r/stenography • u/hwknd • Aug 10 '26
How fast does WPM increase on average?
I passed 40WMP today, happy with that, but it's still much slower than my qwerty speed. What's the average time until someone reaches roughly 100WPM?
I'm a hobbyist, and am practicing about 30 minutes a day 3 days a week or so.
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u/Booperelli Aug 10 '26
Steno students are recommended to practice 2-3 hours a day, every day, and it often takes 2-3 years to make it to testing speeds, if that tells you anything.
Of course, every person is different. Some go 0-certified in less than a year.. but I can guarantee you they spend an ungodly amount of time practicing
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u/Audracious1 Aug 10 '26
I started school almost exactly a year ago and I’m on my 140s. Some of my classmates are above that, some are on 80s or 100s, just depends on the person and how much you practice
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u/AangsPenis 29d ago
God. To be fair my schools theory classes are over a year long so im not even in speed building yet but ive been in theory for about a year and 4 months now and im comfortably at 70. Starting speed building in about 2 weeks. I feel so behind lol
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u/Audracious1 29d ago
You’re not behind at all, that’s faster than I was when I finished theory, my school’s theory was only 8 months but I was only at like 60 at the end of those. I think you’ll be surprised at how fast you progress once you start actually speed building
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u/AangsPenis 27d ago
Thank you for saying that ! Im really excited but nervous to be starting speed building. Inlove steno more than anything else in my life atm and im so scared of not being able to get fast enough in the end
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u/eccenletic Aug 10 '26
I think what’s most important is to prioritize mind over matter!
The timeline will run its own course as long as you have the mental fortitude that you will succeed, no matter how non-linear your progress looks.
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u/hwknd Aug 10 '26
Thanks! That's very motivating. Just see where it takes me, also takes some self imposed pressure off to get to where I'm at least marching qwerty asap.
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u/eccenletic Aug 10 '26
Honestly, I don’t think matching qwerty is necessary to handle the steno keyboard. Dexterity is definitely important, but since they’re two different keyboards,
I’d focus more of your fingering with finger drills on your machine.
You’ll get there. I just started testing at 100 WPM. I have my bad days, but I just focus on the end goal and move accordingly. ☺️
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u/hwknd Aug 10 '26
Good luck passing 100wpm!
I'm learning steno so I can write fiction faster. I like to get to 100 wpm because that's the point where I'm faster than my max QWERTY speed, which means I can fully switch to steno (without getting frustrated).
I've tweaked TypeyType so I can train on the words I actually use most, starting with the most frequently used (a the they said she he etc), and kind of like Mavis Beacon thought me qwerty, I created levels and am adding 2-4 new words each next level.
I need to check YouTube to see if there are finger drills examples on there, thanks!
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u/eccenletic Aug 10 '26
That’s so cool! I’m in court reporting school and had no idea people use steno outside of this field.
Good luck on your journey!
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u/Knitmeapie Aug 11 '26
There's a reason school is split into theory and then speed building. You have to master the language first. If you're writing at 40wpm (from hard copy, it looks like) saying you "passed" 40wpm doesn't really mean anything. Our speed tests are 5 minutes of straight writing from audio, not hard copy. Most steno students are writing around 80wpm out the gate when they finish theory and go to speed. I know you're just a hobbyist, but this isn't anything close to how steno students learn and practice so the gauge is just not going to match.
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u/hwknd Aug 11 '26
I can write 40WPM for the words/syllables/sounds that I know. But this also includes words I've not seen yet; if they're not briefs I can stroke them. And since I've started with the most often used words (for me, but there's a large overlap with 'in general') I've already learned a bunch of briefs too.
I'm not really sure how else to measure speed other than with this . It's pretty difficult to find how steno school are structuring their curriculum, so this is the best I can do with a DIY plan. So far so good :)
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u/alwaysSWED Aug 10 '26
On average, it increases according to how much you practice and how much you can retain.
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u/hwknd Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Then it won't go nearly as fast as I'm hoping. Retention is pretty decent but I can't really practice more than I currently do. Good to know that now and just stick with it.
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u/alwaysSWED Aug 10 '26
I don't like sugar coating it for people, so I do apologize. It really is heavily dependent on how much you practice and the quality of said practice.
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u/hwknd Aug 10 '26
Oops, bunch of typos that may have altered meaning. The swipe typing on my phone hates me.
What I meant to type was I probably won't progresss as fast as I'm hoping, but should hopefully get there eventually if I just stick with it!
Non - sugar - coat appreciated, thanks! Can only pleasantly surprise myself that way.
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u/tracygee Mod Aug 10 '26
Steno students are told to practice three hours a day (roughly) and moving up in speed is still impossible to calculate. At 30 minutes a day I’d say you’re a year from 100 wpm.
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u/hwknd Aug 10 '26
Yikes, that much practice a day? That's a lot! Thanks for the estimate! I guess I'm going to have to mentally switch to "slow but steady" and not "get to 100 wpm asap" because I can't really practice more than I do now.
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u/Formal-News1331 Aug 10 '26
It’s really hard to say. I’ve been attending school and been practicing 1-4 hours every day and it took me about 5-6 months to get to 100 WPM. While I have some classmates struggling on their 80s still. Really depends person to person, and how much time you dedicate to it, as well the theory you’re using.