Ask HN: How Do I Learn to Type? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How Do I Learn to Type?

8 pointsslayed030 comments

I am a 23 year old software developer. Since day one in front of the computer I have been perfecting the hunt and peck method of typing while resisting all efforts made by others to try and get me to type like an adult. I feel like this has gone on too long, especially considering my line of work, and I think it is time to learn to type.

1)Is there any typing software (preferably windows or web based) that you would recommend? Most I have seen are designed for children (although maybe I deserve to be treated like a child at this point)

2) Is it too late for me/is this a worthwhile pursuit? I am pretty quick at hunting and pecking but I have definitely hit the upper bound of my possible typing speed with this method. Also, I haven't heard of anyone re-learning to type after using a computer for so long.

Any and all suggestion/advice/shame is welcome

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I was around 31 when I decided to teach myself how to type properly. I used to hunt and peck around 30 WPM.

http://www.typing.com/typingtutor

This is the site I used. I went through the entire program in a month or so without skipping any of the core program. After just a few months, I could type around 70-80wpm. After a few more months, I was able to type around 100wpm.

Once I was able to type reasonably well (30-40wpm), I started using the following two sites for practice/fun. These are the sites that helped me build the majority of my speed.

http://10fastfingers.com/ http://play.typeracer.com/

I strongly encourage you to see this through. When you can type without thinking about what you are doing, your productivity will go through the roof.

Place a towel over your keyboard. Place your hands underneath the towel.

Fumble around slowly and have to press backspace constantly until you learn where the keys are.

>Also, I haven't heard of anyone re-learning to type after using a computer for so long.

It happens when you want to switch keyboard layouts, more common than you might think. I switched from QWERTY to Dvorak and very quickly from Dvorak to Colemak. I now use Colemak at home and QWERTY virtually everywhere else. So I've had to learn to type three times!

If you can't see your keys - you can't hunt and peck. You can also paint your current keys, scrape off the white paint, or buy a keyboard that lacks the characters.

I'd look for a cheaper model (if one exists) but the idea is to get a keyboard like this:

http://shop.daskeyboard.com/collections/products/products/da...

I've found rearranging the keys to be much more effective than just obscuring them.

I wouldn't know because each time I learned to type I did both!

I would think that would put you in a better position to know. To be fair, my report is subjective, but it definitely felt like the negative feedback was helpful.

It would put me in a better position to know had I either not obscured my keyboard or had not placed my keys in a new position.

By switching from QWERTY->Dvorak->Colemak my keys had switched positions in each transition. I purchased a 'keyless' keyboard to avoid confusion if I happened to look at the keyboard. For example why did I just press "S" but type "R"? It would be very confusing for my brain.

When staying with a familiar layout - I would still recommend hiding the keys from sight as it forces you to internalize where the keys are rather than looking at them to find them. The idea behind touch typing is you know the distance between each character and can type it accordingly from memory instead of having to look for each key. :)

Ah, both at the same time. Yeah, that reduces to "obscured" :-P

"I purchased a 'keyless' keyboard to avoid confusion if I happened to look at the keyboard. For example why did I just press "S" but type "R"? It would be very confusing for my brain."

That confusion is precisely the stick that keeps you from looking at your keyboard. If I glance down and get confused, that stops me looking down much faster then if I glance down and just don't learn anything. At least, that's the theory.

Note, just in case it wasn't clear, by "rearranging" I mean moving the labels and not moving what key location generates what input.

Oh - I see what you're saying now.

I find that may work for some people but it can create unhealthy key mappings in your mind. (ie. R = A now)

If you start mapping, shuffle again! ^_^

I learned to touch type a few years ago when I was 23. What I found was that it kills your productivity for a few weeks. It's hell trying to write a document or code when you need to split your brain power between what you're doing and where the keys are. It's just about perseverance.

The only tool I used was http://phoboslab.org/ztype/ which is a pretty fun typing game.

I found the trick is to spell words out in your head. So when typing necessary you'd go 'n-e-c-e-s-s-a-r-y' internally. This forces your brain to better associate a character with a finger movement; the better you get the less you have to do this. Remember it's about building muscle memory so practice is the only thing that is going to turn you into a touch typist. Another trick is making sure you always use the same finger for each key.

Writing documents is really good for getting to learn the character keys really well. Whereas coding will get you to learn grammar, capitalization, special character, and number keys.

Yes, you can learn to touch type when you are 23. It's not even that hard. And, it's my belief after seeing lots of programmers touch type or finger pecking is that you can be an average coder hunt and pecking. But to become an expert you absolutely must learn to touch type. Like if you have to spend a portion of your focus locating which keys to press, then that is focus you don't have available for thinking about what to type.

When I learnt touch typing, I had a game with words falling from the sky which you shoot down by typing them. And the words got longer and fell faster the farther into the game you progressed. I can't remember what it was called, but it improved my typing skills a lot as I was trying to beat my friends high scores. :) I think any game like that, like http://play.typeracer.com/ is very good to practice with.

One thing that helped my typing substantially - though I was already fair at it - was to pop the keys off my keyboard and rearrange them. Contrary to a simple blank keyboard, this meant looking at my hands not only didn't help but actually hurt - with rather immediate feedback. I knew I'd been looking at the keyboard some, but was surprised by just how much, and was quickly stripped of the habit entirely.

Some caveats: 1) I've no idea if it's appropriate to your current skill level.

2) Works much better with an ordinary desktop keyboard than a laptop or funky ergonomic thing.

3) Leave the F and J keys in their original position, so you can find home.

If you want to play around with this, it might be worth buying an extra external keyboard to mix up, so you have something to go back to when you need to get work done in a hurry while you're still learning.

Ah that's clever. I'll definitely pick up a cheap secondary "practice" keyboard next time I'm near an electronics store.

Typing Master used to be good a long time ago. I'm not sure how well it stands up now.

EDIT sorry, forgot the link! http://www.typingmaster.com/

Cover your hands with a tea-towel or other small lightweight cloth. This prevents you looking at the keyboard.

Learn the homekeys. Start slow but with steady rhythm. Some people find using a metronome useful. Work on slow steady accuracy, then build up speed.

Be careful -- some people find that touch typing starts to hurt. RSI is not trivial. Make sure you have the ergonomics worked out and stop and change things if it starts hurting.

It is totally definitely possible!

Is touch typing all that useful for developers? Writing code involves using special characters frequently (){}[]_%^&$#, and most IDEs are designed around reducing the amount of text you need to type. Am I wrong thinking touch typing is not designed for coding?

Also, http://phoboslab.org/ztype/

Touch typing isn't "designed" for anything, it's not "designed" at all really. It's the idiom/phrase we use to describe typing without looking at the keyboard.

And yes, it's extremely useful for developers of software. Not all developers use an IDE by the way, and even if they did, autocomplete is not same as knowing how to type properly.

I find OPs consternation a little bit odd though. When I realized I was still hunt-and-peck typing at a point where it was a little bit embarrassing as well as being a hindrance to my daily activities, I just stopped looking at the keyboard. Problem solved in about two weeks.

I agree. However, if you want to feel better when touch typing, I suggest you to use more ergonomic keyboard layouts than qwerty, for example, dvorak or colemak. It might be useful to use some typing tutor to make the transition. For example, http://www.typingstudy.com

Have you ever written documentation for your code? :)

If you need to be forced to learn to touch type, many community colleges have keyboarding classes, some of them free as part of workforce development. The classes at my local community college run for 2 hours a day, two or three days a week, for three weeks. If you spend this much time practicing, you should get at least a start on touch typing, although developing speed will probably take longer.

As for whether it is a worthwhile pursuit, I think the main advantage is that you can type without having to look away from the screen. You can focus on getting your thoughts into the machine without the distraction of looking away from the screen. Increasing your typing speed is also useful because you can type as fast as you can think. Imagine if you had to dictate your code to someone else who was a hunt and peck typist. Image how frustrating it would be to wait for them to type your thoughts.

Try http://www.keybr.com it worked for me.

currently practicing from keybr. its awesome.

I'm not sure if it's possible to run outside of DOSBox, but I learned to type using Mavis Beacon. It had a bunch of different modes and fully gamified learning to touch type.

I've tried a few online courses for touch typing and they all want me to place my hand in a super awkward position that just seems to be an obvious way of aquirering wrist pain.

I think the notion that touch typing is adult is fucking stupid and condescending. I glance at the keyboard while typing, but I don't search and peck. I use all fingers and type fast enough. It's not typing speed that dictates how much code I write. I fail to see what is wrong with looking at what you're doing.

I learned it by playing a game called "Typer Shark" http://www.gamehouse.com/download-games/typer-shark, while I could type before it also,it helped me get the speed and control that I no longer needed to look at the keyboard anymore.

When someone mentions typing tutor software, only one thing comes to mind.

  Mavis Beacon

That it is still around is scary. That Borderbund is...well that's just plain wrong. http://www.broderbund.com/c-33-mavis-beacon.aspx

I thought https://typing.io/ was pretty cool as a complementary course to more traditional ones. it's aimed at programmers. Helped me out a bit with special characters when I was relearning how to type.

Yo don't really need any special tools. Just keep practicing. I would imagine that you have already have the keyboard layout committed to muscle memory. Its just a matter of retraining your self to use all of your fingers.

try gtypist(shell) or ratatype http://www.ratatype.com/

get addicted to MUDs. worked for me.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that did by gaming.

While not a MUD, I played a lot of EverQuest back in its heyday. I went from hunt-and-peck to 60+ wpm.

Though admittedly, typing lessons would have taken a lot less time.

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