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#405096
I was going {AFTER IT SO TO SPEAK}. Well I was typing away on this Royal Brand Typewriter that I have begun my efforts to type. I have Goals. I want to be Able to as one of you described as a Smoking Typing Speed. That speed is one hundred twenty one words per minute. I need to ask my Father the if he Typed at the rate of One-Hundred-Twenty-One -Words-Per-Minute. Well did my Father do that speed as far as his Typing was concerned, Did He type that Fast using a Manual Typewriter, or did He do it while typing on an electric?

Some of you must have had experience typing. So please tell me: How Fast is Fast?

I will say that I think that if, and sitting here right now. It really is a case of {IF} I will ever be able to type at a typing Rate of One Hundred twenty One Words per minute. I will not accomplish achieving the Goal of typing one hundred twenty one words per Minute on this Royal {MANUAL TYPEWRITER} This will not be happening.

For me to achieve a Typing rate of One-Hundred twenty One Words Per Minute. I believe that I will need to do that using an electric typewriter will enable me to haver some sort of a chance.
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By red
#405098
Roadrunner71 wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 11:32 pmI was going {AFTER IT SO TO SPEAK}. Well I was typing away on this Royal Brand Typewriter that I have begun my efforts to type. I have Goals. I want to be Able to as one of you described as a Smoking Typing Speed. That speed is one hundred twenty one words per minute. I need to ask my Father the if he Typed at the rate of One-Hundred-Twenty-One -Words-Per-Minute. Well did my Father do that speed as far as his Typing was concerned, Did He type that Fast using a Manual Typewriter, or did He do it while typing on an electric? Some of you must have had experience typing. So please tell me: How Fast is Fast?
For me to achieve a Typing rate of One-Hundred twenty One Words Per Minute. I believe that I will need to do that using an electric typewriter will enable me to haver some sort of a chance.
Chris,

If you want to type fast, there are learning programs for the computer that can spot your typing "trouble spots" and they will work with you to increase your speed, as individual, personalized instruction. This method will be much faster than learning by simple typing practice. Then you can do those same typing drills on the manual typewriter, to increase your hand strength. One such program is "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" and I would guess there are many more "typing-teacher" programs out there.

Forty words per minute is the absolute speed limit of the human brain, running hands on a typewriter. To type any faster than 40 WPM, and many people can do that, (we now believe) your spinal column has "learned" entire words; you do not type R-E-S-P-E-C-T letter by letter then; there is too much length of nerves to send those signals one-by-one from the brain that fast. The brain (we now believe) sends the entire word RESPECT to the spinal column, which then commands fingers to type that word. If you learn to misspell a word when typing, you will misspell that word often, and it's a tough habit to change. Sixty words per minute is smoking fast, and in the past, secretaries who can type that fast or faster could command higher paychecks. Typing faster than one hundred words per minute would be record-book speeds.

The speed record in typing (Guinness Book of World Records) is about 200 words per minute, but that was done on a Dvorak electric keyboard, not a QUERTY keyboard. Dvorak keyboards are inside every Windows system, but you need to re-label all of the alphabet keys for Dvorak. QUERTY keyboards were designed to slow down your typing, so the keys of a mechanical typewriter would not get jammed up by fast typing. If you type too fast on a mechanical typewriter, the keys will all get jammed together at the paper roller. With computers today, QUERTY keyboards are a really dumb idea, but once a typist learns typing on a QUERTY keyboard, it's a real pain to switch to Dvorak. I use a Dvorak keyboard, and nobody at work has ever asked to borrow my computer twice. They could not spell DOG on my computer keyboard, without searching for every letter. :twisted: One guy looked at my Dvorak keyboard and said it was giving him a headache, so he had to look away.

If you get to playing music on a Yamaha or Casio music keyboard, you can buy them with full-size piano keys, not the tiny "toy" size keys. Those electronic keyboards will not be the full 88 keys across usually, but close enough. The real advantage with music keyboards will be in finding them (or pianos) in businesses and homes, and everybody will be happy to let you play good music there.
#405102
Chris,
Way back in high school in typing class, I was able to reach 91 wpm with no errors, but that was on good days with plenty of practice every day. ( I believe these were Remington Ball-type electrics) On not-so-good days it was lower, with more errors. I and my friend that sat next to me were always competing with one another, and were the fastest in our class. Following that class, my typing speed declined to about 80 wpm at work and college since I was not typing as much.

I haven't heard of anyone exceeding 95 - 100 wpm with very few errors in a day-to-day work environment (Qwerty). I don't think anyone could reach 50 wpm on a manual. But I'm certainly no expert on the subject.

There would be no possible way for me now to get anywhere close to what I was doing back then. And for what reason? I'm not writing 20-page reports anymore. And my now meager ~50 wpm while typing typical English sentences or whatever far surpasses my C/C++ and ASM code-typing speeds.

Approximately ten years ago, an associate of mine was trying to improve his typing speeds. He had some silly typing program that wanted him to type words and junk-strings of letters that had zero meaning at all. Just a mixture of letters and numbers. Weird. I tried to type some of this stuff and did worse than what he was doing. I told him to forget that program and try to type real sentences. He improved markedly after that. Your brain needs to know what is coming next, and it must make at least some sense to the typist to attain maximum typing speeds, much like Red indicated.

Another idea... since I've begun weight-lifting again, I notice far more dexterity and physical accuracy in everything I do, along with ZERO neck and shoulder muscle pain that I was suffering with before. I'd recommend doing at least some kind of resistance training every day if you are able. Wrist curls (fore and reverse) are excellent for increasing forearm and finger strength and dexterity.

I have no idea what your physical limitations are, so please accept these words as only encouragement.
#405108
Chris, in the time that I have been here I can see a marked improvement in your typing (maybe not speed, but as a reader.).

After my accident I found that typing helped my healing process. I was never a good typist, even in college, but the (re)learning process did help. I am ten years further out than you and as long as I make an ongoing effort I can see some continuous improvement. As someone mentioned, exercise helps. When I sleep regularly, eat well and am able to have some control of my environment I can have some really good moments, even days.

You and I both know that the single most important aspect of getting better is a positive attitude. I can see that in you. Your never give up, goal setting and driven approach will enable you to recover to your fullest extent. Take every little victory as a major achievement and every struggle as a challenge. Focus on your victories and learn from all the challenges. Keep setting goals and working towards them.

Most of all never forget how lucky you are. Believe me, I know how difficult that can be, but in my darkest times I dug in and focused on that.

Good luck, keep getting better and stay strong.
#405165
Well thank you for your Kind words of encouragement this thanks goes out to all of you who are rooting for me to Fully recover. Fly-Bop, Yes i have brought my Positive attitude to bear regarding my efforts to fully recover. {MY ATTITUDE} I concur with you Fly-Bop.

Guys, you just should know that I Chris McKeon really appreciate your thoughts regarding my attaining a full Recovery. Thank you Guys , I mean that. Thanks a Ton!