Typing Classes

I learned to type fast while I was 6-7 years while at the same time I was learning how to play piano. It was a very good combination since both skills required fast movement of the fingers.

I wish I could learn languages faster and easier. So far I know Greek, English and a few German but trying to learn a new language is really hard for me:)

Another skill I would like to learn is how to fly a plane. I've already taken a few lessons and it's amazing.

Typing is invaluable! I took it when I was 15 in school because my mom was a secretary and it just seemed something useful. (on good ol' electric typewriters) As a math/science geek I had to get an A so I didn't ruin my GPA, so learned to type fast. A few years later they introduced 'keyboard skills', but oddly it never became a required subject. This amazes me in our keyboard-centric environments now. I still think it's my most important fall-back skill – with it I have never been out of work.

The other invaluable thing I had to learn in high school was oral presentations. I didn't have to like it (still don't) but learning how to present information or arguments is useful not just for standing up and presenting but for meetings, discussions, job proposals, interviews and even writing about my art! A very American school requirement, it's often obvious to me here in the UK that graduates (school, college or uni) are seldom required to learn this skill. For a whirlwhind lesson, an improv class is a fun way to tackle it. (long ago I did a class at Second City in Chicago for work)

Yep – my parents made me and my brother learn to type too. There was to be no hunt and peck typists in our house. No way.

I have always admired their ability to type – my parents, like most of their generation, learned to type on a manual typewriter, the kind where you have to punch the keys down hard to get the letter to show up on the page. I think my Mom, at her peak, could type something like 80 words a minute on a manual typewriter. I'd be lucky to type 10 on a manual, I'm sure.

Though I'm not even close to being as fast a typist as you, I do feel as if my fingers are an extension of my brain – to the point where I don't even think about the connection anymore. It's as if the words come out of my head directly to my fingers. What's funny is, the minute I start actually thinking about typing, I can't do it very well. Like now. Because I'm thinking about it.

Great observation – it's important to pay attention to the skills we need to do our jobs better.

I will, however, challenge you to an iPhone typing race. I'm told I have the fastest thumbs in the Great White North. ;)

I'm a little older than you, but can share a similar story. When I was in ninth grade, my parents had me take a typing class – on a typewriter. (I should explain to younger readers that a “typewriter” was a popular combination computer-printer that existed at the time, although many of them had no storage.) I'm an only child, so I didn't have a brother to amuse me during typing class, but Friday was always a “free day” where we could type anything we wanted.

Within a few years, I realized that this skill would be valuable when I was able to type my school papers. It became even more valuable after I left high school – not only could I secure summer jobs as a clerk-typist with various Federal agencies, but I also made a bit of money in college by typing papers for others.

Meanwhile, I too was running into computers. I still remember the time that I made modifications to the class Star Trek BASIC game on our 16K computer, but then discovered that the game would no longer run on our 8K computer. More importantly, when I had to write a thesis in college, I decided to skip the typewriter and go down to the computer lab, go to a terminal on our DEC PDP-11/70, and use nroff macros to format my thesis.

My writing skills, as well as my typing skills and my experience on various computers, have helped keep me (mostly) employed since college, and a lot of it goes back to the skills that I picked up in Miss Jack's typing class.

There's been only one drawback to the whole thing – my constant typewriter and computer use has resulted in a rapid deterioration in my handwriting skills!

Typing fast is Loud…especially on the old non-electric ones!!! Mom's “office” desk was in my bedroom! lol Needless to say, I 'practiced' to type when I could sit up at the keys. Tho we didn't have computers yet in highschool until 10th grade – I was ready to PASS the class before it started! ~smirks~

Later I became a “Basic” PC Instructor & Document Conversion Supervisor after taking Data Entry as a Temp. Job! It was there I learned of all the different office machines & beginning Marketing. :-)

What other skills do I wish I had? Comprehension, Spelling, PC & iphone Technology Geek brain… lol… I'd also like to have Oral Communications (able to say what I mean & shut my mouth when I should), futher Marketing, Soundboards (which I'm learning at church); possibly Film Making Crew (varies). And I'd love to have a brain to keep up with all the above!!!! But I do focus best when working with Graphic Designs. Hopefully once my surgery is complete I'll be back at typing at full capacity!!! :-)

I started typing around age 8 (on a computer keyboard, when my dad started a software company; nobody else had computers).

Then, in high school, I took typing class, and could hardly type at all. Why? No keyboard, just manual typewriters.

I was used to keyboards, so I typed much too fast (for the younglings, manual typewriters created letters with little hammers that had metal letters on the end, the hammer hit an ink ribbon and made an impression on the paper). My hammers got all tangled up and got stuck. Plus, I kept forgetting to hit the return key (no line wrap!).

Then, I broke my finger (well, Michael Branca broke it when he accidentally closed a steel door on it). No more typing!

Eventually, the rest of the world caught up and I got computer keyboards again! And yes, it proved to be a valuable skill.

I do wish I had (I suppose I still could) learned a second language though. My grandparents spoke several, but wanted to assimilate and never thought to speak to us in anything except English.

Typing class was the most valuable class i took in high school. Sadly, at the time, it was viewed as a class that you took if you were going to need to “fall back and be a secretary” – so it was 90% female. I have never really gotten beyond a good rousing 65-70 wpm – but mostly that's just due to the way my brain stops and pauses when it's thinking about words.
Still, it's a decided advantage.
The skill I wish I had really developed? Learning fluency in multiple languages. I speak a little French, a little Spanish, and enough German, Russian, and Portuguese to get me coffee, food, and drink… But I really wish I were truly fluent in another language.

I was thinking about this same thing recently – in the context of trying to level the playing field for people that do not have the access to resources that I have had in my life. I was thinking about what I could do to give back and help, and I thought that teaching kids how to type could be a huge leverage point. Learning to type has definitely been a leverage point for me.

I also have a similar typing story – My mom and my best friend's mom conspired to make us take typing at summer school in 6th grade – in another town. So we were in typing class from 8 am to 1 pm that summer for a month and a half. It seemed pretty awful at the time! But also incredibly, powerfully, helpful. It has saved me so much time over the course of my life. (Thanks Mom!)

You are so right–when I was in high school every girl took typing (I am ancient). The thing I regret is I never learned my numbers very well. One skill I wish I had that would be handy is changing my oil filter and a couple other basic car mechanic skills. So glad my husband knows mechanics. What a money saver…

My parents made me take piano lessons from the time I was 6 years old. I truly believe that playing piano helped me pick up the art of typing in high school. Now, both skills come in handy! I agree, fast, accurate typing is a huge bonus in life!

Chris, I loved your story because it brought back a memory for me. It was my first job out of grad school and my new boss insisted I take typing lessons because of the new office computers. I was aghast. Typing lessons!? I had just finished my master's and was a bit full of myself. Lower myself and take typing? But I dutifully did it, of course, and I've thanked that boss countless times in my mind over the years since.

On to your question: I wish I knew how to write computer programs. I don't do computer work for a living, but I love nothing more than a really good puzzle (I'm a mediator, and conflicts are just big human puzzles) — I was about to type that I wish I had taken a course in that back in college, but then I thought, of course, I could *still* take a course. Maybe I just will.

Reminded me of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQM-0kaxgmE and that typewriter Jerry Lewis is using looks like the same one I learned to type on :-)

Chris! There are two things that jump out at me as a result of this post. One is that you often make references to the things you learned because you had (and still have…) such a supportive family structure. I am lucky – and I do mean lucky – to be able to say the same but it prompts me to think of those people who are able to achieve or accomplish great things without that kind of support. I always find that particularly fascinating, don't you? Second, I think your post marks – or at the very least acknowledges – a real turning point in our society. Who would have thought 30 years ago that a MAN would be boasting about his typing skills??!!! And yet, you are right to recognize that being a proficient typer may well separate the men from the boys! Typing skills used to be only the measure of a good secretary and there was little else, professionally, for which women would be considered. So, thanks for bragging about your typing skills with such bravado — It just reminds me how far we've come!! YAY.

Very good point. I'm pretty good at 80 wpm my accuracy is okay. The only other skill I have that has helped me as much in all areas of my life is speed reading. I learned it on an Apple II computer one summer when I was bored. And being able to read much faster has definitely given me an edge. I wrote a long post about it a year or so ago. (There's an app for that, too.)

Oh where do I start? So many things I wish I learned.

Back when Time magazine outed the “Information Superhighway” I became fascinated with the Internet and learned everything I could. It was then that I realized I had an incredible ability to learn.

Before then, I was a lot like your brother Chris. I didn't take learning opportunities seriously.

That perhaps is my greatest regret.

So I work with what I got and learn as much as I can now. Hopefully that will make up the difference for not learning more earlier in life.

BTW, I did take a typing class in eighth grade too. It gave me a solid foundation that I built upon in a journalism career.

To me, the advantage isn't in speed but ease. Typing doesn't get in the way of writing. One less thing to worry about or get in the way.

I did work with a few guys who had twice as much time as me in the biz but never learned to type. They used the biblical method: Seek and ye shall find.

I couldn't believe that they never figured out some basics of typing after decades of working with a keyboard. Why is the location of the “w” key such a mystery after all these years? They were talented writers but I wouldn't call them learners. They liked the old ways of doing things.

I have to wonder what else in life they don't bother to learn or improve.

You're never too old to learn. Just recently took up the cello. I am also glad my parents encouraged typing and 9 years of piano lessons helped my fingers learn to fly as well. It's a great feeling to see the words in your head come to life as quickly as you think them on the page.

I consider myself a fair typer. Nothing like you, though. Typing is a more important skill than most people think. This two-finger stuff is ridiculous. It takes all ten to really get work done.

That's a lovely photo. A blur of fingers over the new iMac keyboard. Lovely!

This is SO TRUE. I was also in 8th grade, and I've told almost the identical story many, many times! :-)

Great post. And I am a fast typist also. Took typing classes when it was an “option,” in Junior High. However, I wish I had learned how to say No without guilt. Not say No just for the sake of being able to. Not say No although I am wrong or being selfish. But say No because I'm too busy, don't have the time ( and really want to help) or say No because it's my idea and I want to run with it and see if it will work.

I like to “give.” So I don't want to sacrifice one ability for the other — just find the balance. –

More than you asked in your blog post heh?

I took a typing class in 8th grade because it was one of the few electives that met with my schedule. Lucky break. Who knew in 1978 how important typing would become with the arrival of computers on every desk two decades later. I am a good typist (not great), but much better than most guys my age.

I wish I could speak another language. I was not so good with that, and did not care. Now this old man wishes he could go back and do that one over.

I'm glad I *didn't* learn to type in HS. If I had, I would have had to unlearn the dreaded double-space between sentence mistake that people keep making and typing instructors still erroneously teach (computers automatically insert 1-1/2 spaces between sentences so when you double space, you are actually inserting 2-1/2 spaces. Only typewriters require double spacing). </rant>

I wish I had learned more about basic light and optics in photography class. The instructor skimmed over it and everyone takes so many photos now, that it would certainly come in handy.

I work with kids with weak fine motor and writing skills. Parents often get focused on perfecting their handwriting. I tell them, focus on typing skills. Who hand writes??

Other life skills that have been important to my success: being able to quickly find the main idea in anything, ability to “get to the point,” and a strong work ethic. I”d love to have HTML skills, but that didn't exist when I was in school (which is my excuse and I”m sticking to it).

I learned to type while in Journalism school about three years ago. I figured, since my work is ultimately dependent upon typing well, I should probably learn it if I ever wanted to do anything worthwhile.

I used a typing website, however, I cannot find it again. The point is: don't discredit the 'learn a skill from a website' sites … some of them work just fine!

(there … typed the whole message without looking at the keyboard!)

Loved this piece! When I look back on what I learned over the years (and the far more amount I didn't) I am absolutely convinced that the one thing that would have changed more major life decisions than anything would have been learning to type. In my case it would have been especially significant as I grew up with epilepsy and it really shot my handwriting. So any pursuit that included written communication was out, like journalism or law. Actually, when considering a college major anything that required (or I perceived as requiring) lots of handwritten class essays or terms paper literally terrified me. I've been considering typing lessons for my son, but now I think I'll move up the priority.

I definitely don't think that I need to take typing classes because I type fast enough to get the necessary work done