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    Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    • Started by Vicuna
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    14-Mar-2016 21:16:22#1 Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    <sigh>

    for background...I don't type that much in a day...I hovered around 55 WPM on qwerty without looking much but not exactly touch typing and def not using the correct fingers. i could type without thinking though...in fact...when I would write emails or documents, I preferred typing to writing because I could think clearer.

    I switched to a modded colemak and got up to 45 WPM pure touch typing. I got a HHKB with blank keys to force myself...lol. It's been about 6 months or so.

    I struggle when I move back to qwerty keyboards and I dunno how to explain it but I still have to "think" when I type in colemak...like I feel restricted / slowed down...it's not even the 10 WPM difference (which I'm sure I'd overcome in a few more months). I just never got that feeling like it was "in me".

    ultimately typing over 55 WPM will not really benefit my life...but typing without thinking about it...even if using the wrong keys is huge for me.

    am I giving up too soon? does this make sense?

    for the record I think qwerty is the freaking dumbest most pointless thing...but it's in me naturally already.

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    15-Mar-2016 11:07:40#2 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    If you have reached 45wpm, that isn't too bad.  When I was learning, it was when I reached the ~40wpm mark that Colemak started to feel natural and comfortable. At that point I stated to notice how a lot of common words and bigrams became a pleasant experience to type, and the whole thing gradually started to make sense.  My Qwerty speed was also around 55wpm before I switched. Nearly two years in, I am now at about 70wpm, which isn't super fast but certainly satisfactory.  I care more about comfort than speed anyway.

    It will probably continue to need a little more concentration than had you stuck with Qwerty, but that's a small price to pay for the benefits. Perhaps if you are trying to simultaneously maintain your Qwerty skills then the task is made a lot more difficult.  I never use Qwerty any more (except on smartphone touchscreen), so I don't care about it.  If you can possibly avoid maintaining Qwerty, it will become easier I think. If not, then regular Colemak typing training should help.

    If you go back to Qwerty now having sampled something so much better, I suspect you'll never really be satisfied.  I think you are close to the top of the mountain and it will be worth the effort to make that final push for the top. The views of the sunlit uplands beckon. Don't give up!

    BTW which modded Colemak are you currently using?

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    15-Mar-2016 11:42:28#3 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    6 months too short

    took me 2 years before I started to feel comfortable

    still don't feel like I've cracked it after 3

    constant learning curve

    i can hit up to 80wpm no on a scorching day though

    prior to learning to touch type qwerty or colemak i was 45 wpm qwerty hunt and peck

    i occasionally have to use qwerty machines and it is painful, but its only occasionally so i can live with it

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    15-Mar-2016 13:03:11#4 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    yeah qwerty freaking sucks...i dunno...i feel like I can express myself in qwerty though much easier. I dunno how to explain it. even though I'm hnp and use the wrong fingers, I barely look at the keyboard...i can type what i'm thinking with no restrictions

    here is/was my layout
    W0nxwCR.png?1

    Last edited by Vicuna (15-Mar-2016 13:09:45)
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    15-Mar-2016 13:24:09#5 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    just for kicks did a typing speed test on qwerty and was about 55 or so WPM after just a day of using it. prob would get a bit faster without really any training.

    the flow is just better for me...more natural...even ignoring speed. I really think hitting 60WPM would be beyond fine for me. I don't really type enough during the day to get too much higher.

    not sure if it's really worth sticking out my modded colemak.

    qwerty really is so useless though hah.

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    15-Mar-2016 13:26:57#6 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    I think i realized what it is. I "memorized" a lot of words in qwerty and even though I key them in wrong...it's effortless. I will move my fingers to the letters ahead of time on common words.

    been typing for like > 30 years so it's just in me.

    I noticed I'm doing really ridiculous stuff though. like i use my left thumb to hit some letters lol. so I prob will never really get any faster.

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    15-Mar-2016 17:09:43#7 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty
    Vicuna said:

    I think i realized what it is. I "memorized" a lot of words in qwerty and even though I key them in wrong...it's effortless. I will move my fingers to the letters ahead of time on common words.

    been typing for like > 30 years so it's just in me.

    I noticed I'm doing really ridiculous stuff though. like i use my left thumb to hit some letters lol. so I prob will never really get any faster.

    That's what I used to do - over the years (actually about 30 years for me also!) I developed my own non-standard way of typing common words. Qwerty doesn't really lend itself to touch-typing so there was no motivation to learn the "proper" technique.  But now that I have at last learned to touch-type properly with Colemak, I find I have overtaken my previous Qwerty speed, but more importantly, typing is more comfortable.

    Did you try practicing common words in Colemak - 10fastfingers is ideal for that?

    Ah, so you are using a Mod-DH style layout, the lite version with ANSI & shifted home position.  I wonder if the changed home location caused any difficulties, as it does mean different relative positions of the shift keys..?

    I hope you'll decide to stick with it.

    Last edited by stevep99 (15-Mar-2016 17:13:34)

    Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.

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    15-Mar-2016 19:02:41#8 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    yeah i was thinking about what i did when i practiced. i would type passages or just letter combos. i wonder if i really drilled common words so I "memorized" them if that would help.

    i love the changed home position. one thing that does cause trouble is on my other office computers i installed this layout but i have trouble touch typing because my fingers search for the nubs. i might just have to use qwerty when i use other computers if i stick to this "colemak". ugh. been typing qwerty today and it's effortless after not using it for  months other than here and there. but it's such an inferior layout

    i tried to start learning touch typing in qwerty. forget it. hah.

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    15-Mar-2016 19:35:29#9 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    you should learn to touch type regardless of whether your going qwerty or colemak

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    15-Mar-2016 20:20:18#10 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    yeah what a mess i'm in. if im gonna learn to touch type i might as well stick with colemak with mods. i already touch type that without looking.

    i dunno. ugh im torn :/

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    06-Jul-2016 22:09:56#11 Re: Crossroads - considering switching back to qwerty

    lol

    yeah qwerty sucks :) I tried to switch but back to my mods!

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