Weekend Website
Did you know that simply 50 words make up 60% of everything that we say? That’s not a whole lot of words considering there are thousands upon thousands of words that are available to use. Even Shakespeare used about 22,000 different words in his published works! According to the PowerTyping site, most of us have a working vocabulary of about 2,000 words which means there are probably about that many words that you could regularly be typing if you use your computer for communicating with others. Being able to accurately type, and the ability to type fast is one of those invaluable skills these days. Today we’re taking a look at four different sites that will test your typing ability and give you the opportunity to improve your skills.
TypeRacer (link)
Typing skills turns competitive with a fairly new site called TypeRacer. TypeRacer is a “game” in which you’re competing against others to see who the fastest typer is. Each person participating will have a car that moves across the screen as they type. The first person/car to the end of the road wins. What you end up typing are lines from different books and movies that are sold on Amazon.com. As you’re typing, they tell you which book the excerpt came from, and then an affiliate ad is shown which helps explain how this site is making money.
If you were wanting to improve your typing skills or just see how fast it is that you can type, TypeRacer adds a little fun to the process. The only downside is that you’ll probably have a hard time making the high-scores list unless you cheat. From the looks of it they’re trying to keep cheaters off the list, but for a while there, it was always someone who probably used some JavaScript to cheat and make the list with a speed of 250 words per minute (definitely not realistic).
For those of you who thrive off of competition, go checkout TypeRacer.
TypingTest.com (link)
TypingTest.com isn’t quite as fun as TypeRacer, but it does exactly what it says it does, and tests how fast you can type. The only requirement is that you must have Java. When you click to start the test, you get to choose if you want a 1 minute, 2 minute, or 3 minute test. You can also choose between a handful of different text options, and then you can choose whether you want the speed unit to be WPM (words per minute) or CPM (characters per minute).
After the time is up, no matter how much of the passage you have completed, they’ll display your test results. They take into consideration your accuracy to determine a Net Speed. So if you made a few mistakes, your Gross Speed would be higher than what it displayed for your Net Speed, make sense? Below is an example of the results that you’d see after taking a test:
Notice that TypingTest even has a Facebook Ap? You can add the typing test to your Facebook profile and then once you complete a test, it will show you who are the best typists in your network. They also keep an average speed of all Facebook users which happens to be 50 WPM. Results from your typing test will show up in your mini-feed.
PowerTyping (link)
At the PowerTyping site, they give you a paragraph to type so that you can test your speed. There are several different tests that you can choose from. Some of the tests are designed so that you only leave one space after a period (if you put two, it’ll be counted as a mistake), while others are designed so that you should put a double space after a period. I am used to putting two spaces after a period so I made sure to choose a test under the “double space” category.
Once you complete the test, a box will pop-up in your browser with your results. They tell you what your typing rate is, how many words you typed, and how many mistakes you made.
iPhone Typing Test (link)
Own an iPhone and want to know how fast you type? Here’s how you can do that. On your iPhone go to www.iphonetypingtest.com. There you’ll find a typing test designed just for those using an iPhone. After clicking start you’ll be taken to a new page and the test starts when you click inside the blue field. Once you’re done with the test, press “Done” on the screen and then you’ll see your results.
Unlike typing on a keyboard where I’m able to type about 100 WPM, typing on an iPhone is much more difficult for me and I found that I could type about 32 words per minute using my fingers.
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Tags: CyberNotes, Web Sites
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Ashley:
I can see you’re a very fast typist. I average about 55-60 words per minute no matter how much I practice. Thanks for all those sites to help enhance your typing skills.
For a dedicated blogger, speed typing is a must.
That typeracer site is pretty cool, but I found I was making a lot of typos probably because I was trying to type too fast.
I’m pretty pumped, my first try I finished 1st out of ~5 racers, although the 50wpm I scored is snail’s-pace compared to ur speed.
That typeracer site is pretty cool, but I found I was making a lot of typos probably because I was trying to type too fast.
I’m pretty pumped, my first try I finished 1st out of ~5 racers, although the 48wpm I scored is snail’s-pace compared to ur speed.
Whoa, just noticed it rates my “skill level” as “Pro.” OK, I feel cool 2nite.
Another one to add to your list - http://www.keybr.com/
This one by default uses text that at first glance looks like english words, but not exactly. The benefit, you can’t “cheat” by using your brain to assume how the word ends. I find it really does help you type faster. In addition, you can chance the source of the text to, for instance, your favorite blog.
100 wpm is pretty fast. I can do about 62 wpm according to the racer test. Will try with some others and see if I can’t improve it.
On the racer, I can get anywhere between 70-90, depending on the selection they make you type. I’ve gotten ones with very little punctuation at all, in which I’ve gotten almost 100 wpm on. Then on ones with colons, semicolons, and hyphens galore, I’m lucky to get a 60 or 70.
Granted, the typeracer is fair in that everyone has to type the same thing.
So yeah…typeracer is just really cool.
@Omar- typing “Tests” like these don’t help your WPM. IMing, going on forums, and in general, doing a ton of typing, will help your wpm.
Seriously, take it from me. I’m 17. In gradeschool we had to use typing programs. Those didn’t help me with a whole lot other than learning the home row. Now, 3 years later, my wpm has skyrocketed and I haven’t been doing anything differently, just constant typing over a long period of time.
Yeah, I’m kinda w/ U DKong. I did horrible on those typing test programs in “keyboarding” class, because I didn’t have a PC at home. Now I type quick because I go on the computer almost daily.
Nice, close race, won again! 68wpm this time. That’s a genius site.
It sure does help to be able to type since that’s what I spend most of my day doing.
When I try to type too fast I find that my brain moves faster than my fingers, and then I start making the mistakes!
Selection can definitely make a huge difference! I agree with you that just typing over time (assuming you make the effort to type correctly) can help, but I’m one of those who became faster thanks to typing programs. I was probably about 9 or 10 when typing was a required class in school, and after using some of the programs in those classes for a while, I got really fast. Ever since then I’ve never had any issues with it.