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    Non-english user - Should I learn Colemak?

    • Started by Tivenn
    • 1 Replies:
    • Reputation: 0
    • Registered: 02-May-2014
    • Posts: 1

    Hello!

    I discovered Colemak several months ago and I was pretty impressed by it! I come from Czech Republic and I have been using QWERTZ layout for all my life, (We have our special characters on the row above the row above home row, where numbers are on US layouts) and I can touch type with it, too, but I would definitely like to try what could turn out to be a great and viable alternative! However, I do have my concerns.

    Firstly, I often type in both czech and english, and I might type in other languages from time to time, too. Some language-specific letters can be typed using AltGr in combination with other keys. The problem is that it sounds like it would be very uncomfortable if you have to type these special characters in half of the words you write!

    I searched for a solution to this problem and I found some alternative Colemak layouts, which make it easier to type theses characters. But the question is: Can I effectively use such layout on most of computers I am going to use? I know that Colemak website offers some programs which allow you to take Colemak with you on an USB stick and use it pretty much anywhere, but is that still the case with customized layouts?

    I personally use Ubuntu as my operating system, and knowing GNU/Linux, it probably wouldn't be a problem to remap some keys and use unusual layouts. But what about other computers I may use, usually running Windows? Can I take these customized layouts with me and use them in there?

    Therefore I would like to ask you if I should even learn Colemak and if so, then should I use the ordinary Colemak or a customized version?

    Thanks in advance
    Kind regards

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,343

    In my locale topic I present two solutions for Czech: "Keep local symbols" and "Unified Symbols". With the former, you keep everything that's not letters and semicolon as it is in the default Czech keyboard layout. The "US" layout just adds the most needed special characters to the standard Colemak (that is, my "eD" variant of the AltGr mappings) in a way of my design. Please give feedback if you think it less than optimal, then we can discuss it! :)

        Cmk-X-eD-cz-lsym-awide-sl_mask.png
            Czech "Colemak[eD] – KS" layout (shown with the Wide ergo mod)


        Cmk-X-eD-us-awide-sl_crop.png    Cmk-X-eD-cz-usym-awide-sl_crop.png   
         standard vs Czech 'Unified Symbols' Colemak[eD]

    Last edited by DreymaR (05-May-2014 09:42:34)

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    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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