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    Would learning Colemak affect my Qwerty hunt & peck speed?

    • Started by paulh2
    • 5 Replies:
    • Reputation: 0
    • Registered: 21-Nov-2013
    • Posts: 2

    Hi, I've started learning to touch-type and am thinking of using Colemak rather than Qwerty. I have already practised a bit on Qwerty, but I'm only at about 25 wpm. Having tried out some alternative layouts, they feel me more comfortable to me even with my modest skills.
    So what I'm thinking is, rather than get too attached to Qwerty, start again with a better layout. I'd be happy enough to use Qwerty hunt & peck on other computers on which it's not practical to switch layouts. I can comfortably hunt & peck Qwerty at 40 wpm, which is fast enough for occasional use, for me.

    So my question is, do you think that learning touch-typing on Colemak would hurt my Qwerty hunt & peck? Or are they such different skills that they don't interfere with each other?

    Last edited by paulh2 (21-Nov-2013 12:25:56)
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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
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    As long as you hunt-and-peck QWERTY, I suppose you'll be about as fast after learning Colemak. I can still type QWERTY relatively fast as long as I look at the keys.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    • Registered: 08-Dec-2010
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    I dropped Qwerty completely when I reached 25wpm in Colemak. I have tested my hunt-and-peck Qwerty speed recently, it's about 25wpm (Colemak speed is about 70wpm)

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    • Registered: 21-Nov-2013
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    Thanks. I think I'll start off with one of the transitional layouts and see if my Qwerty slows down at all.

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    • Registered: 13-Nov-2013
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    Your Hunt and Peck shouldn't be affected as much as touch typing Qwerty.  But, that being said, if you want to keep it up I would take Shai's advice and use it for the first part of the day for a while, otherwise your Qwerty speed will go down.

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    • Registered: 08-Dec-2010
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    I dropped Qwerty (old speed 60wpm) completely when I reached 25wpm in Colemak. Now my Qwerty hunt-and-peck speed is about 20-25wpm.

    Old habits die hard.

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