Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

Masomnia

I've just learned that Mavis Beacon is not a real person

SingleSue

I just taught myself to type, no reading books on it or following a course, just sat down at a typewriter and went for it. Same went for touch typing, it was just repetition that cracked it.

My office practice teacher did check but somehow, I used the right fingers for the right keys on the typewriter (apart from a couple of letters) but there was no way I was going to change how I had been doing it as it worked for me and was faster than the 'correct' way.

Pyxis

LydiaJ wrote: »

Thanks. It's GCSE Physics mock exam.

:eek: Oh my gawd! Me and my big mouth!

That's the one subject that I just cannot do to save my life!
Never did it at school, know nowt about it, and when I try to find out, my brain does a somersault and goes into a spasm.


I'd rather do eggplantology.

LydiaJ

zagubov wrote: »

I was tempted to learn to type using the Mavis Beacon software but didn't get round to it. I really should as I'm a clumsy typist.

vivatifosi wrote: »

My husband learned to touch type and subsequently typed up his PhD thanks to Mavis Beacon. Lifesaver.

Do it, zag. I'm told it takes 10 hours of deliberate learning to get the hang of it, and then after that you just get faster and more accurate because every time you type something it's more practice.

I feel about touch typing the way I feel about driving a car - I know that some people do manage their lives without being able to do it, but I can't imagine how they put up with the inconvenience, and I wouldn't want to have to try to get by without it myself.

zagubov wrote: »

Now coursework is disappearing, I don't think any teachers will miss it. Also I don't have have to mark anything like essays (I think only one A level board still involves essays).

I have a friend at work who teaches English. I look at her piles of marking and I shudder!

chris_m

LydiaJ wrote: »

I have a friend at work who teaches English. I look at her piles of marking and I shudder!

Presumably not because of the quantity but the anticipated lack of quality?

LydiaJ

chris_m wrote: »

Presumably not because of the quantity but the anticipated lack of quality?

The quality's probably quite good - it's a selective independent school. But the volumes of writing that she has to read, and the subjective marking criteria would drive me nuts.

I chose my A-level subjects so as not to have to write essays. Not having to mark them now is an unforeseen bonus!

PasturesNew

Masomnia wrote: »

I've just learned that Mavis Beacon is not a real person

When you dig around, you find that a lot of people aren't real people - they're created as a marketing method for a bigger organisation.

A lot of food bloggers are just advertising machines, paid for by the food industry.....

My utter shock was seeing the photo of Mavis - she was black and young. Mavis I always saw as a little old lady .... a bit like Mavis from Coronation Street maybe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavis_Wilton

Or my old typing teacher who looked like Mrs Thatcher.

PasturesNew

I learnt to type at school, aged 14-16. Office Practice and Typing - so it was two exams and you learnt all about office procedures, what's an invoice, a remittance advice, and all sorts of other manual procedures. How to file things - it's not just A-Z because where do you file, say, St Ives, or Mr A McFarlane? Then, what of Hugh Cholmondley-Warner? "Nothing before something" rules.

With that I used to work through temp agencies in the school holidays as a filing clerk/typist at first, aged about 15 onwards. I used to work full-time every school holiday doing that.

Then I did 2 years' secretarial college with the full shorthand/typing stuff. Got the best results ever there, broke all the speed records - but then the College wanted to put me forward for some other/special exams and there was an uproar from those who weren't up to the standard that I shouldn't do it because they couldn't do it ... so that didn't happen.

All those holidays I worked as a temp too. Then started work as a PA ... and very quickly realised that, really, you ended up making tea/coffee for every visitor to the MD... and I didn't like that (I can't carry things, my hands shake too much and I wobble when trying to carry things) ...

So then I wanted out of being a PA or anything to do with "being a girl in an office where you're expected to run around making tea/coffee for every important visitor".

I taught typing for awhile, but it was a part-time role, so not sustainable in the longer term.

I then "fell into" IT in 1986, with a full-time job, so gave up the part-time teaching.

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

When you dig around, you find that a lot of people aren't real people - they're created as a marketing method for a bigger organisation.

Just thought I'd check my facts before replying - to my surprise I found that Tom Champagne (who spent years telling me I'd win the Readers Digest prize draw) was actually a real person - he died in 2013.
I'd always assumed it was a pseudonym, especially as I never won a bean, let alone a penny

silvercar

In my school you could only learn typing if you weren't up to studying any science or humanity subject!