Things I’ve learned as an American expat in the UKoGBaNI #29

Keyboards

Keyboards are country-specific.

This one may be obvious now that I state it but country-specific keyboards never really crossed my mind until I saw Peters UK laptop one rainy day in Maidenhood some four years ago. UK keyboards are different than US keyboards. Not only are the keys different – for example, there is a £ symbol on the UK keyboard versus a $ symbol on the US keyboard – but the layout, sizes and shapes of some keys are also different.

Below is a photo of UK keyboard, note the keys on the left on the row above the row with the spacebar and around the ‘Enter’ key.

Below is a US keyboard and compare those same areas. It is the size and placement of keys on the row above the spacebar that makes me completely incompetent when typing on a UK keyboard.

Fun fact: The average typist can type 60 words per minute. Below was my top result of five tests on this website. I type fast but probably not as fast as my brother.

For the next learning in my Expat Learnings mini series, go here. Alternatively, go here to read this mini-series from the beginning.