How do you teach a 50 year old man how to type?

@heidibur (310)
United States
February 26, 2008 10:05pm CST
My husband just turned 50yr old in Jan. he hes never taken a typing class in his life and we are trying to teach him....he might be starting a new job that he has to tyoe in data, and if i cant teach him then i will have to volenteer todo it myself...i'm sorry but i run a home based bussiness myself mon-fri and if i did that i would be working 7 days a what do you think??? do you have any suggestions?
3 people like this
14 responses
@duranv (516)
• Honduras
28 Feb 08
I've been working with a computer for about 14 years and I never really did learn to type, I still use only 2 fingers, but I am quite fast, and I don't make many mistakes, so I think as long as he learns the basics he will eventually become a good typer, even if it's only with 2 fingers.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
28 Feb 08
yes...I worked in an insurance office and there was this man who typed with only two fingers but oh my ....he could type as fast as I did and with accuracy. it was amazing!
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
27 Feb 08
You may want to consider enrolling him in a class. AARP has free classes as do some community colleges.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
27 Feb 08
I hope he doesn't think I was insulting him with the AARP thing. I was just thinking that they have really good starter classes and they teach a bit slower than a tutorial or even a class at a community college would.
@heidibur (310)
• United States
27 Feb 08
thank you for the suggestions my husband about fell off his chir when i read your responce to him and im sure he will have somthing more to say when he gets out of the restroom. ( he already told me that he wants to make a responce.)
• Canada
27 Feb 08
The way I learned how to type fast was by chatting online..haha. Maybe you should get him to sign up for a messenger and tell a friend or family member to chat with him on messenger every night. Before he knows it, he will be a fast typer! Worked for me...haha
• Canada
27 Feb 08
That is hilarious! I guess there really is no solution then if he is that stubborn. He will just have to suffer with his new job....tell him you are not going to do his work for him so he can either suck it up and learn how to type or whine like a baby about wanting his pencil and paper! Haha
@heidibur (310)
• United States
27 Feb 08
my husband wanted for me to tell his side... yeah ..no .he's not ready to do this himself but next time i wont let him get out of it, it will be all him. he beleives that a pencil and a piece of paper is all you need...in fact he had an invetion that was a piece of paper with a small pencil and on the front of the box it said " wireless comunication device" yeah thats what he thinks is a wireless comunication. hell as far is he is concerned the world would be a great place if we could go back to around 1798.
@asgtswife04 (2475)
• United States
27 Feb 08
there are actually a lot of first learning how to type computer games or learning tutorials that you could get him. they work wonders most of the time and teach them from the beginning on how to type correctly. hope this helps some. Good luck and God bless
@heidibur (310)
• United States
27 Feb 08
thank you so much...he is sitting here watching me type now, and i have an old keyboard (un-plugged) that i have him typing words on without the screen on, so he can get used to the keys. but he has started watching me on mylot to try to get into it. god blees him he has no clue what www means or what email means. dont even ask him about a web page. and heaven help you if you ask him to touch the mouse,...if fly's over the screen so bad that i cant find itr even to try to help him.
1 person likes this
• United States
27 Feb 08
awwww, well hopefully you can get something to help him. they have great ones out that will teach him quite quickly how to type. just be patient. LOL! I know he'll be typing before you know it. God bless you and tell him not to give up. it's just a matter of time.
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
27 Feb 08
It is not easy to teach an adult how to type by touch. I have known many programmers who still type with 2 fingers, and do it surprsingly well too. I would start with the basics (at gradeschool level) and how to rest on the "home row" but it takes patience and time. As for the mouse issue, many companies will start newbies off by playing solitaire on the computer. Sounds silly, but it does help in learning how to control the mouse/cursor. Good luck.
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
27 Feb 08
P.s, you might also consider a voice program such as DragonSpeak (there are others too) that types for you as you speak into a microphone.
• United States
27 Feb 08
I would get a computer game that teaches you. Its really hard to teach someone to type. I type really well cause ive been taught since grade school. My daughters father however is twice my age and dont even know how to turn the computer on. He wants me to teach him but its harder then it seems. Not to turn it on lol but just to use one in general. So i dont know, Id say a game. They have a ton of different games that help to teach someone to type.
@heidibur (310)
• United States
27 Feb 08
oh girl let me tell you i am 35yrs old and my husband just turned 50yrs old and has no clue which button to push on the computer to turn it on and i'm such a control freak that i dont let him touch it. but now that he has a new job offer that requires data entry he needs to know how to type. trust me he has no clue how to even push the button to turn it on.
• United States
27 Feb 08
lol yea I dont let her dad touch it either. im to afaid he will delete something on accident. he wants me to teach him all the time, i sometimes want to cause he has me type stuff for him here and there and it takes hours and i hate it but then again once he learned id never have my computer...so I kinda like it that way :)
@kareng (59050)
• United States
27 Feb 08
You could try a software package for teaching typing. The only one I can think of off hand is for kids, Mario Teaches Typing. I know there are others just brain fried after a long day at work. Good luck!
@lisado (1227)
• United States
27 Feb 08
There are a lot of prgrams out there to help you learn to type. I prefer games, myself. My dad wanted help learning to type faster and I gave him the link to this game, you can plan online or download it. http://www.popcap.com/games/free/typershark The more he works at it, the faster he will get. I don't worry about technique, so much. I type pretty fast, but my fingers aren't on the "right keys". I can type pretty fast, and correctly, without looking, even though I don't have my hands on the keys a typing teacher would tell you to put them on. I figure whatever works for you, go for it. :)
@mssnow (9484)
• United States
27 Feb 08
There are plenty of typing tutors online that are free. Look in search engine for free typing tutors and then you can lend a hand when he needs it.
@miamilady (4910)
• United States
28 Feb 08
there are typing programs that you can download on to your computer that he can use. I think one is called keyboarding pro. it takes you through step by step typing drills. It reminds me of the lessons we did in typing class when I first started learning.
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
28 Feb 08
i would suggest a typing class but I'm sure you've already thought of that and money is maybe the reason why he isn't going that route? Is there a friend that could teach him? I can't imagine a company hiring him and knowing that he has no skills in that area that would not be willing to train him. what kind of job is this anyway?
@ayou82 (3450)
• Philippines
28 Feb 08
It is very easy have the patience to teach them I bet those 50 year olds know their ABC's still so no worries about that.
• Indonesia
27 Feb 08
There many tutorial programs on typing. You can use one of them. But if he never touch computer before, you just turn it on and give it to your husband. Let him typing whatever he like. Let him getting familiar with the computer. And...yeah, if he really need this skill, I hope he master it fast. Good luck...
• India
27 Feb 08
Hey you can download typing master pro as this is a very ery good software to learn typing and to increase your typing speed i am sending you the link to download give it a try -- http://www.download.com/Typingmaster-Pro-Typing-Tutor/3000-2051_4-10004060.html