I remember a funny occasions during one of very first few days teaching 13 years ago. I was typing something on the keyboard when a colleague leaned over and said, “Wow – are you the new secretary?” She didn’t know who I was at that juncture, and when I explained that I was the new lecturer in the department, she asked how I learnt to type so fast.
Here’s the thing; my dad had an old 1950s typewriter at our family home in Lentor that I loved practicing on. E.g. when I was taking my ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels in 1987 and 1989 respectively, I’d type all my lecture notes out and distribute them around the class. They were quite a hit, since this was way before the time when lecture notes were word processed or even distributed by teachers to students. OK, playing the piano helps in touch typing since muscle memory plays a similar role.
Funnily, I’ve never thought I’m a fast typist. I just think I’m so-so, but one colleague at work recently remarked during a department meeting at my typing speed. So, I saw that there was a typing speed program on Facebook, and I gave it a go. My results at the first try were: 473 keys/minute, which (very) roughly works out to 94 words/minute.
Wow; I actually feel relieved, because according to Wikipedia’s entry on speed typing, I’d meet the minimum qualification for professional typing positions. That means that if I ever don’t want to teach anymore, apart from being a bus driver (which I announced I intended to become during my graduation speech in 1995 in front of the subdean, and her face turned into one of horror), I can become a typist too!
If you’re not on Facebook, there’s a similar application here. And me, I’m going back to improve my score.:)
Are your familiar with the on-rails, lightgun arcade shooter “House of the Dead” and its several sequels? A subsequent port to the PC featured one dramatic change: replacing the gun-zapper was the keyboard; instead of zapping countless zombies with the gun the player must type the phrase that pops up on screen only a moment before mortal impact, thus warding or otherwise destroying the zombie threat(s). In fact, the in-game participant intended to represent the player no longer carry upon their backs large, Ghostbuster-like energy packs, but instead—you guessed it—quick-draw keyboards.
If it sounds ridiculous, it is. But it was a delightfully novel and tongue-in-cheek idea. With your typing prowess you would no doubt destroy the game in no time flat!
Haha.:) Now that’s an interesting one – no, didn’t hear of it before.:)