Typing Tutor

[Camel]

First try on a laptop with a keyboard I'm unfarmilar with (CTRL+BACKSPACE doesn't work like that on a Mac!) in which I took probably close to a second to drag my mousepad to the "stop timer" button. So eh I'm not really impressed. :/

And iago: I never use the right shift key.

In a traditional typing test, you are not allowed to use the backspace key!

[iago]

Oh, that's good to know.  Not that I don't believe you, but do you have a source?

When I posted that, I looked on Google for like 10 sec to find a source, but couldn't find anything (I really only checked Snopes). So I gave up.

[Sidoh]

Oh, that's good to know.  Not that I don't believe you, but do you have a source?

When I posted that, I looked on Google for like 10 sec to find a source, but couldn't find anything (I really only checked Snopes). So I gave up.

Jerk!

[Maddi]

I am the opposite; I don't use the right shift key.

In middle school, we had typing class, and I got a lot of grief for that - but I never broken the habit. Other than that, though, I type "normally."

I only use the left shift key with my pinky.
If I cleaned my keyboard there'd be a huge amount of dust collected as I went over the right shift key.

[Armin]

I think my typing habit is the worst here, I type mainly with my left hand.

I have the same problem, using only two fingers on my right hand. I also only use the left-shift key, and my fingers like to hit keys other fingers are supposed to hit.

I've decided the best way to fix my habits is to type really slow, being sure every keystroke is perfect. Unfortunately, I now type at ~8 WPM, so nobody should talk to me on AIM for a bit unless they don't mind waiting a minute for every response.

[Camel]

I've decided the best way to fix my habits is to type really slow, being sure every keystroke is perfect. Unfortunately, I now type at ~8 WPM, so nobody should talk to me on AIM for a bit unless they don't mind waiting a minute for every response.

While that may work, I'm sure there's a better way. In my typing class, we did drills - like, we'd start with A and S, and the instructor would tell us to type random combinations of those letters, and then we'd compare our results to the instructions; once we became consistent, we'd go to a different pair of keys, and after that, combine the four. It's also important to do pair drills from one hand to the other, because that's the most common time to introduce finger dyslexia, and it's best to nip that in the butt early, else you'll be hogging the backspace key. When you get toward the end of the keyboard with that method, you end up being much stronger with the left hand than the right, which actually turns out to be good since the most commonly used keys are on the left hand anyways.

There are two things I would recommend:

First, break off your backspace key -- well, maybe not break, but at least pry out the button so you can't easily hit it. This will force you to get in the mindset of typing accurately, and not necessarily fast; don't worry, you'll get fast at it with practice. If you make a typo, just press space and keep trying to write the word until you get it right. When you're done with the sentence, you can go back and remove the typos. This is valuable for several reasons: firstly, you see visually how bad you suck at typing, and also you see where your problem areas are, so that you can work on them.

Optionally, you can just not use the backspace key, but that is pretty much impossible to will yourself in to doing.

Secondly, if you find yourself looking down at the keys, get a piece of paper, and stick it between the number keys and the f-keys so it drapes over your hand. I did this when I was learning to type, and what I found was that I still needed to look down at the keyboard to visualize where some keys were, even though I wasn't reading the keys. I doubt I'd have been able to break the habit without using the paper.

[Maddi]

First, break off your backspace key -- well, maybe not break, but at least pry out the button so you can't easily hit it.

If I don't have a backspace key then I'll get in the habit of doing "<- del" or "shift <-" and retype.

[iago]

Secondly, if you find yourself looking down at the keys, get a piece of paper, and stick it between the number keys and the f-keys so it drapes over your hand. I did this when I was learning to type, and what I found was that I still needed to look down at the keyboard to visualize where some keys were, even though I wasn't reading the keys. I doubt I'd have been able to break the habit without using the paper.

I re-arranged the keys on my keyboard, which is when I discovered when I look at keys -- when I'm doing a key combo (:ew, ctrl-s, etc). I didn't realize I was doing that!