I sit here (at work) and my colleagues are all masters of the two fingered typing method.

Do they not teach touch typing in schools anymore. It's so much easier and surely a skill that would be welcomed by an employer.

Your thoughts please? :D

When I was at school (albeit a long time ago), they did not teach anything remotely useful like typing - if they had, I would have taken that lesson! I have, over the years developed a 4 finger & two thumb method which sees me OK. Luckily I dont depend on typing for a living!

I think schools should go back to basics and teach useful things like typing, basic cookery, plug wiring, and other such things that you actually need.

I have never yet had to wrestle with logarithms, or work out the angles of a triangle in my adult life!

I'm doing a keyboard and text processing course at college.

I think it should be taught at schools cos over the years I've taught myself to type and I can't get out of the habit of my 2 finger typing so it makes it so much harder to learn!

I've never learnt to type, and my first book was bashed out on a manual typewriter, my second on an electric and subsequent ones on a word processor.

I've never found it a desperate need to type properly - my typing is sloppy and I try and pick it up as I go along, but in a way my tying speed suits the way I work - I tend to just write brief notes and then type the full text 'on the fly' so to say, so the speed of my two or 4 fingered typing fits in nicely with thinking at the same time. :)

Unless you're wanting a career as a typist, or have such crap style that you're getting RSI - I don't see the need to learn how to type.

Joe

I was taught typing from an early age because the powers that be decided they didn't think I'd ever be able to do "joined up" writing :loopy:

Where did the shorthand typists go?

I was taught to touch type on a manual typewriter, its a fabulous thing to be able to do and saves so much time (not having to look at the keys)

Seeing as keyboard usage is a daily occurence for most folks, surely it would be useful to include this in the curriculum

I did a short touch typing course at school, and another one when I was at stannington college doing a BTEC Dip in Electronics.
Now the problem here, is that for touch typing to be useful to you and for you to progress in this skill and get up to speed you have to spend a year or more typing words into a keyboard while doing a touch typing course at college.

The problem I had both times with this is that they were short courses with manual typewriters, and when we used keyboards at that time (on computers) most of what we did was inputting Mnemonics, symbols and numbers only. So touch typing skills were lost immediately.
This was before the days when everyone had a PC to do their assignments on, when students used to hand everything in hand written.

... imagine that kids!

I am sure given the same opportunity today, someone would progress much further with this skill, what with the modern world of E-mail and typing things on computer keyboards all day long.

Originally posted by fox20thc
I was taught to touch type on a manual typewriter, its a fabulous thing to be able to do and saves so much time (not having to look at the keys)

Seeing as keyboard usage is a daily occurence for most folks, surely it would be useful to include this in the curriculum

I was taught to type on a manual typewriter, (no, I was not taught to spell on it, sadly, :D ) back at school in the 70's.

This caused problems when I came to do a computers course at college, because I had been taught to depress the keys with some force.

Yes, I think you can guess what's coming next....

My tutor in the PC suite absolutely freaked out, because I was 'slamming' the keys, comparatively to the actual pressure needed to operate them. he was horrified.

I now do a lot better, (although my touch-typing is still not up to much)

I think i do't type so well, cos I hated the typing class. I was fored to do typing, despsite wanting to do "MVM", Motor Vehicle Maintainance. the teachers said "Oh! You could not POSSIBLY do MVM. you are a girl, and girls aren't allowed to do MVM!"

I said "But.... it's a much more useful skill to have than typing. I don't plan to be a secretary."

"No, you have to do typing, that's a girl's subject"

I said "okay..."

"So when my car breaks down, on a cold wet night... I can at least type a nice letter to the RAC to request them to come and rescue me!"

I was so angry, It was not fair, and incredibly sexist!

P "Dear Sir... My car has developed a fault " T

I was taught to touch-type during my basic training in the Royal Navy. We had headphones on with a monotonous voice saying "A now, B now, C now" etc. There was a large wooden framed keyboard mock-up bolted to the wall in front of us and the keys on it would light up in sync with the voice. Woe betide anyone who looked down or used the wrong fingers for the keys, likely that an 18 inch ruler would come crashing down on your knuckles :shocked:

We soon learnt though even though the keys on the teleprinters didn't have any letters on them. I got to over 40 wpm within weeks and once out of training was hitting 60-70 wpm depending on the text, which was not necessarily always plain english!

Originally posted by LordChaverly
Where did the shorthand typists go?

We got fed up of being not much better than a servant to a boss who thought we were there to make tea and look decorative in a short skirt ..... so we re-trained .... but we still retain our skills. You never forget and my touch typing is the envy of all my family and friends.

Originally posted by alysonpeach
You never forget and my touch typing is the envy of all my family and friends.

mine too :D

Trouble is if any reports or C.V's need writing they inevitably come and ask me because " I can do it so much quicker" :rolleyes:

I never learnt to type, I did however start doing OCR Text Processing exams but found them dreadfully easy and boring.

I don't have a conventional manner of typing, but if I do say so myself I find myself to be a very accurate and speedy typer.

Quite often I'll be sat at a public computer and start typing away at my usual speed and people next to me will interrupt me to ask how I can type so fast without the constant sound of the backspace key going :P

However, since I taught myself to type like this my handwriting has suffered because generally I can type faster than I can write!

When I had to look for an alternative career, having failed my dispensing optics finals, I went on a shorthand/audio typing course of just 17 weeks long. Teaching there was done on manual typewriters with no letters on the keys, so it was a waste of time looking down. There was a keyboard on the wall which flashed the key to be hit and told you which finger to do it with. Once we got to 5 wpm, we progressed to an audio tape, which spelt out the letters to be hit. As the speeds got faster still, we progressed to words. Shorthand was done in much the same fashion but we used the college's own shorthand. I left with a fairly healthy 50 wpm typing and 90 wpm shorthand. I tended to do more audio or copytyping than shorthand, so my typing was up to around the 70+ mark. Unfortunately, my shorthand is around there as well!

Ironically, after I lost my job as a secretary, I have ended up working as an optical assistant - the only job I could get with no reference. Just goes to show that things go full circle, even if they take 25 years to do it!

When I was at school they tried to teach me how to touch type. It wasnt a lesson it was because I didnt do PE so they needed something for me to do
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Well I am delighted to say the last typing test I did in the 1980's I think resulted in my passing a speed test at 105 wpm on a manual tin crate and if I hadnt had 20 typos it would have been 120wpm :D Gosh how I hated typing when I was forced to learn it back in yesteryear and how very glad I am now.