You'll certainly want to use proper national layouts. Not only the special characters but also the placements of the symbols (they're rare and so shouldn't be moved around from where you're used to finding them) matter. The AltGr strategy is good enough for dabbling but not at all good enough for a native typist.

I vaguely remember a Swedish user from earlier, but I can't quite remember whether he put up a layout file for download. I think he did, for Unix. What's your preferred system(s)?

For German I thought there were already made files? Maybe only for Windows; not sure.

If you're having trouble making the layout files, we can probably help but we need to know what you're using (I can do Windows and dabble in *nix and Mac too). Shai hasn't got the time to maintain all language files so the forum does that.

I type mainly in Swedish. When I'm not doing serious business, I just write aao instead of äåö. When doing (school)work or similar, I use the normal alt gr combinations to get them, with a little speed penalty.

I've found some of the digraphs to be annoying, but what's interesting about that is that I type and suddenly find myself thinking, "hell, that word was inconvenient". And the fact that I notice what words are inconvenient should be proof enough that Colemak works better than QWERTY at least.

Also, about the special symbols: they do not take long to learn where they are. And the placement is a lot more intelligent than on swedish QWERTY.

mmmm...interesting...

Heh, yes - I am a Nynorsk user incidentially and I can confirm that 'mjølk' is a bit tricky.

But it's not as bad once you learn the ropes:
- The 'm' is separate from the rest, so it won't be a fast rolling word; but it's not that common a word either (unless you're a farmer) so that's acceptable.
- Since my 'ø' sits in the QWERTY 'B' position (as you probably know, I move the ZXCVB keys one step to the left for ergonomy, keeping their fingering but straightening the wrist), the 'jø' digraph is a fast hand alternation once I've gotten my right index finger in position.
- I use alternative fingering for the last 'lk', making it really simple to go from the left-hand-typed 'ø' to a middle-index 'roll' from top to bottom row. No problem once you're used to it; of course, it has to be learnt pretty much like the layout itself.

Not so hard. More importantly though, I don't type it often at all. There will be awkward words with any layout, but the big difference is that now that I'm on Colemak I notice the bad ones because they stand out!  :D

(Typing 'kjæ' as in 'kjærlighet' for instance, is still a bitch but then love has always been a bitch.  ;)  )

In my opinion, they don't have quite the same problem! Getting your index finger from 'm' to 'j' in a jiffy is the real problem with the word, and I haven't found good alternative fingering for that digraph. Then, most people will have their 'ø' hidden away on some AltGr combo which fortunately I don't have to struggle with.

I see how the 'el' digraph in Dutch (and Norwegian Bokmål!) will present a similar hurdle though. I'm tempted to finger it normally/un-alternatively but then the fingering for the 'lk' is shot and I'm no further. Unless you're extraordinarily brave and use your thumb for the 'k' after hitting the 'l' with your index finger!

In contrast, with alternative fingering of the 'lk' digraph the word 'milk' will flow smoothly enough for me.

Gawd, debating the finer points of fingering technique always makes me feel delightfully geeky!  :D

If it were a frequent problem, the Colemak layout would likely have been slightly different (unless it happened to be totally nonextistent in English and frequent in Norwegian; fortunately, that happens very rarely).

Since it is a rare problem, I don't feel the benefit of learning a special fingering for it. Your suggested fingering does work but it's a bit of an effort and unlike the 'lk' digraph it's very rare indeed. So in theory yes but in practice no to that suggestion.  :)