Nice to have you in the community! Could you give a shout out to the person who hooked you up ;) ?
If I may give you a few suggestions
Check the program jarek from the forums is working on: Type Fu web app. It's got very neat interface, good stats and so on.
Check this one out as well: Amphetype – gives you very detailed statistics on how fast and accurate you type different keys/key combinations and many others. Also lets you import and type your own texts (like favourite books etc.) and make drills for specific letters or words.
When you said you want to build speed with a few keys at a time I immediately thought you should take a look at this: https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?pid=8786#p8786 – Tarmak – transitional learning layout. DreymaR from the forum was working on that. Basically changes several keys at a time from Qwerty, and once you get comfortable with that change, proceed to the next step and change the next several. It's meant to give you smoother transition between Qwerty and Colemak.
With all that being said, maybe I should say what I probably had to start with – changing layout in general doesn't necessarily increase your speed. Some might say it's arguable but in general don't expect much speed improvement over your Qwerty speed (if at all) if you've been typing Qwerty for a long time and have reached high speeds (again very subjective, but I mean high for you). It doesn't mean that Colemak is faster or slower than Qwerty, it means that with the time you develop muscle memory for different words and key combinations, and some "tricks" for certain combinations for easier/faster typing. These are the things that lead you to the high speeds and are hard to relearn. Depending on how "good" you are with Qwerty it might take you some time to get as comfortable and learn them all again.
Though many here can say it's worth it purely from ergonomic point of view. The comfort compared to Qwerty and the lowered stress on your wrists and fingers makes a big difference for the way you feel when typing.
I'm just saying not to hope for the great speeds just because you're changing the layout. You could top your Qwerty speed, but don't expect much, if you were a proficient touch typist, and be patient. From what I see, you've got the right attitude. Good luck and keep us posted.
Last edited by pafkata90 (25-Mar-2012 13:00:40)
