It's been years since I'd taken a formal typing test, so I was curious to see what my current words-per-minute count was.  I took all five text tests, using the "1 minute" duration, and "WPM" for the speed unit type. Why not see how you compare?  And be honest, now!

http://www.typingtest.com/

These are my first results for each test: 

1) Zebra - Africa's striped horse
Net Speed: 64 WPM / Accuracy: 96% / Gross Speed: 66 WPM

2) The Enchanted Typewriter
Net Speed: 67 WPM / Accuracy: 97% / Gross Speed: 68 WPM

3) The Irrational Side of Managerial Decision-making 
Net Speed: 68 WPM / Accuracy: 98% / Gross Speed: 69 WPM

4) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Net Speed: 78 WPM / Accuracy: 97% / Gross Speed: 80 WPM

5) Tigers in the Wild
Net Speed: 71 WPM / Accuracy: 100% / Gross Speed: 71 WPM

That was fun! I'm still getting used to the non-ergonomic keyboard of my new laptop but I think things are working out pretty well. But I've always been a fast typist. A friend's theory is that pianists are always great typists.

As you'll notice, I slowed down in the tests which have big, unfamiliar words (Zebra, especially. Tigers was also a bit of an irritant. In real practice, I rarely type this fast. It doesn't give me much room to breathe... or think.).

1) Zebra - Africa's striped horse

Net Speed: 101 WPM / Accuracy: 92%  / Gross Speed: 109 WPM

2) The Enchanted Typewriter

Net Speed: 121 WPM / Accuracy: 96% / Gross Speed: 125 WPM

3) The Irrational Side of Managerial Decision-making 

Net speed: 116 WPM / Accuracy: 93% / Gross Speed: 124 WPM

4) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Net speed: 117 WPM / Accuracy: 95% / Gross Speed: 123 WPM

5) Tigers in the Wild

Net speed: 101 WPM / Accuracy: 99% / Gross Speed: 102 WPM

1) Zebras - Net Speed: 82 WPM / Accuracy: 96% / Gross Speed: 85 WPM

2) The Enchanted Typewriter - Net Speed: 100 WPM / Accuracy: 93% / Gross Speed: 107 WPM

3) The Irrational... whatever - Net Speed: 93 WPM / Accuracy: 98% / Gross Speed: 94 WPM

4) Wizard of Oz - Net Speed: 97 WPM / Accuracy: 98% / Gross Speed: 98 WPM

Yikes... I've definitely slowed down in my typing skills since a couple years back.  My biggest annoyance with this particular test is that it doesn't let you go back to fix your mistakes.  I'm pretty conscious of when I screw up something in a word, but sometimes it doesn't register quite quick enough to fix it before I hit the space bar.  I found myself in these tests repeatedly trying to hammer the backspace button to fix something that the test just wouldn't let me go back and do.  Grrr!

I could also never be a typist because I kept screwing up things by typing grammatically correct things instead of the exact way the passage was written.  :\

1) Net Speed: 77 WPM / Accuracy: 93% / Gross Speed: 82 WPM
2) Net Speed: 85 WPM / Accuracy: 97% / Gross Speed: 87 WPM
3) Net Speed: 79 WPM / Accuracy: 94% / Gross Speed: 84 WPM
4) Net Speed: 86 WPM / Accuracy: 96% / Gross Speed: 89 WPM
5) Net Speed: 70 WPM / Accuracy: 88% / Gross Speed: 79 WPM

Strange that I was most accurate when typing quickly.

How do you guys type, anyway? I use a sort of modified touch typing. My fingers know where the keys are, but I never got used to typing from the home row, no matter how many times I played Mario Teaches Typing.

Wow, you guys are fast.  I just took the test again, and I now average 86 WPM / Accuracy: 94% / Gross Speed: 91 WPM for just about all of them.  But I guess repetition is sort of a cheating factor. 

I know it's a terrible habit, but I only use my first two fingers (middle and index) and my thumbs for typing.  I don't think I've been disciplined enough in my lifetime of keyboard usage to do it properly.  Luckily, my piano tutors were strict in forcing me to use all five digits correctly, but I just can't swing the method over to a computer keyboard.

I think my very first typing experience was with an old Commodore 64 program called Type Attack.  Don't remember much about it, but I vividly recall the cartridge being a bright hot pink color.  ^_^

We had to learn typing in junior high in computer class and got tested over it.  I've been able to touch type for a looooooong time.  Using AIM constantly for... a decade or so has only served to make me faster than I was back then.  I think I awed everyone with something like 50wpm back at that point.

I'd love to try this. I'm nowhere near as fast as a lot of you, but I don't consider myself slow, either. But I only have my laptop as I'm home for Christmas and there's no way I can get a true reading of my typing speed on it. I'll have to wait until I'm back at my apartment with my own keyboard. Hopefully I can remember! (I still need to take that civics quiz...)