Poll: Has your typing speed decreased over time? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Has your typing speed decreased over time?".
This poll was originally submitted by Marcel Gomez. View the poll results »
| | | | | I don't know | Feb 22, 2023 |
I’ve always been more focused on quality than on speed, but as I have been translating full-time for over 35 years, I suppose my speed has increased over the years for having to type (almost) every day. I never learned to type "properly", but I type fast. I learned to type the hard way, by myself, on an old-fashioned, heavy, slow and very noisy typewriter in the 1960s. I don't use all my fingers to type. Anyway, clients don't care about the number of fingers I use…
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Because I dictate. Which is way faster.
| | | | Nikolay Novitskiy 
Russian Federation
Local time: 15:47
Member (2018)
English to Russian
It increased because I eat fregh tropical fruits every day!
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| I don't know | Feb 22, 2023 |
I'd rather hire an outstandingly good on-demand trained, focused, always-on typist, but because I suspect they might demand compensation, I use Dragon instead.
Dragon is to typists what MT is to translators.
Philippe
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 12:47
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Increased initially, then stabilized | Feb 22, 2023 |
I learnt touch typing at college, and we had to do 100 keystrokes per minute to pass the exam. Then, for the first 5 years after that, my typing speed gradually increased to about three times that, but because correcting typing mistakes isn't a problem on a computer, I also started making many more typing errors (which I would then have to correct). However, it hasn't really increased or decreased in the 2... See more I learnt touch typing at college, and we had to do 100 keystrokes per minute to pass the exam. Then, for the first 5 years after that, my typing speed gradually increased to about three times that, but because correcting typing mistakes isn't a problem on a computer, I also started making many more typing errors (which I would then have to correct). However, it hasn't really increased or decreased in the 20 years since. Its possible that I spend less time per minute typing these days, though not because I type slower but because I type less. Also, these days, I tend to type in short bursts of high speed (typing 3-4 words per burst), whereas earlier in my career I was slower but steadier.
FWIW, off-topic, but I was curious about what my current speed is:
I googled for and did a few 1-minute typing speed tests online, with results ranging from 180 to 350 keystrokes per minute. Most tests test very short words or random words. Some tests allow you to correct mistakes before you press the spacebar, but not after you pressed the spacebar (I'm not sure what the logic is). All of the tests allow you to look at the text that you type while you type.
Dissatisfied with those results, I did the most accurate typing speed test that I know of: take a piece of text, print it out, put it next to your keyboard, and type for 1 minute without looking at the screen (correcting mistakes is allowed, but again, without looking at the screen). Result: 400 keystrokes per minute, 13 mistakes (which is either 97% or 88% accurate, depending on whether you count characters or whole words). I'm very surprised. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ever increasing | Feb 22, 2023 |
I learned touch-typing many years ago, and I really appreciate and recommend that.
I type very fast and it'is very relaxing, sitting up straight not looking at the keyboard and using all 10 fingers.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:47
Spanish to English
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| Don't really know | Feb 22, 2023 |
I imagine that my typing speed will have decreased over time, as the older you get, the slower you tend to get. However, it's not really an issue, as I don't do a lot of typing nowadays. I'm dictating this post using Dragon NS, which I use most of the time rather than typing everything. It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders and arms.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 12:47
French to English
Samuel I'm impressed: 400 strokes a minute!!!
I learned touch-typing when I was about 20. I had topped 30 words a minute by the end of the course, and went on to do all sorts of jobs which often involved typing on a computer. I can still type without looking at my fingers, but I'm not sure of my speed. It doesn't really matter either, in that I only ever type in short bursts. I think more quickly than I type, but since I do a lot of shifting bits of sentence around once I've typed i... See more Samuel I'm impressed: 400 strokes a minute!!!
I learned touch-typing when I was about 20. I had topped 30 words a minute by the end of the course, and went on to do all sorts of jobs which often involved typing on a computer. I can still type without looking at my fingers, but I'm not sure of my speed. It doesn't really matter either, in that I only ever type in short bursts. I think more quickly than I type, but since I do a lot of shifting bits of sentence around once I've typed it, I don't think it's really something that hampers my productivity. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:47
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Ice Scream wrote:
Because I dictate. Which is way faster.
Me too. I only use the keyboard to correct the mistakes that dictation makes (and to navigate, of course).
[Edited at 2023-02-22 13:40 GMT]
| | | | | Don't know - don't care! | Feb 22, 2023 |
As long as I can type as fast as I can get my thoughts in order prior to setting them down on virtual paper, it really doesn't matter how many words I can type in a minute, or how my speed might be changing with the passage of time.
JL
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:47
Serbian to English
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| I'm more interested in my speed of thinking | Feb 23, 2023 |
Years ago, when it proved nearly impossible to find in Belgrade someone who could type in French, I simply learned to type with all 10 fingers without watching the keyboard - on a mechanical typewriter.
Later, when I started using computers, I was typing as fast as typists.
But it was always for me nothing more than an accessory skill - never bothered to measure my typing speed.
What I'm far more interested in, is the speed at which I can decipher the meaning of a... See more Years ago, when it proved nearly impossible to find in Belgrade someone who could type in French, I simply learned to type with all 10 fingers without watching the keyboard - on a mechanical typewriter.
Later, when I started using computers, I was typing as fast as typists.
But it was always for me nothing more than an accessory skill - never bothered to measure my typing speed.
What I'm far more interested in, is the speed at which I can decipher the meaning of a source text and find the best possible translation.
That is the only "speed" I care about, although spending hours on one single term if need be would for most people be a strange definition of "speed". ▲ Collapse
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Jennifer Levey wrote:
As long as I can type as fast as I can get my thoughts in order prior to setting them down on virtual paper, it really doesn't matter how many words I can type in a minute, or how my speed might be changing with the passage of time.
JL
Exactly. I can type fast enough to keep up with my thought processes. I can probably type faster than that, but what's the point? It's not as if I'm active on social media.
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 12:47
Member (2020)
English to German
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| Probably unchanged | Feb 23, 2023 |
I haven't really measured my typing speed in ages, but I do not think there have been any significant changes over the past 10 years.
That said, I can only really work with two specific types of keyboards (the absolute classic of a Cherry that more or less every office out there has in use and mechanical gaming keyboards with red or brown "clicky" switches). With small, chiclet-style keyboards, my muscle memory will just produce too many typos to justify their use.
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Philip Lees wrote:
It's not as if I'm active on social media.
Erm…
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