Hi all, and greetings from Hochiminh City, Vietnam, South East Asia.
I have been using Qwerty for 20 years. I learned touch typing and reach 60wpm in Qwerty.
I discovered Colemak while seach Google on ergonomics a week ago. At first I tried Dvorak for 2 days, then after some deeper googling, I come to this site. I decided to turn to Colemak instead.
I am learning to type the layout with TypeFaster. My time for training is about 10 hours per week.
I use Windows XP and Windows 7. Right now I still use Qwerty for work, and learn Colemak whenever I have free time.
For fast switching between Qwerty and Colemak, I use Autohotkey with the Colemak ahk file.
My learning tips with Qwerty (it works with me now, too)
- To make it as easy as possible and never make me pressed to type faster in the first 3 months. Later, when I remembers all keys, then the speed with surely and steadily increase with practice.
- To rest 10 mins after each lesson.
Colemak training experience
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Day 1: 4 keys home row. 20wpm
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I make it easy by setting very low target (only 4 keys) for the first day. Then I rest.
Day 2: 8keys home row: 18wpm.
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Since I also training in Dvorak for 2 days, this is the time to unlearn both Qwerty and Dvorak on these keys. At first try I can barely get 8wpm. The brain confuses and the fingers errs a lot.
After 2 hours, the fingers slowly increase speed to a decent 18wpm.
Day 3: 8 keys home row + DH: 14wpm
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Now the hard work began. Typing D and H feels very awkward (th, sh, the, etc.) I get 10wpm in the first try, then come to 14wpm. Good that a lot of English words can be typed.
My fastest typing records http://hi-games.net/profile/4314
My switching experience https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=970