# How do you type?



## KuJoe (Jul 27, 2013)

So how many of you use the "home row"? How many of you hunt and peck? How many of you are like me and only type with your index fingers (thumb for space bar and pinky for shift/ctrl/alt though)?

I type around 65-70 WPM which I know is pretty slow compared to all of you kids out there. I always wondered how much better I would be if I learned the home row method of typing but I never bothered learning because I didn't take any actually typing classes until college where I was already set in my ways.

I know a lot of people who do the home row method but I also know plenty of people in IT who have worked with computers for decades and still hunt and peck. I haven't met anybody else who uses just their index fingers like me though so I'm curious if there are others out there. Oddly enough, I can substitute my index fingers for my middle fingers and have roughly the same speed and accuracy.

So how about you?


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## MartinD (Jul 27, 2013)

I've been battering away at a keyboard for as long as I can remember so touch typing for me is second nature. Not sure what 'home row' is though? Is that when you basically hover over the middle row and navigate from there? If so, I guess that's how I type. I actually find it quite difficult to type with just two fingers - takes an age!


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## Ivan (Jul 27, 2013)

Ehh, not too sure what "home row" and "hunt and peck" mean, but I type around 125-135 WPM, and um, the way I type is that I use my right hand's index finger to hit the space bar key.

I rarely use my thumbs for anything. I use my index finger, my middle finger, and my ring finger on my right hand to type (ring finger to hit backspace), and as for my left hand, I also use my index, middle, ring finger and my pinky (mostly for the Shift key). 

As for looking at the keyboard, nope, I never look at the keyboard when I type.


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## DearLeaderJohn (Jul 27, 2013)

I'm not sure how to describe my typing.

I use all the fingers on my left hand but only the index finger for typing characters on my right hand. I use my left thumb for hitting the space key and right pinky for pressing the enter key...

Get's me about 84WPM, not the fastest but I'm happy with it. (I'm right handed too...)


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## Lee (Jul 27, 2013)

Home Row:

You place your left fingers on the asdf keys and your right fingers on the Jkl(x)*  From there you don't look at the keyboard and navigate your fingers around the keyboard based on knowing whey start.

Hunt and Peck:

Basically the opposite, you use two fingers, or more but often looking at the keyboard to find the keys you want.

A lot of people dont actually realise that a lot of keyboards have slightly raised parts on the likes of the 5 key on your number pad, for recognition so that you know without looking what the key is.  Some also have the same on the f&j keys.

*(x) being whatever key your keyboard has, as it's different for many.


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## KuJoe (Jul 27, 2013)

*@*, now that you mention it, I see my keyboard has the raised line on the F, J, and numpad 5 keys.

I am glad to see there are some unique styles that I've never encountered before. Glad I'm not alone out there in not following the norm.


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## Lee (Jul 27, 2013)

I tend to use a mixture.  I never look at the keyboard but I don't place my fingers on the home keys.  But then I am 40, always used a keyboard and my hand writing is a complete mess simply because I never write.


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## HalfEatenPie (Jul 27, 2013)

Oh I use the home-row method (originally developed for the typewriter to provide enough time for the mechanics to move around).  I'm known to type pretty fast.  Honestly I don't know how people can hunt and peck (no offense to you guys!) and spend so much time that way.  My father actually types in the hunt and peck method and it takes him a while to type a page of content.  

I heard dvorak layout is supposed to be best for typing but I haven't really tried it (nor am I really interested in trying it anyways).


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## wdq (Jul 27, 2013)

When I first started typing I had no idea what I was doing. I had to look down and find each and every key, and honestly I ended up getting pretty darn good at that. I was able to remove the hunting all together, I was able to just peck away. I was able to type "fast enough" that way, but I wanted to be able to type faster so that I could get more done in a day. 

I ended up reading about that home row method. When I first started using it I never really needed to learn that this finger is for this key and this other finger is for this key. I just kind of knew where all of the keys were from the days when I used the hunt and peck method.

If we were to shift this topic and talk about smartphones/tablets this would be a completely different story. I can't type all that fast on either one of them, even though I really want to learn how to.


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## SkylarM (Jul 27, 2013)

I never did get the whole homerow key thing. I mostly use my index fingers to type but use a mixture, hard to explain but I type an average of 130-160 WPM so whatever.


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## D. Strout (Jul 27, 2013)

I use the home row method and average about 65 WPM. I used to hunt and peck and was pretty good at it, getting probably 50-55 WPM. But then I took a computer class in high school and I had to learn the "right" way of typing. Gotta say it annoyed me that with all that bother, I only increased my WPM by 10-15. But, I am faster now and used to the home row method, so I guess that's something. No idea how some of you can get 130+ WPM - 70 seems to be my limit.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Jul 27, 2013)

I suppose you could say I type 'homerow'... don't use qwerty though, never made any sense to me.  Dvorak increased my english typing speed significantly (layout worked better for me I guess).  Also picked up a Das Keyboard Ultimate recently... between that and the key layout, I don't have to worry about anyone messing around at my workstation anymore XD


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## dnom (Jul 27, 2013)

D. Strout said:


> I use the home row method and average about 65 WPM. I used to hunt and peck and was pretty good at it, getting probably 50-55 WPM.


I am trying to learn to type using the home row method but after reading this I'll probably just go back to hunt and peck.


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## SkylarM (Jul 27, 2013)

I always got yelled at by our typing teacher in elementary/middle school for not using the homerow method, but they gave up when I was constantly typing miles faster than everybody else.

Honest opinion, if you can NOT stare at your hands/keyboard while you type and you type at a decent rate, then it doesn't honestly matter.  Never did fully understand why the "home row" was supposedly better.


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## Coastercraze (Jul 27, 2013)

I use the home row method on a typical asdf layout. I can't do it on a Dvorack layout though.


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## shawn_ky (Jul 27, 2013)

Home row modified somewhat.... typing used to be 120+ somewhere around 70-80 when not really putting forth the effort. No use typing faster than I can think.


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## dmmcintyre3 (Jul 27, 2013)

KuJoe said:


> How many of you are like me and only type with your index fingers (thumb for space bar and pinky for shift/ctrl/alt though)?


That is what I do.


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## blergh (Jul 27, 2013)

I have one of these, hence this makes me a world-speed typist.


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## Slownode (Jul 27, 2013)

I use an IBM Model M from 1988., I type quite slow with it but the feedback is important... my typing style isn't for wpm, but for programming/editing.


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## Chronic (Jul 27, 2013)

My method evolved from a combination of the countless hours of gaming (where I had my left hand glued to the WASD keys) and the occassional school report I wanted to push out of the way as soon as possible. My hands are spread further apart than with the home row setup at a slight angle and across multiple rows. My pinkies and thumbs handle everything from modifier keys to space and enter, and the index fingers peck away in the middle of the playing field. The rest of the fingers are used to complement the index fingers on each of the sides. I have learned to type fairly fast this way (120+ wpm on average) and it works very well in most occasions. The negative aspect is that I rely heavily on smooth movements of the hands across the keyboard and muscle memory so if I make a mistake, I can be thrown off and have to take a second to reposition in order to continue (as opposed to the home row method, where your hands are more or less on the same spot and you can easily regain coordination). I luckily rarely make typing mistakes so all in all, it's working out for me.

I tried some tutorials on using the home row method, but I felt dumber than when I first picked up a keyboard. That in combination with being too lazy to adopt the method for my local language layout prevented me from changing my technique.


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## Shados (Jul 27, 2013)

SkylarM said:


> I always got yelled at by our typing teacher in elementary/middle school for not using the homerow method, but they gave up when I was constantly typing miles faster than everybody else.
> 
> Honest opinion, if you can NOT stare at your hands/keyboard while you type and you type at a decent rate, then it doesn't honestly matter.  Never did fully understand why the "home row" was supposedly better.


It's pretty obvious, really: dividing up the keyboard into regions and assigning one finger to each means you _can_ hit more keys in the same amount of time because you have to move any given finger less on average. Can, not necessarily will, but generally most people who are fast typers and don't touch-type "properly" will be faster once they've learned to.

Speaking from experience and that of a few people I know (and assuming our experiences translate to other people at all), if you're interested in learning to touch-type correctly just get a software typing tutor program - preferably one with specific 'lessons' as well as general/specific training routines. Use it for maybe 30 minutes or so to pick up the layout/finger->key mapping etc., then use it for 5-15 minutes each day, and critically, touch-type for all other typing you do. Yes, you will most definitely be excruciatingly slow for a while, but hey, that's good incentive to learn faster. Generally speaking you'll likely be slower for up to a week or so, on par with your old method for a similar amount of time, and then you'll see consistent improvements for several weeks/months - assuming you keep up with actively using a typing tutor each day in addition to touch-typing for normal usage.


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## KuJoe (Jul 27, 2013)

I think I'm going to give that a shot *@**Shados*.

_This post was typed very slowly using the home row method._


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## eva2000 (Jul 27, 2013)

hunt and pecker but i don't look at the keyboard 

~75-90 WPM


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## Awmusic12635 (Jul 27, 2013)

Homerow typically.

80-90WPM average


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## Aldryic C'boas (Jul 27, 2013)

It's also worth noting that I was a pianist for years before even knowing what a computer/typewriter was.. I suppose that made the notion of "specific keys per fingers" a lot easier to grasp.

Conversely, I would be very curious to see how fast 'proper' vs 'improper' typists could pick up simple piano songs based on that theory.


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## mikho (Jul 28, 2013)

I constantly try to stop looking at the keyboard to see what I type but I use the backspace more then any other key.


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## 5n1p (Jul 28, 2013)

mikho said:


> I constantly try to stop looking at the keyboard to see what I type but I use the backspace more then any other key.


"backspace" on keyboard and  "undo" in software are most usable 

I use all fingers but haven't learn any method how to use it properly and I have stop'd looking at a keyboard after I bought Microsoft ergonomic , it really makes typing easy and makes you use all your fingers.

P.S. I hope you wont flame me because of "Microsoft" in post .


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## mpkossen (Jul 28, 2013)

Shados said:


> It's pretty obvious, really: dividing up the keyboard into regions and assigning one finger to each means you _can_ hit more keys in the same amount of time because you have to move any given finger less on average. Can, not necessarily will, but generally most people who are fast typers and don't touch-type "properly" will be faster once they've learned to.
> 
> Speaking from experience and that of a few people I know (and assuming our experiences translate to other people at all), if you're interested in learning to touch-type correctly just get a software typing tutor program - preferably one with specific 'lessons' as well as general/specific training routines. Use it for maybe 30 minutes or so to pick up the layout/finger->key mapping etc., then use it for 5-15 minutes each day, and critically, touch-type for all other typing you do. Yes, you will most definitely be excruciatingly slow for a while, but hey, that's good incentive to learn faster. Generally speaking you'll likely be slower for up to a week or so, on par with your old method for a similar amount of time, and then you'll see consistent improvements for several weeks/months - assuming you keep up with actively using a typing tutor each day in addition to touch-typing for normal usage.


Exactly the way I learned it! I used KTouch to learn it. I was quite frustrated the first two or three days but after a week, I was back at my Hunt & Peck speed. One week later I was faster than ever before.


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## notFound (Jul 28, 2013)

I don't really have a method like everyone else does. My small finger is always on the right shift because I use it so often and right thumb on the space bar but my left thumb also follows around going for the space bar some times or control and my left small finger on tab. The rest of my fingers Just go wherever they need to.


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## sDsB (Jul 28, 2013)

Svorak (swedish Dvorak) nerd checking in. Using an old and crusty ergonomic keyboard that hasn't been rearranged. As such it is actually impossible for me to do anything but touch type. If I need to type a single letter, I need to put the hands in the right position and let the muscle memory do it's thing.

Not very fast because I have a high error rate. But I had that on QWERTY too, so it doesn't matter.


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## mikho (Jul 28, 2013)

5n1p said:


> "backspace" on keyboard and  "undo" in software are most usable
> 
> I use all fingers but haven't learn any method how to use it properly and I have stop'd looking at a keyboard after I bought Microsoft ergonomic , it really makes typing easy and makes you use all your fingers.
> 
> P.S. I hope you wont flame me because of "Microsoft" in post .


Won't flame you at all, I'm a Microsoft person myself... well OS that is .

If I'm at my own computer it's most likely the laptops keyboard that I use, if I'm not typing away on a customers computer, Sometimes a little difference on the layout can make it so much harder. For instance if the enter key is as small as the backspace key or on some keyboards the home/end/pg up/pg dn keys are rearranged.

That makes it harder.


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## jcaleb (Jul 28, 2013)

I type using 3 finger eagle's claw style


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## HostUS-Alexander (Jul 29, 2013)




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## MartinD (Jul 29, 2013)

HostUS-Alexander said:


>


Where's that from?


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## HostUS-Alexander (Jul 29, 2013)

MartinD said:


> Where's that from?


http://10fastfingers.com/typing-test/english


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## MartinD (Jul 29, 2013)

Hmm..


Visit the Typing Test and try!

That was a bit crap


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## Francisco (Jul 29, 2013)

Aldryic C said:


> between that and the key layout, I don't have to worry about anyone messing around at my workstation anymore XD


Nor worry about the wife sleeping in on a weekend <_<

Francisco


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## DearLeaderJohn (Jul 29, 2013)

Visit the Typing Test and try!

 

I should really think about changing my method, hmm.


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## Francisco (Jul 29, 2013)

Aldryic C said:


> It's also worth noting that I was a pianist for years before even knowing what a computer/typewriter was.. I suppose that made the notion of "specific keys per fingers" a lot easier to grasp.
> 
> Conversely, I would be very curious to see how fast 'proper' vs 'improper' typists could pick up simple piano songs based on that theory.


Are you like Peter by chance?





>_>

Francisco


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## MannDude (Jul 29, 2013)

Visit the Typing Test and try!

Guess I should mention that was about 98% accuracy.


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## Ivan (Jul 29, 2013)

Visit the Typing Test and try!


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## Aldryic C'boas (Jul 29, 2013)

Francisco said:


> Are you like Peter by chance?


(Part of me wants to say "Remember SolusVM?" >_>)


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## Francisco (Jul 29, 2013)

Aldryic C said:


> (Part of me wants to say "Remember SolusVM?" >_>)


....

So we're in agreement that Solus is written with GOTO statements?



Francisco


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## MartinD (Jul 29, 2013)

Improved a little.. clearly more coffee is needed though


Visit the Typing Test and try!


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## HalfEatenPie (Jul 29, 2013)

Aldryic C said:


> It's also worth noting that I was a pianist for years before even knowing what a computer/typewriter was.. I suppose that made the notion of "specific keys per fingers" a lot easier to grasp.


 
Erm... Asian here.  10+ years of Piano learning experience from my Asian parents' demands.  Home row method typist.  I'm known to apparently have 120-140 WPM (depends on the days).  

Come at me bro.  



Visit the Typing Test and try!

In my defense...  I'm on a netbook (small/weird configuration of the keyboard) right now trying to do this...  Also this is an atom computer with windows 7 on it (for work)...  and it sometimes lags behind when I type too fast.


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## Ivan (Jul 29, 2013)

HalfEatenPie which part of Asia are you from?  :lol:

Edit: Okay maybe you might not be born in Asia, but of what Asian descent are you?


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## HalfEatenPie (Jul 29, 2013)

Haha I'm a born Asian who moved to the States when he was 3 years old.

I'm Korean by birth.  (South for those who want to know)


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## Ivan (Jul 29, 2013)

HalfEatenPie said:


> Haha I'm a born Asian who moved to the States when he was 3 years old.
> 
> I'm Korean by birth.  (South for those who want to know)


Ah, I see.  Well.. you missed out on all the fine women they have there *cough* KPOP *cough*. Haha, jokes


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## HalfEatenPie (Jul 29, 2013)

Ivan said:


> Ah, I see. Well.. you missed out on all the fine women they have there *cough* KPOP *cough*. Haha, jokes


 

Haha, as much as I hate to admit it I don't think they're my "type" per se


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## egihosting (Jul 29, 2013)

88 wpm. homerow...

Faster than i thought! =)


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## Tux (Jul 29, 2013)

Some hunt and pecking, and some touch typing. I touch-typed this message.


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## Shados (Jul 30, 2013)

Would have done more like 120 WPM, except the way they present the text is throwing me off - I slow down or mess up every time the second line gets shunted up >.>. I'd be better off having a scrolling row of text, or just having a huge-ass page's worth of static text.

EDIT: Wait, it won't let me use the img tag?


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## HalfEatenPie (Jul 30, 2013)

Tux said:


> Some hunt and pecking, and some touch typing. I touch-typed this message.


That sounds... really... dirty.  



Shados said:


> Would have done more like 120 WPM, except the way they present the text is throwing me off - I slow down or mess up every time the second line gets shunted up >.>. I'd be better off having a scrolling row of text, or just having a huge-ass page's worth of static text.



Honestly same here.  I usually move my eyes a few words in front of the word I'm typing and the second line moving up always throws me off.  Hell if they actually made a sentence I'd probably be typing much faster (I usually read as I type... which is a good and a bad thing I guess).  

Also you should be able to use the simple BBCode




tags, if not you can also use the WYSIWYG Editor!  

*Edit:* Ahh, it seems the link is a dynamic link and therefore doesn't have a .jpg or an actual image extension on it therefore preventing it from coming up as an image.  I just rehosted it with imgur and edited your post!  Hope you're fine with that!


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## eva2000 (Jul 30, 2013)

wow all the folks with +100 WPM !

turns out I'm a relatively slow typer (not home-row but mix of hunt/pecker)


```
Result
 Words per minute (WPM)	74
Keystrokes	416
Correct words	98
Wrong words	1
Accuracy	 97.4%
time (seconds)	 67
```


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## Gallaeaho (Jul 30, 2013)

Stock keyboard that I got with my last computer too.


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## perennate (Jul 31, 2013)

158 wpm

http://10fastfingers.com/speedtests/generate_screenshot_result/158_820_0_0_152_6_99.97_36_128723

Running on laptop with not so great keyboard too 

Using programmer dvorak -- http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/

After switching to Dvorak I mostly type the standard way (right fingers on right keys you could say), except for shift sometimes (don't use right shift much). Use thumbs for space.

Edit: got 164 wpm second try -- http://10fastfingers.com/speedtests/generate_screenshot_result/164_833_0_0_154_2_99.98_24_128705

tl;dr dvorak is better


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## VPN.SH (Aug 1, 2013)

Faster than I thought I'd be. Using laptop keyboard, so probably slightly quicker at my desktop.



Visit the Typing Test and try!


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## MartinD (Aug 1, 2013)

Boom.


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## HalfEatenPie (Aug 1, 2013)

I call BS on @MartinD.  Unless he's like flash, with typing...  That's seriously 5.7 WORDS per second...

If that's legitimate, that's amazing.


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## VPN.SH (Aug 1, 2013)

HalfEatenPie said:


> I call BS on @MartinD.  Unless he's like flash, with typing...  That's seriously 5.7 WORDS per second...
> 
> If that's legitimate, that's amazing.


For starters the test is one minute long, so surely if it's 342 WPM then the correct words should be close to that?

Also, the highest screenshot they have is this:


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## FireWood (Aug 1, 2013)

The first way you explain it the first way is the way I type. I have tried to change my ways of typing but that sounds like it not going to happen.


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## Hassan (Aug 1, 2013)

Generally home row typing, used to hunt and peck but I forced myself to use home row and my typing speeds have been so much faster


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## terafire (Aug 1, 2013)

I'm definitely home row


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