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    Colemak Progress Thread

    • Started by LunarEternal
    • 4 Replies:
    • Reputation: 0
    • Registered: 19-Dec-2011
    • Posts: 2

    First off, I've been using QWERTY for a while now, but never actually typed properly with it (had a class on it ages ago, so kinda know how to do it). My fingers can find all the qwerty keys w/o looking at the keyboard though they usually press the keys however they feel like (I'm not even sure what they're doing since they pretty much do it automatically w/o me thinking) that ends up with a speed of somewhere around ~80 WPM.

    Anyways, I figured I better actually learn how to type properly with the standard finger positions and everything, since I'd actually have more fingers to type with that way. From that came the thought that if I'm going to learn this, I might as well do it with a better keyboard design than qwerty. Which led to finding out about Colemak and this forum.

    I will say right now though that I love making the caps lock into another backspace. It's such a brilliant idea, and I can foresee that left backspace being really useful for when I'm trying to write stories on here.

    I also figured that making a progress thread here might help motivate me to actually see this switching thing through, since it's not easy, though I'm learning. Having a log would be nice to look back on too later.

    Day 1:
    Started with the typefaster program to learn this layout & jot my memory of typing technique again. After a few lessons, I could at least type some short messages on forums and IMs with Colemak, even though it takes a while to type out.
    I then made an account on hi-games since I liked the idea of tracking my progress over time. Got a score of 9 WPM with it, which I guess isn't too bad for not knowing where all the keys are yet.

    Day 2:
    Managed to hit 16 WPM in hi-games, but I love this layout already. Fingers are already learning the right keys, but the top row messes me up a lot.

    Hopefully this gets easier to use after a while of practicing and such, since I'm really liking this layout, and proper typing technique.

    ~L

    Last edited by LunarEternal (20-Dec-2011 04:29:28)
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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,345

    Welcome to a better layout! Hope your experience will be interesting and pleasurable. Don't give up if you don't succeed at first. :)

    *** 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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    It's nice to see another Colemak user. There will be several tough weeks ahead in store for you but your efforts will be richly rewarded later.

    Keep practising.

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    • Registered: 19-Dec-2011
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    Thanks guys. And I can be persistent when I want to be, so no worries. I'm not about to give up on the awesomeness of Colemak, just because it's tough at first.

    Yes, that means I like this layout so much better already, even though it's still early in. I'm actually surprised how this went so far, since I thought it would take longer to get this far, but I guess that's due to its similarity's to qwerty. At around 15 wpm now.

    Fingers are already starting to learn the keys which is awesome. I also typed this whole post in Colemak.

    Last edited by LunarEternal (20-Dec-2011 04:51:00)
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    • Registered: 08-Dec-2010
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    Nice progress. Your fingers will learn to type separate keys, then key rolls, then key combos, then popular words.

    Last edited by Tony_VN (20-Dec-2011 08:29:00)
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