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Fixes_Computers t1_izks561 wrote

Reply to comment by TommyTuttle in A website where you can practice typing by typing out classic literature instead of random words or passages - You improve your typing speed and read a great book at the same time ! by MagicalEloquence

This is basically the method I used.

I took two years of typing between the 8th and 10th grades. I got up to about 45 wpm.

After moving out on my own, I started calling BBSs (bulletin board systems). These were much more common in the 80s and 90s before the internet took off.

I would spend way too much of my leisure time typing messages on them.

My current typing speed is over 70 wpm. What I find odd is I don't consider my speed all that fast, but I'm way ahead of most people I know. I have one coworker who is faster. Most job descriptions I've seen require 40+. I wouldn't think that a stretch, but too many people can't type. (Side note, the keyboard I had at worked sucked so I bought my own, replaced the key switches with something stiffer, and replaced most of the caps with blanks because I'm a touch typist and a jerk.)

I find Reddit very familiar compared to the BBSs I used to call. I'll probably stay here until it or I am gone.

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blindsight t1_izl4i46 wrote

40+ with 97% accuracy is basic competency. Should be enough for most jobs.

70+ with 98% accuracy is proficient. It's a good target for any work that requires significant communication by email or report writing.

100+ with 99% accuracy is an attainable target with intentional practice. It's a good target for taking minutes and other jobs that require typing "live".

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Fixes_Computers t1_izl56j1 wrote

If I had to type live on a regular basis, I think I'd learn how to use a court reporting machine. Mind you, that only works if I get to transcribe later.

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blindsight t1_izl82ym wrote

Yeah, stenography is a whole other thing.

I can type ~95 WPM with high accuracy when I'm focusing; this is enough that I'm able to keep up with the main ideas that need to be recorded in meeting minutes (and similar reporting/tracking documents), but definitely not word-for-word transcription.

To keep up with spoken language, you either need to learn stenography or slow down an audio recording. Or limit people to talk more slowly, lol.

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Fixes_Computers t1_izlpx1b wrote

I'd be happy with a dictation machine and a foot pedal.

I used to have a client who did at home dictation on her computer. Apparently there are no good food pedals. The ones out there are expensive and poorly made.

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blay12 t1_izme8r0 wrote

As a very proficient typist (generally around 130-140 wpm with 98% accuracy, can blast past that if I'm focused in short stretches) that also works in video and has to do a LOT of transcription to caption my work if it's not pre-scripted (most of my work is for the government, so accessibility is required), I've been flirting with the idea of picking up a steno keyboard (or setting up one of my existing keyboards since I can just map it with software) and trying to learn that, especially since I've been doing a lot of live transcription and note-taking in our dnd campaigns. I can generally keep up with slow speakers on a normal keyboard, but fast conversation between 6 people eludes me sometimes if I'm trying to capture actual quotes.

Tbh the DnD is strangely driving me to learn it more than work is, since AI transcription has taken some INSANE jumps recently - with recent updates, I can now have my editing software transcribe a conversation between 3 people (that are well mic'd and assuming none of them have insane accents) and get the result with 99% accuracy, divided by person speaking (e.g. the software recognizes that there are 3 distinct people speaking and sets up the transcription as such, like "Person 1: bla bla", "Person 2: Oh of course blah blah") along with actual grammar/capitalization/etc in a matter of minutes, so all of a sudden I've just been randomly freed of a bunch of onerous busy work, which I don't hate.

For some reason it just seems super cool to me to be able to take down word for word notes as someone's speaking, which is weird, but something that would be fun to follow up on.

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Practical_Cartoonist t1_izme7d4 wrote

I started learning the Dvorak keyboard layout in the mid 90s, when IRC was at its peak, and I found IRC indispensable in learning how to type quickly. The big channels moved fast in those days, so if you couldn't get a response typed out in a few seconds, the conversation would have already moved on.

I remember distinctly that 'h' and 'a' were the first 2 letters I learned in Dvorak just because I could get in a 'haha' lightning fast on IRC. (Well 'a' in Dvorak is easy to learn anyway, since it's in the same spot as in QWERTY)

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