| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Can you touch type? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
Ventnai 
Spain
Local time: 12:37
German to English
+ ...
| Not properly | Oct 14, 2015 |
I wish I had learnt but I came of age before the real PC boom and in days when boys didn't learn to type.
| | | |
Chris S wrote:
I don't look at the keyboard but I only use two fingers on each hand. Does that count?
you just have to make do with what you have... right?
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 12:37
Danish to English
+ ...
| Yes - how do you type without touching? | Oct 14, 2015 |
Sorry, very bad joke, it's the end of a working day...
I did a typing course when I was 14, proper evening classes and an exam with a diploma and all. The typewriter that came with the course (borrowed) had coloured caps over the keys, so there was really no way to cheat. Nowadays, I get in a muddle if I look at the keys, and if you ask me where a particular letter is on the keyboard, I will waffle and imagine my fingers skimming across the keyboard, and my fingers will tell me, not... See more Sorry, very bad joke, it's the end of a working day...
I did a typing course when I was 14, proper evening classes and an exam with a diploma and all. The typewriter that came with the course (borrowed) had coloured caps over the keys, so there was really no way to cheat. Nowadays, I get in a muddle if I look at the keys, and if you ask me where a particular letter is on the keyboard, I will waffle and imagine my fingers skimming across the keyboard, and my fingers will tell me, not my memory (which is atrocious at the best of times).
When I studied interpretation at business school, it dawned on me that our brains can do wonderful things (yes, I was quite old before I realised this!), i.e. they can skip from input to output 'instinctively' without having to go through some intermediary stages. In interpretation - going from hearing a sentence in one language, taking it in and immediately delivering the meaning in another language, without having to dip into dictionaries. It's like parallel thinking or something. Typing is another one of those things: You think of words, and your fingers type, but you don't stop and look at the keys to find the words there. The words go straight from the brain to the keyboard.
And Christine - I highly recommend a curved keyboard if you struggle to reach æ, ø and å. The curve forces your hands into a slightly different position, which makes it easier to reach those extreme keys... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Josef Šoltes
Czech Republic
Local time: 12:37
English to Czech
I don't know how, but I learned to type on my keyboard with some kind of hybrid style. It suits me very well. When rested, I can do 1600 words in an hour of rough translation. Of course that needs further editing, but I believe, that is pretty good.
| | |
|
|
|
Chié_JP
Japan
Local time: 19:37
Member (2013)
English to Japanese
+ ...
| All but special characters... | Oct 14, 2015 |
Alphabets are fine as I play the piano and they are not much different.
It is incredible that some people can type ' & ) ( 0 = |^{]:@*"#!
without looking at the keyboard. It is not easy to type number on normal horizontal keys
(not the ten-key), too. Stop typing, full case or half case confirmation, find key and get to work again - it is annoying for me to have them.
I keep getting insert pressed when I actually need home or delete button or ... See more Alphabets are fine as I play the piano and they are not much different.
It is incredible that some people can type ' & ) ( 0 = |^{]:@*"#!
without looking at the keyboard. It is not easy to type number on normal horizontal keys
(not the ten-key), too. Stop typing, full case or half case confirmation, find key and get to work again - it is annoying for me to have them.
I keep getting insert pressed when I actually need home or delete button or [ and ].
- Reassigning keys are not as much easy as it sounds
(looking for the best places, remembering them, changing them on and on).
Software auto suggest for monolingual input is now useful but I really want someone who will advise me how to learn all the special characters.
There are total of 4 PC units ew and old in my house
but each has different key rows and key size that makes things more difficult. I am always looking out for ideas.
[2015-10-14 20:12 GMTに編集されました] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Erzsébet Czopyk
Hungary
Local time: 12:37
Member (2006)
Russian to Hungarian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Remembering Rachmaninov, the best night owl I ever seen | Oct 14, 2015 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
My hands simply do not coordinate at speed, and the resuo lokd loike thios or worse if 'i trhhy ro toueo fastr! I sue hte delete keiu more than anyu other!
Practice does NOT help appreciably, or I would have been a really, really good typist twenty years ago.
However, I can type as fast as I can translate - more or less - with about three fingers of each hand and frequent glances at what I am doing. (And preferably AutoCorrect to deal iwth hte most frequent typos...)
There was autumn 2005 when I desperately searched a PM for my "newbie" company. I received a phone call from a lady, a sales rep of an insurance company, and she told me she has some relative who is a translator (OMG, you and your relatives... oh no)... but politely told her, let's see him, and tell him to send me a CV. I received a phone call then from a man who shortly asked for an appointment. I remember the moment when he entered the door I just looked at him... I gave him a piece of text as a test translation but my mouth widely opened when he just continued to talk to me, gave a quick glance at the text and during all te conversation he typed with all 10 fingers... at the speed of light! He finished a translation, excellent style, with no typo or mistakes. He got not just the job. During the years we dated I told him several times that his teacher of touch-type deserved a bouquet. We worked together a lot, the two night owls... and I remember the motion of his fingers on a curved keyboard, the keyboard's noise. Sometimes when I brought him a tea, I just silently looked behind at his hands. And If we fighted (who remembers why but often) and he wanted to end it, he asked me...
shall I start to type again? ))
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 07:37
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Are you saying there are professional translators who can't?
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Can you touch type? | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
