I am looking for an on-line typing speed test that does not require me to copy a text, but that simply measures how fast I type. After all, in real life, we don't copy texts, do we? We just type what we have in mind.
Thank you.
Dvorak typist here. Please take my comments with a grain of salt.
I suspect you'd spend enough time thinking that your speeds would be much lower. Or perhaps artificially inflated by typing something that is easy to type, over and over. And you'd have no way to measure accuracy.
I am not interested to an reliable measure. I have noticed that when I type my own thoughts, I type much faster than when copying someone else's texts. Therefore I would like to know how fast I can type when I type freely.
Dvorak typist here. Please take my comments with a grain of salt.
At last, I have found one such test: http://www.spikex.net/FreeformWPM/
Dvorak typist here. Please take my comments with a grain of salt.
Interesting. Average composition speed is usually significantly lower than max average typing speed (40ish WPM and 60ish WPM respectively). Though, on that note, I usually find typing tests go better if I internalize the words a bit. Instead of reading and copying word for word, I read ahead buy maybe a sentence or so, and then type. This feels more natural to me, like I'm simply typing up an article I've penned by hand instead of a timed test with unfamiliar constructions.
As for freeform typing test, all you need is a word processor and a clock with a second hand. WordsPerMinute is based on average word length of 5 characters. Character_count/second_typing=CharactersPerSecond. CPS/5=WordsPerSecond. WPS*60=WPM
That might actually be 6 characters per the average word. I'm not sure if the "average word" includes the space.
Cheap Test Drives: Footswitch, Maltron, Vertical Keyboards and The Wide Mod
The standard word length is five characters including space, as I understand it. Seems legit. This will include punctuation as "word" characters, which makes sense to me as they're typed too. It's as simple as this then:
WPM = CPM/5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute
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Right, thanks! Probably should have checked that myself. And I should have provided the simplest form of the equation. That was sloppy.
Anywho, I'd still recommend using Characters Per Second instead of Characters Per Minute as your base. Less room for error and even with a computer it is easier to work with numbers like 70 seconds than 1.16667 minutes. Unless you are typing for a couple hours. Then by all means use minutes.
WPM = CPS * 12
Cheap Test Drives: Footswitch, Maltron, Vertical Keyboards and The Wide Mod
Davkol: That'd be an interesting measure for sure, but it's not commonly in use. So no extra points for typing shifted or AltGr characters even though we know they're more work. :-(
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