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    another believer

    • Started by Mazon
    • 7 Replies:
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    • Registered: 23-Oct-2009
    • Posts: 5

    Hello all!

    Started using Colemak a couple of weeks ago and type it at around 30+wpm atm. Just came over the hurdle that i dont have to think that much where the keys are and things go rather fluent. I still have problems with r and s sometimes but what i read it will pass so im just ignoring it atm.
    What you think i should do to progress? 
    I feel accuracy is more important and i hope speed will come automatically? The last couple of days is really when ive been feeling that i dun have to think that much about where the keys are and this after a two week break not training at all. Before the break i typed at around 20wpm and hat to think at every character.

    As others have said, colemak really shines when the words just comes out from the keyboard and it doesnt feel like you are doing anything. Im from Sweden and dont like the default alt combinations for åäö but havnt come to the place where i can think where i want them. Try to write as much in english as possibly instead or type aa,ae and ao instead.

    happy colemaking

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,363

    ö in the old B position, ZXCVB one step to the left
    åä in the [] positions.

    Otherwise, use the US Colemak and not some silly national variant. The Scandinavian QWERTY layouts are poorly made, even by QWERTY standards.

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
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    • Registered: 23-Oct-2009
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    Thank you. Think i will stay with the US layout and just stop typing in Swedish. :) Im using Os x on x86 so the alt+w i mix up sometimes and that turns out to be command+w in Os x wich means close that window :) Really fun when you type long email messages.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,363

    I've just moved the æøå letters as described above (plus the Comfort mappings of ZXCVB) and otherwise use the US Colemak. I used PKL's layout.ini (Win only) so I can't help you with the OS X details unfortunately, but I remember fiddling with Apple and X11/Linux files and they were easy to hack too.

    The standard Colemak mappings for the national characters aren't good enough for the people who have those languages as their first, but they're a decent alternative for others who only occasionally need the special glyphs.

    *** 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: 17-Mar-2008
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    I use ö=p, å=[ ä='

    It works pretty well given that you have some hotkey to switch between Swedish and English (for English you'll need that single quote). It has the small advantage of keeping å and ä the same as Swedish qwerty.

    If you use Comfort Colemak (recommended!), then using the old B key for something makes sense. I think I would put it to better use than Swedish vowels, but that depends on how much of your typing is in Swedish.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
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    I don't miss the old B position myself. It's one of the more awkwardly reachable positions, especially if you adhere to the 'comfort' hand position. Hence, I think it's a perfect match for the rarely used 'ø'/'ö' (or other national glyphs, which on the whole are fairly rare in any language). If I were German, I'd probably put the 'ß' there for instance; in French, maybe that 'oe' digraph (which might be a decent idea for English users too, incidentially!) or 'ç'.

    And I wouldn't want to be without my single quote for a minute, because English, literal quoting and coding happens all the time. Maybe that's just me?

    Also, to me the old 'æ'/'ä' position was a bit too good for that letter. I keep the 'å' in its' old position but happily moved the 'æ' and have had no problems finding it whenever it is needed.

    Last edited by DreymaR (26-Oct-2009 13:58:02)

    *** 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: 23-Oct-2009
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    just wanna update that my speed is 40+ now a week later and mostly its because i make less errors and abit more comfortable. And what have been said alot before. It is so nice the ergonomic feel you have when using colemak. Your hands rest in the middle of the keyboard all the time. :)

    Last edited by Mazon (02-Nov-2009 20:29:17)
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    Havent practised anything the last month except just using colemak everyday as usual at work. Burst up around 70wpm and around 55-60 without any problems. So it seem that my body is just getting used to it by itself. It has been around 2months since i first started using colemak and i a very happy man. I will start training again soon to polish away stuff that will make me faster.

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