Isn't it interesting how one gets some inspiration to try a new keyboard layout just around exam time :)

Actually it was more like I had to stop because of exams - very frustrating!!

Well, day 2, and up to 31-32 words per minute and I already am beginning to think that the supposition that not rearranging the keys is a better idea is correct, as I seem to type more like 25 words per minute looking...if I do get back up to 45-50 words per minute in a few more days, then I will rearrange it back to qwerty so that I can feel the ___ things on home row again.

Well, I am up to about 50 words per minute after five days (by the hi-games.net test, although I think that test quite undercuts my speed with its format whole I am inexperienced, maybe by about 3-5). I was struggling with it mightily the first three days, and yesterday it started to click more, and today I woke up and a fundamental change had just really completed. I am starting to be able to type words without thinking about each individual letter all the time, though sometimes starting words with common but not terribly common letters like l and p is still difficult. I have been typing maybe about four hours a day (today I was stuck driving and did not at all except to test speed in the morning).

I also have been not typing in qwerty at all and I find that I rather could not type it this morning, but I do not much care at the moment...I may try to work on salvaging that so that it at least continues to be above 100 words per minute for if I ever really do need it.

Well, first I would just think about every key as I typed it. That had me up to about 23 words per minute after a day. I would literally think 'w-i-l-l t-o p-o-w-e-r'. I threw myself right into typing difficult words; I do not know if that made some difference, but I wanted to try to learn by typing words without just memorizing them. I also did memorize some things, such as you, ion, that, then, than, the, and, it, is, et cetera. I did not practice any of the typing lessons until day 3 (those that were provided from this site somewhere), and even now I have only practiced up to the third lesson on those, so I am definitely not focusing on those at all. I think a great strategy is definitely to type closest to sleep, because I feel like when I wake up i is just more ingrained from having slept on it. Ultimately, you just have to memorize where the keys are and get to the point where you can start to reach for the keys without having to think about where they are!

Maybe one helpful explanation would be this: as I was struggling through each word, I would pause before each to try and think about it before typing, especially letters that I type slowly, and then I would usually type the whole word quickly. I am abandoning that more now that I am grooving into the process, but it helped me struggle through the low speeds where I was trying to improve.

Well, as of about an hour under a week, I just consistently hit 63-66 words per minute on the typing test. I am to the point that I can pretty much nail any word that does not have any letter that really throws me off (j probably being the worst, since that is, of course, the hardest reach on the keyboard and a very uncommon letter). I really do not know that I am doing anything all that special, except to focus on transforming the form of my typing to match with the level of speed that I can go...maybe it is only something that can come with already knowing how to go through those transformations, I do not know!

I have abandoned qwerty altogether. I think that if I can type this fast after a week, and presumably can hit back to about 100 within a month, then I can afford the minute to download colemak on another computer if I ever need to.

As to your accuracy note, DreymaR, if you watched my replay or anything, you would see that I tend to forsake the accuracy for a hellbent attempt at speed and backspace as much as necessary. I am sure that once I get back up to 98-99% accuracy that merely that improvement will launch me upward a good 10 words per minute, but for now, I know that the best accuracy I can get without really slowing down and thinking much more is about 90-91%.

Rampant: About your rearranging of the keys, I never did that. I printed the (coloured) layout three times: One was taped to the *top* (this is important, it has to be at eye level*) of my home PC monitor, one to the top of my work PC monitor and one went where my laptop went. My thoughts were: Never look down at your keyboard when trying to learn how to touch type on a lay-out. That way you'll never be dependent on the arrangement of letters and won't be confused by any other keyboard as long as you download colemak.

I'm twenty-two, started Colemak shortly after I became twenty-one. Though granted, I never "truly" touch-typed on a qwerty (I could type blindly, but I didn't actually use all five fingers, yada yada), I didn't think the switch was that hard at all. However, it took a fair bit of self-control to do it cold-turkey, which is probably the best way in retrospect. No confusion. All in all, nice switch and I hope you get your old accuracy and speed back soon (or better ;) ).

*The reason it has to be at eye level, if you have to glance down you also glance at your keyboard, which will be confusing.

As to your "damn accuracy, we have backspace!" I take it you like the caps lock -> backspace switch then? ;-P

Oh, and I never did the typing lessons. Well, I started with some. I threw them out after a day. "Real world" typing was a better tutor in my case.

I want to paint over my keys, for the heck of it. I just wish that Krylon Fusion paint were available here in Norway. Seems the closest I get is Caswell Inc. in the UK, and shipping might be tricky because paint is considered a 'hazardous' shipment.

Oh, I really would get a new keyboard and actually use the caps-lock -> backspace, to be honest. I find that I use it quite often, not only because of typos, but also because I sometimes start building a sentence and realize halfway through that I should rephrase it from a few words back. That switch alone has lowered typing stress immensely. On the other hand, I find that when I'm typing on somebody's qwerty, I inadvertently try to use caps lock as backspace, which can cause funny situations. So it may not be worth it if you still type on qwerty a lot.

Though, admittedly, I think caps lock and backspace should be switched. On every lay-out. By law. If only to prevent AOL-kiddies on IRC to have easy access to their "cruise control for cool" ;-)

I cannot get a new keyboard, as it is a laptop! I am so quick with backspacing the old way that I am not particularly upset. The biggest problem was having to reset my hands without the notches, which is why I switched it back to qwerty layout. (I figured if I only swapped the notch keys, then it would cause confusion and that it was better to not look at all)

At this rate, you should be typing 1000 WPM by the end of 2009!  :D

Yeah, Colemak's "YOU" drove me up the wall.  "WAS" wasn't much better.  I suppose every layout will have some common sequences like that, though.

"WAS" gives a point in favor of moving "S" back to its Qwerty position.  At least for me, pinky->ring is less error-prone than pinky->middle.  With pinky->middle, my ring finger has a tendency to want to push down in between, making "WARS" on Colemak.  Obviously, Shai isn't going to change the layout now, but anyway....

I think it's just something to live with.  Alternate fingerings could probably help, but going in that direction reminds me of the hi-games quote about solutions leading to more problems.  :)

Alternate fingerings are different from finger rolls.  Finger rolls are a consequence of the layout itself, like Qwerty's "WER".  An alternate fingering would be like typing Qwerty's "RECEDE" by using middle-ring-index-ring-middle-ring (basically, pretending the keyboard has been turned 90 degrees) instead of the standard index-middle-middle-middle-middle-middle.  Personally, I prefer consistency over speed, so have never used alternate fingerings (or even heard of them until I read this forum).