Teach me to type (Homerow)!

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

So I want to learn homerow and I was hoping you guys might have some advice and/or suggestions on programs that could aid me in my quest.

Now to provide some info on my current state of typing. I’m able to type fairly quickly, and relatively accurately without looking at the keyboard (even though I do look most of the time), only I’m typing with my index and/or middle fingers of both hands, with no set placement (if that makes sense). However, when I have tried homerow, my recollection of key placement goes out the window and I’m back at square one. Also, I have a tough time figuring out what fingers hit which keys, etc.

Needless to say, my current method of typing isn’t as quite as accurate as I’d like, probably slower than it could be, and most certainly not the most impressive visually, as my hands are flying across the keyboard in constant search of the next key. Any advice or program suggestions would be most helpful. Thanks!

#2

Found it for one of my trainees who didn’t know how to type. Now she is our Entry Wench. :smiley:

#3

I learned from an old copy of Mavis Beacon off a cover disk.

I don’t know if everyone gets this but starting out was really tough, with my hands wrists and forearms tensing up. It took quite while to be able to relax, I stuck to practicing 15 minutes twice a day and often starting the lessons all over in order to drive in the basics.

It is also very discouraging when you can hunt-and-peck faster than you can touch type :frowning:

However I found once I’d got over the initial hurdle of learning the home keys and a few others (say the sets of: asdf jkl gh ert yuiop) while I still couldn’t touch type my typing speed using a sort of hybid style shot up.

It took me ages ::mumbleeightyearsmumble:: to get round to learning, even though I can remember the teacher on my very first progamming course saying explicitly “learn to type”. In the office where I work (we’re IT) only one and a half out of twelve blokes touch-type (I’m the half). All the women can type.

#4

I learned partially from a high school class and partially through mavis beacon.

MB taught me how to touch type 10 key, which has been super-helpful.

#5

I had a program that put 4- or 5-letter words in the sky, and when you typed them correctly, little rockets would launch from your keystrokes and blow up the letters. If you missed, the letters would inch closer and closer to the ground. If they hit the ground, they’d explode and you would lose points. Quite entertaining, and educational at the same time! Of course, this was a very long time ago. It may not be available anymore.

I knew a guy who could type 75 wpm with the four finger method. Whatever works!

#6

Well, out of curiousity, I typed whatever came to my mind for one minute, using my method of typing (while looking at the keyboard). I ended up at 79 words per minute. Now I have no idea how scientific my method was (five usages of single letter words, such as “a” or “i”), but that does include a few typos.

How many words per minute might I be able to attain using homerow? Also, how long did it take you dopers to learn homerow homerow efficiently?

#7

Yahoo games also has “Typer Shark” which is similar to the rocket ship game described above, but involves fish and sharks and eating.

Tis addictive.

#8

Those “a’s” and “I’s” don’t count. A word is five letters and spaces. Any on-line typing test will grade you that way.

How fast can you type the traditional way? Shit. I had an old aunt who typed 120 wpm. She was fueled on 80 cups of coffee a day. I guess I’d be a typin’ maniac, too with all that caffeine.

#9

I’ve always been fond of Typequick and TypingMaster

This is how I learned to touchtype (slightly different to other people, I guess):

  1. Make your left hand into a fist. Place your knuckles roughly in the area between the ctrl key and the middle of the space bar (under the ‘b’ key).

  2. Place your fist on the keyboard lightly. Flex your fingers out (so as to make an open palm facing downwards). Your palm/fingers should be hovering a few cm over the keyboard.

  3. Flex your fingers so that they move from the bottom row (zxcv) to the top row (qwer). When resting your hand, the four fingers should align with the home row keys, asdf. The fingers should do most of the work moving around, not the hand itself.

  4. Apply steps 1-4 to your right hand.

  5. Learn the position of the keys through practice with typing software. Aim for accuracy before speed.

#10

This sounds a lot like how I type. I mostly only use the first three fingers of each hand, I move my hands around the keyboard, and I sometimes type some letters with the “wrong” hand (Y and B). But I’ve been doing it since I was about 5 years old, and I can type over 100 WPM that way. The only people who ever complained about it were my typing teachers in elementary and middle school.