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Submitted by K Reynolds
I remember using Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing in computer class. There was a level where you were racing a car. It was way cooler than it sounds, I swear. I never did catch that car though…
Nowadays, kids don’t need software to teach them how to type. No, they’re totally wired in, sending text messages every ten seconds. Damn kids!
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Even worse is that some *offices* have it for “training”. At least the one I was at had the Windows version. (Didn’t have to use it though, only 40 WAM and everyone thought I was fast)
Guess I should be happy, my school was too poor for software.
Hehe I remember this, my parents made me do this when I had an Apple LC III computer. ./facepalm
What do you have against internet children?
My only problem with internet tweenies is that they can’t type, don’t care to spell, and believe that their monitors are impenetrable shields between themselves and the world.
I remember this too. What I remember mostly is it had a learning curve of a brick wall. It would go from getting use to 8 letters to expecting like 25wpm
Ugh, my parents got me the “new & improved” version if this from the 200s. Sucked like a leech in a can of V8 juice. >_<
I remember that!!! I was 6 years old and this game was like “type the letter ‘e’!” And then it would go nuts and have you trying to type like a professional! Between that and the “encouraging” messages (“Just because you didn’t get it now doesn’t mean you should give up… keep trying!”) I hated typing with a passion.
Ew i am going into seventh grade and in computer class we have to use this i hate it. I dont think that the games on it are fun but some kids do. I would rather be taught how to type fast another way. It did/does help me but i dont like it.
i got up to 75wpm using this thing and another program.. and we had it in 9th or 10th grade i dont remember.
My parents made me and my brother spend a half hour on the original Mavis Beacon software before we could play X-Wing. That was an awesome game (X-Wing, that is).
(Stop stealing mah name you bastard.) Mario Teaches Typing was a way more epic win.
I remember this one. I played the racecar part just so I could hear the sound it made when the “bugs” (aka, typos) hit the windsheild. It never did help my typing abilities, chatting on the internet as a teen did, haha.
lmao.. My mother (RIP ;o; ) had this for me and my sister. Now see.. my mother was a monster typer (and this was before the big internet boom!). and like.. this thing kept telling her she sucked.
Let’s just say.. I learned some colorful curse words while she used it
i remember there was a driving one and when you messed up, a fly would hit the window. actually, that level didn´t help so much cuz i ended up just trying to cover the windshield with bugs.
HA! Mavis rocks! I bought it when I had to pass a typing test to get my job. I passed at over 30 WPM and then promptly lost all skill since knowing how to type doesn’t mean squat at my job
Best typing game was “Typing of the Dead” for the old Sega Dreamcast and PC. Nothing improves your typing skill under pressure like a zombie about to bite your face off.
I remember the “Mario Teaches Typing” version. It was basically the same thing, only it inserted old Super Mario Bros levels. You had to type the letters or numbers to jump on the koopas and progress in the level.
I don’t think it actually taught me how to type, but it was a lot of fun.
at my school we use MB typing but a newer version and i cant beat the race car
Yeah, I remember this! And whenever we were done with our lessons we would play A Bug’s Life, and we had crappy cloth covers for the keyboards so that we couldn’t cheat when we were testing!
I had this back in middle school (around 1997) in computer class. We had apple computers, and Mavis Beacon. The Nazi Teacher put paper over our hands so we couldn’t cheat. I hated it then, but I thank that teacher now because I can type like at best 90 wpm. So thank you Mavis Beacon!!!
Ha i remember that those stupid cardboard things. I would always wait until the teacher wasn’t looking then lift it up and take a quick peak, or i would push it up with my wrists and try to look inconspicuous while typing and if caught act like i didn’t notice.
What, serious? That was the class I hated the most out of all my classes. I took it last year as required high school curriculum!! Schools are using the updated-graphics version of this to teach the current generation. It works for half, and the other half get sick and tired of winning the games repeatedly because we’re so darn good at it. SO BORING. A quarter thru and we’re all breaking school rules, going on the internet- also, learning how to hack into each other’s school accounts and spamming their friends with random documents. ;;
I hated MBTT. I’d much rather play OT in computer class.
Guess I should be happy, my school was too poor for software. I did have Mario Teaches Typing at home, though, and that was my favorite game EVAR.
*sigh* I loved Mavis Beacon 9. I went from finding each individual key to being able to type 60 wpm, 70 on a good day. I owned that car by the way. >:3
Although my mom kind of forced me and my siblings to do it. :\ like a half an hour before we played computer games.
I don’t think it was MB…but i had a typing game at home that we played space invaders…the words dropped from the top of the screen. I never did the lessons, bc you could skip straight to the game!
Wow, I never dreamed I’d date myself on this site, but I used the original Mavis Beacon. And you know what? It taught me to type 100+ wpm. I always beat the car, even on the higher levels. (My delicate mind remembers it as chips in the windshield, not bugs, though!) Seriously, I attribute my typing speed directly to Mavis Beacon. It’s a good program. I’m surprised they’re still teaching typing in schools – I doubt it’s necessary – but the kids knocking it should be glad they have it, it’s a good program.
I learned to type long, long, LONG before Mavis Beacon came out. My class was terrorised by a one-eyed teacher who would put little plastic shields on anyone caught looking at the keys while typing. In my old age I still type 82 wpm.
I actually really like the Mavis Beacon software for people who have never typed before – unfortunately if you’ve already developed bad typing habits, it’s difficult to force yourself to learn “proper” typing. My teacher used to terrorise the class with little plastic shields that prevented us from seeing our hands or the keyboard; we could only see the text we were supposed to type. Nowadays the kids would cry if that happened (we thought it was hilarious – the shields look like pet cones cut in half – but we were a tougher, less entitled breed of children
).
Are they counting the thumb as a finger? The 4th finger on your left hand would be typing “a” not “s”!
In high school in 1984 (yes, I’m old) we had one that was like space invaders. Of course, I’d already been typing on a typewriter for 3 years by then so I won a lot!
BTW, Whatwhat, it’s not just the tweenies that don’t care to spell & think their monitors are shields! I know plenty of 50 y/o men like that! heheheh
Actually, we still use it. It’s a newer version, but the racecar game is still there (and still pretty hard).
mavis in color? crazy!
for some reason my typing skills don’t apply when i am on my laptop, i can’t seem to get my fingers adjusted right. though my fingers know when i typo because they do the backspacing before i realize i have don’t it.
typing is like playing mario bros…my hands remember what the brain does not.
Ugh, thumbs down for me, no offense to the poster. Most kids got to play Oregon Trail for computer class in elementary school…. I had to do this typing thing from 4th to 6th grade at my school. Ugh, hated it so much.
O.o, damn I feel old… I learned typing in high school, in 79-80 freshman year…on manual typewriters. Half way thru the year we were the first class to try out the new ‘electric typewriters’!!! Talk about a hard switch from slamming down the old manual keys to the new light touch electric ones.
Ok, now get off my lawn
hehe
I remember using this back in the day. I had more fun screwing with it then using it for its intended purpose. I figured out how to edit the text and change what was on screen with hilarious results. The typing text was easily editable. Also, you could manipulate the program into freezing for a short bit while starting the typing test, type out the text real quick and get like 1000 WPMs.
I was not a fan of M.B. and it showed.. My 7th grade keyboarding teacher couldn’t fail me because i was typing damn near 50wpm, but my fingers were all over the place! I’m still not great with correct finger placement.. FAIL Mavis, FAIL.
I remember having to play this in middle school during computer class. The version I remember was a little fancier, though and had all types of games. I was a big fan of the one where you could create weird mutated animals, or something along those lines. For some reason, I always called the game Famous Bacon. Not quite sure why, now that I look back on it. Probably thought it was funny.
Haha there are super duper awesome new versions of it now. I think they’re somewhere around version 600.2. I had to play it in 9th grade, 2 years ago, as part of one of my electives, and our teacher would always say “It’s time for Mavising”. Yep, as a verb. And it still has that game where your’re racing a car. Pretty epic
OMG! While chatting to a friend just a week ago, he totally told me I needed to practice on Mavis Beacon – I had no idea what it was – seeing the pic, I very much remember it, I just didn’t know what it was called!
Actually, even though I know a lot of people who type, I’m the only one who touch-types, as all the typing programs teach you. Most people I know hunt-and-peck. It’s kind of irritating to watch.
Also, I learned on Mario Teaches Typing. XD Smashing bricks. The best part was watching my mom break it (she types about 85wpm).
I’ve used Mavis Beacon in the past and I completely agree with the reviewer: One wrong character forcing a lesson/test repeat–as if one hadn’t learned the latest key combination, as opposed to just having a slip of the finger or a distraction come up–is very annoying. Everyone strives for perfection, but no one NEVER has to use the backspace key….
im in 7th grade and we use Mavis(the somewhat newer version) all the time. im always cheating and looking down at my fingers when the teachers not looking..yay for good old small town schools!
Even though I’m in middle school now, we still use a (newer) version of Mavis! I’ve also played that race car game, and yes, it is quite hard to catch up with that car. Mavis has taught me how to type
!
Actually, even though I know a lot of people who type, I’m the only one who touch-types, as all the typing programs teach you. Most people I know hunt-and-peck. It’s kind of irritating to watch.
Hahóka! Szerkesztők!
Az oldal nyilván nagyon klassz lenne, de sajnos a magyar fordítás borzalmas. Talán nem is lehet fordításnak nevezni, inkább csak próbálkozásnak. Nagyjából magunknak kell kitalálni, kb. mi lehet itt.
Kár, mert biztosan érdekes és sokakat érdeklő oldal lehetne. (A magyarosítás és a magyarra fordított szavak közt komoly különbség van!)
Üdv nektek! kritik
HA! These were used on my school’s computer labs. I never learned a thing from them.
I absolutely hated Mavis Beacon and thought it was incredibly stupid.
I’m not a really big fan of typing simulators, but I really hated those plastic covers the teacher would put over the keys to keep you from looking down at the keyboard.
Even then, my typing only improved somewhat using these programs. It wasn’t until I got into high school and started using the Internet more often that my typing improved.