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  • 10+ years in QWERTY; Averaged 110-130 WPM. Switching using TARMAK

    10+ years in QWERTY; Averaged 110-130 WPM. Switching using TARMAK

    • Started by aswirley
    • 9 Replies:
    • Reputation: 0
    • Registered: 21-Feb-2015
    • Posts: 1

    TRANSITION SUMMARY

    2015 feb 12 day 1
              41.5 WPM; TARMAK 1
              30.0 WPM; TARMAK 2

    2015 feb 13 day 2
              44.7 WPM; TARMAK 2
              29.0 WPM; TARMAK 3

    2015 feb 14 day 3
              45.4 WPM; TARMAK 3

    2015 feb 15 day 4
              53.3 WPM; TARMAK 3

    2015 feb 16 day 5
              55.2 WPM; TARMAK 3

    2015 feb 17 day 6
              36.0 WPM; TARMAK 4

    2015 feb 18 day 7
              47.1 WPM; TARMAK 4
              29.0 WPM; TARMAK 5 (but switched back to TARMAK 4)

    2015 feb 19 day 8
              54.5 WPM; TARMAK 4 (morning)
              32.1 WPM; TARMAK 5 (night)

    2015 feb 20 day 9
              39.6 WPM; TARMAK 5
    *each WPM posted is an average of 10 tests in a row using either: typing-speed-test or 10fastfingers

    I have not decided completely if I will continue learning. I am scared that I will not be able to regain my old QWERTY speed.

    Today, On Feb 21st, I started using QWERTY again. Have been trying to get my speed back up as I have not used it at all since I started Colemak. I now average about 100 WPM. EDIT: am back to about 110.

    Also, I never had any pain or discomfort with QWERTY. I am switching just to have a superior layout. I do not want to do it if i lose any speed, though. I also am not sure if it is worth the effort to get back up to my old speed just to have slight benefits as there are a lot of cons such as the ubiquitous nature of qwerty in our modern world.

    I am wondering if I could ever break, say, 140 WPM with Colemak. Does anyone here think it's worth it to switch completely or are the downsides too numerous to make that slight speed/comfort worth having?

    good encouragement for me
    Perhaps others could share stories of people who were really fast QWERTY typers who gained even more speed switching to Colemak. I need encouragement to continue. The extra comfort and less finger travel is not enough for me to want to continue

    Also, I hope my complete transition through TARMAK isn't null. I'm hoping I can have some sort of a better grasp on Colemak should I put it off until a later time.

    EDIT: It seems like the majority of people who learn Colemak and thrive with it, were never too fast to begin with or they never properly learned touch typing. So my basic question could be: For a professional touch-typist who has average speeds of 120 WPM with no discomfort whatsoever, would the switch be worth it in the end

    Last edited by aswirley (21-Feb-2015 20:30:37)
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    • From: Malmö, Sweden
    • Registered: 10-Sep-2012
    • Posts: 122

    Colemak will do 2 things for you:
    1. Cut the distance traveled by your fingers by almost 1/2.
    2. Reduce same finger ratio (or else remove the need of many non-standard fingerings) and balance load between the fingers.
    Although you might think this will greatly improve your speed it wont.

    At this point/speed it is more about comfort and especially if you experience pain after long periods of typing. If you don't want to be frustrated for couple of days and put up with not having colemak everywhere and you find Qwerty comfortable enough there is no point in switching.

    That said, I have no doubts that given practice you will be able to achieve 140 wpm with colemak if you focus on practicing speed typing. But in general your speed will just plataue no more than 10 wpm adove what it used to be before as high speeds rely more muscle memory than anything else.

    I'd say it's abosuletely worth it for the added comfort of your fingers being more relaxed and minimizing wrist fatigue and pain.

    Last edited by vaskozl (21-Feb-2015 21:21:03)

    Posted without the aid of a rodent.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
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    I never was that fast, but I have become a lot faster with Colemak. I still can't say what speeds the same amount of training with QWERTY could've gained me, of course. But it's very comfortable, that I can say for sure.

    Now using Colemak[eD] with Curl/Angle/Wide mods. ;-)

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

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    • From: UK
    • Registered: 14-Apr-2014
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    Before I started my Colemak journey, I tested my Qwerty speed on 10fastfingers a couple of times. I scored about 50-55wpm using a semi hunt-and-peck approach that I had developed adhoc over 30 years. My speed now after learning Colemak + proper touch-type technique is about 65wpm. So certainly a little faster and gradually improving still. As others have said though, the main benefit gained is comfort - the speed increase it's a just a nice side effect.

    When using Colemak it feels like you are using a keyboard in a way that makes sense, as though the keyboard is no longer working against you. For a tool I use for several hours almost every day, it's amazing to think how inefficiently I had been using it for so long!

    Last edited by stevep99 (23-Feb-2015 14:26:16)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    I'm not a Colemak typist, I use Dvorak.  Like Steve, I did a semi-hunt and peck for years.  I haven't measured my speed for ages, just went ot 10fastfingers.com, and got 80wpm. My goal was to touch type, at a fast-ish speed with no discomfort.  I've achieved my goal almost, but still have a few typing related pains.

    Being able to touch type over 100WPM under Qwerty with no pain sounds great to me!  I don't think I'd bother changing for all the added inconvenience that another layout will bring.

    Does the Colemak finger dance feel that much (or any) better?

    (I wonder if there would be any gain in a few key swaps: Tarmak 1 or Minimak 4-key?  This would still be a pain in terms of portability etc.  Perhaps easier to drop back to standard Qwerty?  Though that's hard to say, as a few key swaps can be quite a headache.)

    Last edited by pinkyache (23-Feb-2015 12:06:53)

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

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    i fell into the same camp as steve - so it made a lot of sense to pick up an alternate layout at roughly the same time as learning to touch type for the first time after decades of hunting and pecking.

    if you are already that competent at qwerty, and not really suffering any consequences then its a hard sell for an alternative layout. 110-130 is *really* fast.

    I probably wouldn't bother if i were you, alternative layouts are a massive pain from time to time, maybe just revisit if you suffer any RSI down the line..

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    If you're fast with QWERTY, you'll be fast(er) with Colemak. How much work it takes is probably quite individual.

    See Ryan Heise's pages on Colemak for instance. I've never heard of anyone who were slower with Colemak after learning it properly! (Then again, if anyone were in fact slower I suppose they'd switch back without telling anyone...) ;-)

    *** 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: 15-Apr-2014
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    For what it's worth, I haven't yet reached my old QWERTY speeds after a year of Colemak. I was at 90-100 wpm in QWERTY, am up to 70 wpm in Colemak.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    Ouch, that's odd. Any thoughts about why?

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

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    My only thought is that 70 wpm is "good enough" -- it's not like being stuck at 40 wpme. I developed that QWERTY speed when I was much younger, too, so maybe it's something different about me or my life.

    I think I am also making slow improvement, but at this point it's very slow.

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