of typing before learning proper form. I touch type, but I swap which hand types the middle of the keyboard based on the word I’m typing and the letters around it. It’s not “proper,” but it works for me. I’m not the fastest typist, but I’m above average.

I also usually type on my phone screen without looking at the keyboard. Does that count as touch typing? Lol. I just took two typing speed tests on my phone and got 49–54 WPM.

I didn't learn to touch type until I overpaid for a keyboard with blank keycaps. I didn't make much of an effort other than struggling to type without a way to check what keys I was about to press, but it seems to have mostly worked. As a consequence I never learned dvorak because qwerty was tough enough, maybe next month I'll switch 😅

My typing speed feels faster but it's probably not great for things I don't normally type, plus I haven't measured it

Yes. I was a video editor for years and part of that was subtitling without automatic transcriptions. I could keep up with most speakers and if I'm remembering correctly, the typing speed tests I took for fun were 150wpm+

It's definitely a skill I've taken for granted but it's paying off big now that I work almost exclusively in AutoCAD (which makes you type commands, not just keyboard shortcuts)

I learned to touch type QWERTY in 7th grade (late oughts).
I taught myself to touch type Colemak two years ago. I liked it but quickly realized it was a waste of time because nothing else in the world uses it and i didn't want to give up QWERTY familiarity. lol

I was in the last class in my high school that was taught to type on an actual typewriter. So yes, I can touch type on QWERTY.

My wife (then girlfriend) took a typing class in college at my insistence that it would help her immensely. She agrees to this day that it was the best decision she ever made with regards to electives. I strongly suggest that everyone should take a typing class, be it free or paid.

I believe I can touch type properly on a QWERTY layout.

In Japanese, we have to convert kana into kanji as we type, so I sometimes make mistakes during the conversion stage.

I occasionally play a typing game called Sushi-Da for practice.

Yes - QWERTY with proper form if you ignore the number row. No official education, just did some online tutorials at some point. Also my native language uses a different script so I technically know two QWERTY layouts and do about 80wpm in both which isn't terribly fast but ok for everyday use.

At some point I tried to learn one-handed touch typing and mostly gave up. I still remember the positions but it's so slow it's not worth it. If you already have a style that mostly uses one hand, it would probably be easier to learn.

I barely ever look down at my fingers unless every letter types out wrong, and they're misplaced on the keyboard.

I can hit about 110 words per minute on qwerty. About 1 a minute on Dvorak.

Touch type is without looking, right?

That I can do in multiple layouts. But none with proper form/finger placements.
At some point I was thinking of practicing it with workman layout.

What is your unconventional typing style?

Yep. I learned to touch type through different kids typing programs back in the 90s. The one I remember the most was this game where there are two talking hands and you have to help them take back control of a city from this angry green blobby alien with a German accent. Apparently this alien's one weakness is typing.

Yes, improperly on qwerty before I switched to (a cursed subvariant of) dvorak. Now I do it with proper form.

I semi-touch type, with three fingers and one thumb, and form that looks like an arthritic hobo. But I still get the job done.

However, I can work a numpad or a ten-key calculator like a pro athlete.