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#1 Re: Experiences » Harper's Colemak: The Ongoing Saga » 13-Feb-2012 15:11:26
It will also help flow if you are looking ahead, and not just focusing on the word you are actually typing.
#2 Re: Experiences » Harper's Colemak: The Ongoing Saga » 13-Feb-2012 03:20:44
The point is muscle memory for the common words and their component letter combinations. Without any of that it is very hard to get any speed at all. As I type this I can feel myself typing the movements that I have practiced more quickly . . . the less common combos are much harder. If I had not done any of the work on the common words it would be worse.
I hear ya...personally I tend to type faster with sentences than with common random words...because I get a better flow going. I made an effort to avoid spending too much time on random words for just this reason, and I think I benefited from that.
#3 Re: Experiences » Harper's Colemak: The Ongoing Saga » 13-Feb-2012 02:21:39
Now working on the common words sets at 30/99. I am breaking them down into three sets of six. I am done with the first set and will move on to the other two tonight.
I am planning to start work on the other lesson sets tomorrow. (As you say: at no minimum WPM, just typing them as accurately as I can manage.)
In my experience, typing real sentences is more beneficial than random words...I know that you need to build muscle memory for common words but more importantly you need to build "word pattern memory" meaning learning how words tumble into the next. If you are practicing random words like:
father book man has keep my made life light sometimes well play side at feet just off one does again sentence leave spell same live his cut back
you are not developing any word pattern memory because you rarely type those words in that sequence. You would be much better off typing out common word phrases.
Hang in there. Pretty soon you will be "rolling" along nicely with colemak.
#4 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 22-Jan-2012 14:51:09
I am comfortably typing 60 plus words per minute now on ten fast fingers and typeracer. I have a blank das mechanical keyboard which has really forced me to improve my speed with numbers and symbols.
Colemak rules....
Quick review:
-Mother was a very skilled ink touch typist and legal secretary with amazing speed and accuracy.
-I took typing in highschool with qwerty but it never caught on with me....who puts a semi colon on home row?
-Hunt & Pecker for many years.
-I wanted to learn how to type to increase my speed..and reduce fatigue.
-Experimented with Dvorak but abandoned it because of the L placement.
-Found Colemak and have never looked back.
#5 Re: Technical » Das professional keyboard » 27-Jul-2011 21:38:26
Yes I went with the Das ultimate blank version and I love it. I am forced to touch type all of the numbers and other symbols now where before I would just look.
#6 Re: General » Future of Colemak layout, few issues to be considered » 24-Jul-2011 22:47:28
I prefer backspace to the caps lock which I would NEVER use. btw on my keyboard shift/caps lock still gives the caps lock but not sure if that is the norm with other keyboards.
#7 Re: General » if Colemak didn't exist what layout would you still use? » 24-Jul-2011 12:52:06
I too was about a week into dvorak when I discovered colemak....I think the darn L position made us question if we really wanted to invest our time into dvorak...resulting in looking for another alternative.
#8 Technical » Das professional keyboard » 23-Jul-2011 22:19:18
- slowfingers
- Replies: 11
Does anyone know if all the keys can be moved around to their colemak positions? Or do you recommend getting the (blank) Das ultimate and add stickers if need be?
http://www.techspot.com/review/122-das-keyboard/
btw I just tried the steel series 6Gv2 and found it to be very mushy and did not "click" or have much feel...in fact I found the keys to be more restistant than my Logitech stock k120.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6823239011
#9 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 23-Jul-2011 15:56:49
Hi pal. Welcome you to Colemak forum.
For typing test, I recommend hi-games.net and post your profile link here. The good thing is that website can replay your best scores.
I have tried that but I don't like how the sentence you are typing is below the one you are looking at....throws me off. Maybe it will just take some getting used to. I am now approaching 60 words per minute...with spurts beyond....especially when typing from my head. I am going to check out http://www.amazon.com/review/R968ZWE3YKI15 as it was recommended by another colmakian....I am also going to check out mechanical keyboards. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
words that are fun to type with colemak:
sentence--I had difficulty with this one at first...now it is one of my favourites.
anything with ing
the have that there these
though
would
should
could
country, mountain---feels like fingers are climbing a mountain with "moun".
that's just from the top of my head...
#10 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 15-Jun-2011 22:08:13
update...I am now approaching 50 words per minute consistently on typeracer. My scores previously were based on fastfingers typing test of short common words. I find random words are counterproductive for learning because there is no flow like with sentences. On fast fingers though, I can jog into the high 40's (just scored 50) where before it would feel like an all out sprint to break 40.
Its funny because my speed has increased even though I have not been typing a whole lot..well I guess that's true with anything...you have to let it absorb.
#11 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 14-Dec-2010 15:46:52
Day 26
I scored 43 today and my average is in the mid to high 30's now. On day 26 of learning to touch typing I have surpassed my hunt & peck qwerty speed.
#12 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 11-Dec-2010 14:56:57
Day 23
Today I scored 40 and my average is now in the mid 30's.
#13 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 03-Dec-2010 15:30:48
Day 15
High of 35 with no errors. I am averaging about 30 words per minute now.
#14 Re: General » Should I learn this? Some of my thoughts...Some advise please. » 02-Dec-2010 22:47:37
What's wrong with the QWERTY layout?
It suffers from an extremely high ratio of home-row-jumping sequences (e.g. "minimum")
It places very rare letters in the best positions, so your fingers have to move a lot more.
It suffers from a high same finger ratio that slows down typing and increases strain.
What's wrong with the Dvorak layout?
Placing 'L' on the QWERTY 'P' position causes excessive strain on the right pinky. Colemak doesn't place frequent letters where the pinkies stretch.
'F' is on the QWERTY 'Y' position which is a difficult stretch on normal keyboards.
'I' is very frequent but isn't on the home position.
'R' is very frequent but isn't on the home row.It is significantly lopsided so that the right hand does too much work.
'L' and 'S' form a frequent same-finger digraph on the right pinky. Same-finger for the pinky is very rare in Colemak.
(I attempted Dvorak initially but even as a novice I became aware of its limitations which is what lead me to find Colemak.)
I've never touched typed before, but now that I am cruising at 30 words per minute (week 3 with Colemak) my fingers are beginning to feel words without the brain getting in the way. Colemak makes this effortless the way common letter patterns just tumble right into each other. It is a well thought out layout that simply flows. I can only imagine what a difference this will make at 60 words per minute and beyond.
#15 Re: User contributions » Make your own physical Colemak board! » 29-Nov-2010 23:42:15
I managed to Colemak my laptop ok but gave up on keyboards as I had purchased three different brands and all of them would end up with certain letters becoming wedged when snapped into position. I eventually settled on stickers...but they were already starting to peel and become bothersome.
So today I figured I would try my luck again with a Dynex ($26.99) and much to my delight all of the keys fit ! :)
http://www.dynexproducts.com/products/c … -WKBD.html
Other keyboard with peeling stickers.
#16 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 27-Nov-2010 15:21:32
Day 9
I've just scored 31 with 0 errors on the same test...was averaging around 25-26 for the last few days.
#17 Re: General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 21-Nov-2010 16:15:30
Day 3
I'm up to 23 words per minute on this test: http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/
Hunt and pecking with the qwerty I could only muster 40 on the same test last week.
#18 General » Hello fellow Colemakians! » 19-Nov-2010 03:39:26
- slowfingers
- Replies: 15
Formerly a qwerty "hunt & pecker". I took up touch typing recently with the dvorak, briefly, as I was unhappy about the pinky L placement. I had previously ruled out qwerty as a candidate because (among other things) I refused to have said pinky rest on a semicolon. This lead to more research where I ultimately found and promptly switched to Colemak.
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