Here I will journalize my typing experience and personalized techniques acquired throughout the years.
My first encounter with typewriters began when during my preteen years my paternal grandfather gifted us with an old vintage typewriter which these days no one really uses to type but is rather accustomed to collecting dust in some antique collector's basement or garage. Upon first gaze.. I was astounded by the beauty and charm of this typewriter which was nearly falling apart mechanically and snowed upon with 'fairy' dust hah. My initial impression mechanically was that the keys required extreme finger force to actuate and bottom out. I honestly wouldn't be able to type comfortably on one of these contraptions even for a homework assignment, nevertheless it was for me a treasure to own and collect. But as of 2024 as I write this journal.. I've lost acquirement of that bountifully gorgeous monstrosity. I will always though have fond memories of it from those childhood days of yesteryear. Here's kinda what that machine looked like if I recall correctly even though I don't remember the exact brand name:
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Then to proceed with the story I had a brief encounter with PC's during my Suburban Chicago middle school years in the early 90's I believe... It was for one or a few of my middle school classes that I first chanced upon PC's and PC keyboards... But still I never truly learned to type yet nor had any real typing skills/prowess
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Then during my freshman year of high school studying at Glenbard East in Lombard Illinois I took a Keyboarding 101 class for the first time ever with this senior citizen -looking teacher by the name of Mr Hahn with a claimed typing speed of 80wpm.. I believe it's some type of German surname; the man looked like a computer whiz in countenance and he even taught the Computer Concepts and Programming classes I took of his the subsequent year.. But anyway here I was exposed and taught typing through the class's typing software program... 'Master' Hahn instructed us to learn typing letter for letter first then after mastering that to move on to WORDS- typing word for word and associating the syllables of each word with one's finger movements; And voila that's how I learned how to type 40wpm as my initial speed
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Then during my sophomore year of high school I took a Word Processing class which helped me develop the dexterity of my fingers... I finished the class ending with an increased typing speed of 60wpm... From that day on I guess I considered myself to be an expert typist in general
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So typing was an acquired ability of mine, though I never really thought of entering online competitive typing 'til I reached my early 20's when I took a Speed Typing class at Elgin Community College in the Chicago Suburbs and also after discovering that there were actually some people out there claiming they could type 130wpm... Our textbook guide was Cortez Peters' Championship Keyboarding Drills; He gave good advice about and emphasized practicing typing on a LETTER FOR LETTER basis as opposed to WORDS with his special fingering system to improve accuracy which you can read in his book... So I practiced on my own during these years and managed to increase my overall typing speed to 80-105wpm
Mr Peters in his guide shared two good exercise drills you can practice:
Drill #1: a;sldkfjghfjdksla; [ENTER] - Repeat
Drill #2: a;qpa;z/slwoslx.dkeidkc,fjrufmvhtyghbnfjrufjvmdkeidkc,slwoslx.a;qpa;z/ [ENTER] - Repeat
VID:
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This 2024 at the age of 44 my typing speed seems to be established at around 90-130wpm... and can maybe hit 140-150 on MonkeyType.com's 60secs test in the future or on some otherworldly occasions... My current record on MonkeyType's 60secs standard words test is 136wpm as shown below which places me in the Top 3.12% of all MT typers:
MonkeyType Thicc Quotes:
MonkeyType Stats:
TypingTest.com 1-minute test:
Typeracer Last 10 Races Stats:VID #1 (Basic Words) w/ handcam:
VID #2 (Quotes) w/o handcam:
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Recently I acquired a few fascinating tips and techniques from champ typists Sean Wrona and Sophie.. both above 200wpm typists.. I post those techniques below:
Sean Wrona tips:
-Always be in a position to type the next key(2-character keystroke) accurately by practicing the angles you put your hands/fingers between each set of two characters that you type.. VID:
Sophie tips:
-Type in a relaxed/calm/comfortable style when possible
-Type whole words or parts of words as one action specifically but not limited to ROLLS. Imagine a ball rolling forward on the ground and that's how you maneuver your fingers/hands as you type the keys.. PIC:
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My Keyboard:
My current keyboard which I use for all of my typing games is the Taiwanese-engineered brand of membrane keyboards known as the A4TECH KB-720 model and is my current favorite keyboard I've ever used for the feel of typing.. very easy on the wallet and affordable/cheap as well.. PIC:
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And as far as favorite champion typists from history apart from Cortez Peters.. my hat goes out to Stella Pajunas.. she was so sexy.. PIC:
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