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    Backwards: Qwerty by night, Colemak by day

    • Started by youngheart80
    • 15 Replies:
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    • From: Oklahoma, USA
    • Registered: 11-Apr-2012
    • Posts: 8

    I decided to take the plunge and started learning Colemak last week, and now I am convinced that it was the right thing to do.  I'm a life-long computer user, but in the last year started experiencing pain and slight numbness in my right hand.  I started looking at alternate keyboards immediately, starting with Dvorak.  But the learning overhead was just too high and I stopped after about a week.  I made some other ergonomic changes to my work area, which helped a bit and went on about life.

    Last week, after some marathon sessions at work and some extra time at home (more on that in a minute) tightness was noticeably back.  Again, I set out on the Dvorak path, and by a chance auto-completion in my search bar in Firefox stumbled upon Colemak.  A little reading up on it on Carpalx and studying the layout and I decided to give it a go.  It's still slow going at this point (under 20 wpm) but I am rapidly improving.  Each day, I can tell that I am getting faster and more accurate.

    I decided to do the day/night switch, but backwards - Colemak during the day at work and qwerty at night while I work on my novel.  I have personal daily word count goals for the book and there is no way that I could meet those going cold-turkey (at least not going without sleep for the next few months).  I'm convinced that the extra time spent typing at night is what pushed me back over the threshold and started the discomfort.

    I originally learned Qwerty touch typing in high school about 14 years ago, but have never been particularly fast or accurate because I originally didn't care and didn't want to put in the practice to get better.  Now that I am a little wiser, I want to use the change in layout as a reason to get better at each.   I'm learning/practicing through a combination of the online lessons, LearnColemak.com, and daily use.  Once I'm done with the lessons, I'll use TypeFaster Portable to improve speed and accuracy.

    I use the PKL and absolutely love it.  I can quickly change layouts if something super-time critical comes up and retreat back to Qwerty if needed. And since no install is required, I can use it on the locked-down computers at work without upsetting the IT gods.

    Thanks so much for such a great layout!

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    • From: Sofia, Bulgaria
    • Registered: 05-Mar-2011
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    Welcome!

    Interesting approach, keep us posted on how it goes, and good luck!
    If, by any chance, you haven't seen them, you could check out http://play.typeracer.com/ and http://hi-games.net/ .

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    • From: Oklahoma, USA
    • Registered: 11-Apr-2012
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    Things continue to improve.  I have made it through the lessons and now am working my way to improve speed and decrease errors.  I've gotten to the point new muscle memory is starting to be built and less conscious thought is needed to get the words out.  "I", "o", and "s" are by far the letters with the most "mindless" of errors (i.e. if I am not actively thinking, I use the Qwerty key) with a smattering of problems with "k", "f", and "d".  Common blends like "st", "an", "en", "ne", and "th" are almost automatic.

    http://hi-games.net is blocked at work so I may look at using Typeracer.  I know I am about 20 wpm if I am really concentrating on no errors and that is what I want to emphasize.  When I originally learned Qwerty, I developed very bad habits by not working hard enough to eliminate errors and pushed too hard for speed.  The result was a sort of fast word count with a whole slew of errors, essentially negating any real speed I might have had.

    Mentally, the no errors approach is quite tiring and it makes some work items take a lot longer, but I really think that if I put the time in to do it correctly at the beginning, it will yield much greater results in the end.

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    • From: Sofia, Bulgaria
    • Registered: 05-Mar-2011
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    Yes, we've all been there. And your difficulties are quite normal for this stage. After a while you won't be bothered by them.

    Keep it up.

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    • Registered: 08-Dec-2010
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    Nice progress. Keep on practising and you will get used to new Colemak key combo and rolls (you, st, ion, ly, for example).

    Unlike Qwerty which uses the left hand 14% more, Colemak uses the right hand 6% more, so you can learn to type Capslock Backspace with the left pinky to balance the workload between hands.

    In my experience, speed and accuracy increase hand in hand, so you may try to alternate between them for fun.

    Last edited by Tony_VN (01-May-2012 04:03:14)
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    • From: Oklahoma, USA
    • Registered: 11-Apr-2012
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    Joined Typeracer today as the next step in my training.  Did three practice sessions.

    Round 1
    1:03
    22 wpm
    94.1%

    Round 2
    1:04
    31 wpm
    97.1%

    Round 3
    1:19
    29 wpm
    97%

    Then I decided to go to the Instant Death version (100% accuracy).  Talk about an exercise in frustration!  ;)  I think it took almost an hour (on and off) before I managed to finally get all the way through one without a mistake.  It was only mildly embarrassing when the program downgraded me to a beginner level.  :P  But still:
    1:02
    22 wpm
    100%


    @Tony_VN - I think your suggestion about swapping it up will be very helpful, just so I don't get completely burned out.

    Last edited by youngheart80 (02-May-2012 18:47:27)
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    Great to see that you are having fun typing in Colemak. I agree that Instant Death is very challenging, and it makes you aware which words you can type fast and which words you need to type carefully.

    After some time you will automatically type slower when seeing a hard-to-type word coming, to maintain 100% accuracy.

    Last edited by Tony_VN (02-May-2012 20:01:30)
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    • From: Oklahoma, USA
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    Agreed.  I think that the biggest challenge for me right now is getting both the fingers and brain together when I type.  When I am trying to flow thoughts onto the page (either for a work document or for my novel), it seems that I make a lot more errors. Actually typing quickly something that I am reading and typing something that is in my head are two separate things.  I think that a lot of it comes from getting the muscle memory built.  When I am typing what I read, the brain only has to concentrate on one thing - type the word.  With the other, you are having to do composition as well, thinking about word choice, sentence structure, and grammar.  I even miss entire words because I have to concentrate so much on getting the letters right.  I would say that people need to have a portion of their practice be composing things as well, not just practicing typing things that they have to read.  Still, that's how a lot of the muscle memory will be built.

    I am getting much more fluid on the games and my speed is improving. A lot of the accuracy problems are coming from getting flustered on a word and having my brain shut off for a moment, so I end up having to fix the same word four or five times before getting it right.  From the standard races on Typeracer, my last three:

    33 WPM     88.6%     3/5     today
    33 WPM     89.8%     2/5     today
    28 WPM     91.5%     1/4     today

    From the 100% accuracy races:
    4    32 wpm    moments ago
    3    32 wpm    14 minutes ago
    2    26 wpm    19 hours ago
    1    25 wpm    19 hours ago

    Based on the fluidity of the typing I am now doing, I'm going to revise my initial estimate of my old Qwerty speed as closer to 40 rather than 50 wpm.  I don't think I was all that fast now.

    Last edited by youngheart80 (04-May-2012 17:20:27)
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    Speed is a hard thing to judge.  Sometimes when typing accurately you can feel very slow only to find you're a lot faster.  I just had a go at Death Mode  - not so many people playing, which means a lot of waiting between races - especially if you make a typo!

    --
    Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.

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    • From: Oklahoma, USA
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    Flow is the sensation I am after, where I don't think about what I am typing as much as I worry about what I am saying.  The accuracy training is good though.  I like that ut does make me slow down and be a little more conscious about what I am type.

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    I used to find I was much quicker at typing from my mind, than I was copying text.  It's easier.  But once you're fast enough you're hanging around waiting for the brain to catch up.

    --
    Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.

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    Your typing skills are exercised in several phases

    1. Muscle memory:
    You can touch type what's on screen.

    2. Muscle memory integrated with brain's hearing part.
    You can touch type what are being dictated to you.

    3. Muscle memory integrated with brain's thinking part.
    You can touch type what you are thinking.

    4. Muscle memory integrated with the whole YOU
    You sit there, do nothing, just watch and adore yourself. Your brain and your fingers do it all.

    To reach that final level where your typing skills are effortlessly integrated with all parts of your brain, it would take several years.

    c3j55j66t0sxkgaf6.jpg

    Last edited by Tony_VN (05-May-2012 12:53:46)
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    Continuing to improve.  Things are getting more fluid more of the time.  I am spending about 1 hour daily on practice - some on Typeracer, some on TypeFaster Typing Tutor, though no practice on the weekend. I really like the feature on the typing tutor that shows and practices the slowest and least accurate letter.  On Typeracer I am getting faster, which is nice to be able to see the improvements as they happen.

    From Instant Death:
    7    35 wpm    moments ago
    6    31 wpm    4 minutes ago
    5    34 wpm    22 hours ago

    And regular mode:
    22     48 WPM     95.2%
    21     34 WPM     92.2%
    20     36 WPM     95.4%
    19     42 WPM     92.8%

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    • From: Oklahoma, USA
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    Moved over to Amphetype last week as a way to try and break out of the rut I was in on Typeracer - not a typing rut but a practice rut - and have loved/hated it.  I love the feature that allows me to type a book (reading A Princess of Mars right now) and the analysis features, but hate how hard it is to practice the words that I have missed in the section.  ;)

    I am consistently in the 40's  with about 95% accuracy.  I am maintaining my Qwerty, though my speed has dropped a little and I will occasionally revert back to Colemak fingerings even while looking at the keyboard.

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    • From: Oklahoma, USA
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    Hey all, long time with no check-in.  Just wanted to drop back by and inform on my progress.

    I continue to practice with Amphetype, about twice a week for 10-20 minutes.  I practice a frequent words list, frequent work words list (technical jargon for my work), and am working my way still through Princess of Mars. Practice is less about long sessions and more about focused practice on speed and accuracy.

    My average is 64.3 wpm and 96.5% accuracy.  My daily speed (working on my book) is 53-55wpm and my accuracy closer to 90%, but I am more than happy with that as it represents nearly a doubling of my actual Qwerty speed.  But most of all, I love that my hands and wrists have stopped hurting. 

    They definitely get a bit tired during longer sessions, but it is the tired that comes from using muscles and not from RSI.  I am completely convinced that switching to Colemak halted my carpal tunnel pain and I will never be going back.

    Portable Keyboard Layout for work and an awesome keyboard switcher (good for me and my wife) on my Linux Mint 13 desktop at home make Colemak super portable and I can use it anywhere.  I do force myself to use Qwerty just to keep some semblance of workability, but it is only to help me in those situations where I simply can't use Colemak.

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    Wow, another successful story.

    Good luck on your path. I think your courage to go Colemak all the way will be very useful for others when they reach the middle of the road when all they need is a little motivation before plunging to the unknown Colemak valley.

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