Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

harmono · 22-Jul-2010 20:19:15

I'm new to colemak. (Typing right now in Qwerty) I noticed that the software I used to learn colemak was pretty much the standard home row technique, which was pretty grueling since i did the whole series of lessons in one sitting. I wanted to pretty much go cold turkey. I noticed there were two phases. One is just knowing the keyboard in your head without using charts, and the other phase of course is developing the motor memory.
I only have the initial phase with some motor memory.

What I was thinking of doing was creating some software or a web lesson plan that quickly gets you through the initial phase of learning the new letters, then leaves it up to the user to practice, or go cold turkey.

I'm finding it difficult to go cold turkey because i'm tired, and I'm working, finding it difficult to be productive. It has reminded me however of the value of faster typing and how often we type at work.
Temporarily I'm switching to Qwerty which feels awkward right now, until I get more practice tonight, and can type around 20 wpm.

Any suggestions on a lesson plan would be appreciated. I think the home row method is good for the first lesson, but it seems you could add alot more new keys that are part of the old Qwerty set already.

For example: (switching back to colemak right now)
The home row keys..
tn tt nn tnt
tnn nnt ttt
st ssn nts sst snt ent tent nets sent
inn in nit rit titter tint rent
.... quickly adding new letters

then after the home row...

add qwerty quickly...

after adding qwerty.. continue adding colemak letters at the regular pace

the idea is to focus on memorizing the new letters as quick as possible to reduce the grueling drills that might discourage new users.

I can program in VB.

olanordmann · 23-Jul-2010 18:49:54

I liked the way that keybr does it, by teaching you one row at a time, It isn't as bad as typing the sequences that are so little inspiring, so I used 2-3 hours to learn the homerow, which is the majority of the typing that you do, and then I turned it on full keyboard, and I type out different blog posts that I like to read to try to build speed and accuracy.

chrisadam · 26-Aug-2010 13:20:33

I noticed that the software I used to learn colemak was pretty much the standard home row technique, which was pretty grueling since i did the whole series of lessons in one sitting. I wanted to pretty much go cold turkey. I noticed there were two phases. One is just knowing the keyboard in your head without using charts, and the other phase of course is developing the motor memory.

Tony_VN · 25-Dec-2010 13:46:06

If you think that go cold turkey is too much then I suggest Type Faster for learning Colemak keys. Once all keyboard keys are learned, then practically any of typing tutors would be fine.

Personally, I use Typing Tutor 7 from Simon and Schuster.
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3348426/Typing_Tutor_7

Last edited by Tony_VN (30-Jan-2011 04:27:25)

Spinifex · 10-Mar-2011 11:10:22

I have found K Touch to be very good, a free download, and available on PC & Linux.

http://ktouch.sourceforge.net/

It is a bet similar to Type Faster, but with a prettier interface and more options and stats. I like it, but I need to use it more than I am.

harmono · 13-Aug-2012 21:01:38

Thanks for the suggestions, sorry for the late reply. What got me into this was a problem that I was having with my nerves in my little fingers. I found that doing shoulder shrugs with weights in my hands (or a shopping cart at the store) will help the problem. I decided to go back to Qwerty. I do have some ideas on improving the keyboard and I have suggested a change in the hardware and I've submitted it to Quirky (not sure if it's allowed to post external links, or plug my idea, probably not), Colemak users could still use this keyboard.

Velgu · 16-Aug-2012 05:55:38

I used Type-Fu early on, and found it quite effective. You can set it to Colemak for the onscreen keyboard, and the exercises range from those 'nnttnntt' exercises to short quotes or proverbs, depending on how you set it. Honestly though, I was never much one for learning 2 keys at a time. I preferred to use the words option, learning an entire row at a time. I found the whole 'tn tn nt nt nn tt tt nn' stuff too tedious.

Once you've memorized the general keyboard layout, I recommend Amphetype, Hi-Games, or Typeracer.

Last edited by Velgu (16-Aug-2012 06:21:25)

Colemak forum

#1 22-Jul-2010 20:19:15

Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

#2 23-Jul-2010 18:49:54

Re: Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

#3 26-Aug-2010 13:20:33

Re: Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

#4 25-Dec-2010 13:46:06

Re: Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

#5 10-Mar-2011 11:10:22

Re: Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

#6 13-Aug-2012 21:01:38

Re: Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

#7 16-Aug-2012 05:55:38

Re: Brand new user/need suggestions on software from experienced users.

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