Fact · Languages and accents
23words per minute
In a two-minute transcription task, Japanese university students typed Japanese at 23 words per minute on desktop PCs.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“In 2-minute transcription tasks, 24 Japanese university students typed Japanese:English at 8:7 wpm on miniature QWERTY thumb keyboards, 10:9 on onscreen QWERTY keyboards, 17:5 on cellphones, 23:14 on desktop PCs, and 31:30 with pencil and paper.”
Japanese college students' typing speed on mobile devices, Chris Houser and Patricia Thornton, Kinjo Gakuin University (conference paper, copy hosted by Universidade Federal de Pernambuco), n.d., Abstract.
Open the original- What it measures
- The paper writes each result as Japanese:English, so 23:14 means 23 words per minute for Japanese text and 14 for English text on desktop PCs. The task was copying a passage of text, so speeds include the time to correct mistakes.
- What it does not show
- Twenty-four students, two-minute tasks and devices of the study's own period. Copying is faster than composing, and modern keyboards and Japanese input methods have changed since the study.