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    lsl's Colemak experience log thread thing!

    • Started by lsl
    • 4 Replies:
    • lsl
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    • Registered: 18-Feb-2012
    • Posts: 2

    Just thought I'd share what I've done so far and see if anyone here has any tips for improvement.

    I was a qwerty touch-typist averaging ~80 wpm according to both typeracer and hi-games' 5 minute typing test. I'd been using qwerty for... 8 years or so. I'd only really begun typing regularly during the last three or four years though.
    I switched to colemak cold turkey along with my switch to running linux full-time. I average about 6 hours/day of typing, including maybe 2 or 3 of programming. Learning was, in the beginning, extremely frustrating.
    I started with an average speed of 15 wpm. After a week, it had increased to about 25. Another week and I was at 35-ish. Now, another week after that and three weeks after the switch, I'm at 55-60 wpm, able to reach 80 in bursts. My accuracy hovers around 94%, but I can achieve 100% accuracy by sacrificing a small amount of speed when I'm feeling patient.
    I learned the layout entirely through use of IRC, posting on a forum and the typing games mentioned above as well as performing administrative tasks on my own and school computers (I am a huge fan of CLIs).
    So far I love the layout and my main focus is on increasing my speed. Do you guys have any tricks that could help? I'm racing on typeracer about 30 times/day and doing the hi-games tests of all different lengths several times/day already.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
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    Welcome! Looks like you're on a roll really - you should improve well with all the things you're doing.

    I'd focus most on accuracy and let the speed sort itself out. Other than that, check out nimbostratue's lessons - particularly the common words training using Amphetype seems promising I think. After that it really depends on how you're doing: Some are very fast adapters and some are slow. Some need to work on one thing to improve, and others something else.

    *** 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: 08-Dec-2010
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    Your speed is excellent, why not try to improve accuracy a bit for a change?

    Here is the link for 100% accuracy typing race in Typeracer. Tough as hell at first, but you will end up liking it.
    http://play.typeracer.com/?universe=accuracy

    My signature have two typing games you might enjoy too.

    Last edited by Tony_VN (19-Feb-2012 12:31:26)
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    • From: Vista, CA
    • Registered: 31-Jan-2012
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    I personally found working in a program that is utterly unforgiving of typos improved my accuracy. Amphetype and Rapid Typing both worked well for me on that front. (Depending on if you want to see the keys or not, really.)

    Worth pointing out here that he's a markedly above average touch typist and has had great success switching to Colemak. I think (and that's also got to do with other threads I've read, not just this one by any means) that one of the biggest factors in how fast you will be with Colemak in the short term is how well you already touch type. This is, of course, a bit of common sense.

    (I bet if I had a Colemak keyboard I could hunt and peck the way I type in Qwerty much faster in Colemak than I can touch type in it! LOL.)

    SF&F Writer Harper Jayne
    Creating brave new worlds, one word at a time . . .

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    • lsl
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    • Registered: 18-Feb-2012
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    I'll work on my accuracy for a while because it really could use some work and I can see it helping my speed in the long run too. The accuracy universe of typeracer really is frustrating; I keep messing up at the beginning or ends of words and at double letters. :(
    I'll take a look at nimbostratue's lessons, Amphetype and Rapid Typing too. Thanks!

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