my scores remain the same

I've been spending time on two websites of late.

FreeRice
is a vocabulary test that donates 20 grains of rice through the United Nations for every word you get right. So, skill building AND charitable. And fun.
I have a great deal of difficulty scoring above 41 or 42 but am somewhat heartened to see that very few people score above 48. I got to 48 once and found that not only did I have no idea what the words meant, I had no idea what any of the definitions meant either. Clearly I was out of my depth. You should go give it a try and let me know how you do.

SpeedTest is the other site I can't stay away from.
Did you take typing in high school? I did and I loved it. (Geeky, I know.) I loved sitting at the special typing tables with the big loud electric typewriters in front of us and being timed. Alas, I have never been able to type faster than 50 words a minute and that's where I still clock in.
I remember being terribly worried that I wouldn't be able to get a job unless I boosted my speed - but I was wrong. Although I was giving a typing test before my interview, and I did, in fact type 50 words a minute, I shined during the interview itself and was offered the job I wanted. Anyway. Practicing my speed over and over again makes me think I can improve, even though I'm not sure why I want to, and takes me back to being young and hopeful.

Though my scores have never changed, I'm still the fastest typist with the best vocabulary in my own house, and this pleases me - and so, it is enough.

Comments

Paula said…
I couldn't get over 43. I always loved doing the It Pays to Increase Your Word Power quiz in the Reader's Digest when I was a girl.

You want geeky? Also when I was a girl, I'd read the encyclopedia for fun.
Anonymous said…
I was humiliated by the typing sadist/teacher who taped a piece of paper over my hands. She caught me looking at the keys and figured she would solve THAT little problem.

No wonder I am in therapy.
Stephanie said…
I also loved typing but have since lost interest in improving my skills.

The vocab, on the other hand, is so much fun! I was at 41 and am now struggling to get back up there from 39. But I have to get ready for church! Aaaaargh!

:) have a good sunday.
Saoirse said…
FreeRice - 43 but at the end I was taking wild stabs..

SpeedTest - 88 wpm w/one mistake

(Will any of these enable me to retire early and embark on the sloth-filled life I have aspired to these past 30 plus years of working?!)
My name is J and I am a vocabulary geek. Hello J.
I'm running a 43 on FreeRice. I know it will be my new obsession.
And I can use the word Platyminth in a sentence.
Unknown said…
Typing was one of the best things I ever did in High School. I always thought I was much better than I was. If you can be better than anybody in your family that IS enough. I beat out my niece in an arm wrestle over a purse my mother was trying to give somebody at Christmas and that was also a good feeling (i tried to rescind later but she was cool with it).
Anonymous said…
I generally hover around the 42-43 level in FreeRice, too. I think having studied Latin and/or Greek would help (I studied neither).

Here's another quiz site I have been hanging around:
http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq
It's a geography thing. I made it to level 12 once; mostly I bomb out somewhere around level 10 or 11. It did inspire me to learn to identify most of the countries in Africa, although I still have a little trouble with all those tiny ones along the western coast.
Karen said…
I made it to level 41 on FreeRice with the help of my 11-year-old. Now we're struggling around level 38.
Anonymous said…
I love the philanthropic vocab test! I feel good about bragging about my geekiness because it is helping people (finally). (I got up to 46, but definitely some random lucky guesses--like navvy?!--and knowledge of Latin roots pulled me through.)

--new fan of yours, admittedly a nerd
might I add...? said…
I love FreeRice! Someone at work posted about it maybe a couple of months ago, and then I heard something on NPR about it, where the founder said he was going to have a (dictionary?) company add some harder words.

I have definitely gotten up to Level 50 in the past; today my best level was 49, although I stopped with a Level 47 score. One thing I noticed is that knowing French definitely helps: a lot of the vocab words are not just French at their base, they are just normal French words. I also found a lot of the vocab words I was assigned to study in high school were on there, although (embarrassingly) I seem to have forgotten a lot of those.

I like the typing thing, too. Thanks for sharing.
alice c said…
Am I allowed to brag about my husband? He regularly gets 50 on FreeRice. It almost makes up for the fact that he can't cook.
BabelBabe said…
i never officially learned to type and i seem to average about 60 words a minute. i can live with this. sometimes i even capitalize and punctuate : )

have you ever played TyperShark? great fun....

http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=typershark
Unknown said…
My best level on Free Rice was level 46, although I was back down to 44 when I quit.

Having never taken typing, I generally have to look at my fingers when typing, but I read quickly, so I usually do okay on typing tests, except for nearly always typing "the" as "teh" or "hte."

My browser quit in the middle of Speed Type the first time through, and I was so mad, because I was flying, totally in the zone. Second time through, I got 52 wpm. I'm sure I'll try again later today after I get some work done.

I will now probably use those two sites as meditative time-suckers nearly as often as iPoker and Civilization, I suspect.
islaygirl said…
ok, i'm not telling you how fast i typed, because i'm sure it's wrong. but i don't like how it's not in sentences, because you have to spend much of your time processing the word rather than intuiting normal syntax, you know?

i love free rice. i had a stretch at 48 which make me very, very happy. it was short-lived.
islaygirl said…
umm, MADE me happy. what was that i was saying about syntax?
Amy A. said…
42 on free rice and 76 wpm on the typing game.

I can see how both these sites could have addictive qualities for me, so I may have to avoid them.

Too much fun!
Julia said…
I learned to type in middle school, playing an asteroid typing game. I still remember the thrill ;-). I can run one round at 87 but then my arms wear out. I think 50 is a good pace to stick with!

Free rice is great fun - it looks like something I can get my husband to even play. Ahh, bonding over vocabulary, reminds me of grad school days.
abrowncow said…
thank you for posting the link for FreeRice! i had been going out to it every once in awhile but misplaced the link and had been missing it.
Stacey said…
I need to move away from the computer. I am getting slightly obsessed with Free Rice. My best to date is 41 and I am mightly impressed by Alice C's husband and his 50.
As for typing, I got a 92 (testament to how long I spend at the computer). I lied in my first job interview, said I could type when I couldn't. I got the job and then quickly did a touch typing course before the job started.
Emily said…
hmm. i got a 71 wpm on the typing, and the freerice...let's just say i was no good! i don't know these fancy-pants words! :)
KPB said…
so just some other avenues to heighten my sense of inadequacy...

The highest I got was 42 but that was with cheating.

My typing speed however is 68, and that pleases me greatly.
Anonymous said…
Keep at Free Rice. Play enough and you'll start seeing words that you have learned (answers too) so your score will inch up over time. Off to test my typing.
Anonymous said…
47 on free rice. I knew all this reading would someday come in handy!
Anonymous said…
What fun! Every sunday after church my father would give us a list of 10 words to look up in the BIG dictionary in his study. (It was one of the few times we were allowed to go in there.) He insisted we have a good vocalulary. I did that for nearly 17 years. This test brought back alot of memories. My best level was 51, but in the end I wa down to 47. I did, however donate 1580 grains of rice. That sure doesn't seem like much... I'm sending this link to everyone in my address book, thanks.
The typing test, well, I'm not even going to try that one! UGH!
TheOneTrueSue said…
104 words per minute. I used to be faster.
TheOneTrueSue said…
Oh, and I seem to be stuck around 42 on the Free Rice game.
Grandma Cebe said…
I love FreeRice. Scored between 40 and 42 first time I tried it. Unfortunately, you have linked me up to another way to waste my time on the internet.:)

Scored 72 wpm on SpeedTest. I was surprised that I could still type that fast. Last time I took a speed test for employment a many years ago, I did 61 wpm. I haven't worked full time for awhile. Guess all the blogging has boosted my speed!
halloweenlover said…
Great. New obsessions. I can't believe you introduced these to me!

43 on freerice, but now I'm hovering at 39, and 81 on speed test. Wheeee! Off the waste my night away!
Sinda said…
Fun! Free Rice - I'd heard of it, but never been there. I could see how you'd get hooked. I have donated 1200 grains in 5 mintes, and it says my vocab level is 43 and my best is 46.

I'm going to go visit the typing one, but since I only use 3 fingers to type - TRUE! - I am not hopeful.
Sinda said…
300 characters per minute, 42 correct words and 12 incorrect. I should take them up on their offer to teach me...
Sarah said…
I scored 40-something on both. One good, one not so much.
Rose said…
Thanks for the Rice link; I'm a total word geek; do the crossword every day. I got to a 46 (with a little help from my husband on the French words). Addictive!!!
Stephanie said…
Yeah, I love free rice now. It is so much fun making educated guesses and having them be right! All my reading is paying off a little. :)
Anonymous said…
i haven't tried either, as of yet, but thanks for sharing! the first one, in particular, sounds like a really great thing. i mean, i'm always up for more things to procrastinate with. if i can think it's for a good cause? forget about it.
Velma said…
We love the Free Rice site. I actually first learned about it last fall, when Pepper came home and told her they were doing it at school for part of her 2nd grade "extra enrichment" activities. I thought that was pretty cool.
Anonymous said…
Well I have now donated over 10,000 grains of rice so maybe that's a meal? I think I'm hooked! I got to 48 once but seem to hover in the 44-45 range. My background in Biology seems to help.
I enjoyed typing class in jr. high too! As a middle school teacher, I've seen that kids today don't have time for it in their schedules. I got 63 wpm, which makes me happy, but I'm going to try it again.
I have a new blog I'm working on getting off the ground!
barbra
Susie Sunshine said…
So wait a minute-a starving person's survival might hang on the test score of my parochial school educated self? NO PRESSURE THERE!

(Is there at least a Bible category? I kick ass in Jesus stuff!)
Laura Jane said…
Wow thanks for the Freerice site!

Languages certainly help. My best level on my first go was 47 with 1900 grains of rice - then it stopped for some reason (I was on 46 at the time). Cool fun though. I KNEW there was a reason to keep reading.

I'll be sending this link to lots of people!

Oh...and I'm not game to test my typing speed, but if I do I'll fess up I promise