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Comment by thiht | Hacker News Reader

My girlfriend has always typed with 2 fingers and still types faster than me.

Touch typing is not necessary to type fast.

It is for most people though. I certainly have seen some self taught people type quickly but it's not the norm. I learned typing and do 80-100 words per minute. I have seen very few hunt and peck typists that can reach that rate. It's also not nearly as efficient. I think it should be taught in high school at least for a semester. It's only getting more useful rather than less.

If that's the case you can't be typing very fast in the first place. Two finger typing caps out at around 60-70wpm

That is as fast as most people think though so it is good enough. I'm still glad I learned to use all 10 fingers, but that is to spread the strain out. Typing speed is not the limit for most people

The average speaking rate is >100 WPM. I really doubt most people think at only 60 WPM. Try transcribing a normal person having a normal conversation and you'll quickly see how difficult it is even as a fast typer.

How many of those spoken words are words that are (rightfully) excised when transcribed into a written document? There's a lot of filler in speech.

>Try transcribing a normal person having a normal conversation and you'll quickly see how difficult it is even as a fast typer.

I type at around 120 wpm and I can't keep up with my speaking speed. When I transcribe my own recording I have to constantly pause the recording to catch up. Speaking is "bursty", where you say a lot of things very quickly and then slow down again.

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