Modern Interpreter/Translator Skills 2

So, how fast can y’all type? Give this website a try:

http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php

Here you will find a short and easy typing speed test. It asks you to click “start” on the clock and then copy the example paragraph. When you’re done you click “stop” and it measures how long it took you to type the paragraph and how many mistakes you made. Then it shows you your typing speed in words per minute. So far, my best speed is 66 words per minute. Can you beat my score?

One of the most basic skills that can help quite a lot in the daily interactions with your computer is the ability to “touch-type.” This is a skill that requires you to know where all the letters are located on the keyboard and to be able to type without looking at your fingers. Sure, it requires practice. And I mean it: a lot of practice. When I was a teen I used to go to a middle-school that didn’t have any cool “elective classes” like all the other schools: In some schools you can choose automotive shop, wood shop, drafting (technical drawing), art, music, band, orchestra, spaceship design, or whatever it is that cool schools offer their students. No, in my middle school we only had “secretarial skills.” In that class they taught you to write in short-hand (and not even the cool “Gregg method shorthand,” but the nerdy Pitman instead) and to “touch-type” (also known as mechanography). We had a very stern teacher (a little bit too… Prussian, if you know what I mean), and she made us practice and practice and practice. And for a break, she made us practice some more. But it all worked out fine for me. See? Thirty years later I can still type at a reasonably fast pace. Of course, there’re people who can type way faster. My wife used to type 95 wpm! I know, it’s disgustingly fast, I know…

However, this is one skill that you will have to develop on your own. Fortunately, in the age of the Internet there are many places where you can get lessons for free. You could even get a learning method installed in your computer, or you could enroll in college in order to acquire this very useful skill. I highly recommend that you try to learn touch-typing. It takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it, IMHO*!

Here’s a link to a site that offers free lessons:

http://www.goodtyping.com/

Go forth, and happy typing!

• In Internet-parlance, many phrases are shortened to acronyms. “IMHO” means “in my humble

opinion.” So now you know.