• You are not logged in.

    Learning (for beginners)

    • Started by LazyBobby240
    • 3 Replies:
    • Reputation: 0
    • Registered: 09-Jun-2021
    • Posts: 1

    So I started using Colemak around 1 1/2 months ago. (Previously ~140 wpm on qwerty) I mainly wanted to switch because it seemed like it would be a fun hobby, which it. So some Pros and Cons are:
    Pros:
    typing is just more fun because you barely have to move your hands.
    Less tiring when typing for a long time
    Small things that just fix all the things you hate about qwerty; getting " : " and " ' " mixed up; backspace messing with your typing; etc
    Cons:
    Takes a while to get used to, and takes even longer for you to really feel more comfortable with Colemak than you do with Qwerty
    Messes with your gaming settings, and in some games, you can't even change the settings so you just have to switch to qwerty, which isn't a big deal but quite annoying when you are Alt Tabbing to type on discord or something.
    No caps lock :c (it's a good thing though, now I don't randomly yell at my friends xD)

    How I practice, and how you should practice:
    So I'm not Jashe, but here is my take, I used to practice Qwerty and went from 40 wpm to 140 in roughly 1 year.
    So the way I practice, I use a website called nitro type, and some people say it sucks because you don't have to go back and correct your mistakes, but its actually way better because it helps you get the muscle memory down and actually get more than 20 wpm without getting frustrated at having to backspace every .2 seconds.
    Set goals and train like you would work out: set times, or amount of races, depending on what website. I aim for 200 races on nitro type every day. Don't overwork yourself because you are wasting time, after practicing for a certain amount of time you get tired and bored and just don't want to practice anymore, at which point you should take a break.
    Once you get to around 110 Wpm average on nitro type without getting lucky or on a good, day, but rather a true average, start practicing on type racer or Keyhero. Here you have to delete mistakes and can't make a single one. That's when you start working on accuracy. Use caps lock as backspace and get used to it because you can press it without essentially moving your whole right hand.

    MOST IMPORTANT: USE A ONSCREEN KEYBOARD AND PUT IT RIGHT NEXT TO THE TEXT YOU ARE TYPING, AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN. Look at that instead of down at the keyboard once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature to just look at that instead of the keyboard, which will help you lot in the long run, since looking down also becomes a muscle memory (every time you make an error, but if you want to type fast you have to just fix your mistake and figure out where the key is without looking at any visual references)

    My progress (hopefully this will help encourage you):
    I have roughly 4000 races in nitro type (yes I did slack a bit at some point), I start on May 16th, it's currently June 23rd. roughly 34 hrs of actual time, but more like 50 hrs since I don't always finish the races, and The amount of time it takes to actually start the race.
    I am currently typing roughly 120 wpm on nitro type and 90 on normal typing tests, with like 96% accuracy. if you do 2 hrs/day which isn't a lot, you can probably also go from 30wpm to 120wpm in 25 days. I will probably update this with more tips and tricks and such.

    Offline
    • 0
    • Reputation: 210
    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,343

    Grats on your progress and your good experience!  ∩(●'‿'●)∩

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

    Offline
    • 0
    • Reputation: 0
    • Registered: 13-Jun-2021
    • Posts: 4
    LazyBobby240 said:

    ... if you do 2 hrs/day which isn't a lot ...

    I think that depends. Speaking from my personal experience, 2hsr/day dedicated learning-Colemak-time is simply not achievable. I do have a wife and a kid and a full time job. If I try to go anywhere close to 1hr a day, at least one (it not all) of the aforementioned will start to complain :D

    Offline
    • 0
    • Reputation: 210
    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
    • Posts: 5,343

    I'd think that two half-hour bouts a day beats one 1.5 hr bout. Or even four 15-minute sessions. And then let sleep help too. Maybe do one short training session shortly before sleep, to maximize on that potential?

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

    Offline
    • 0