4 ms·

I reached 90 WPM through an organic process that started with hunt-and-peck. Reverse engineering that process, I discovered that I often perform rolls were stan

I reached 90 WPM through an organic process that started with hunt-and-peck. Reverse engineering that process, I discovered that I often perform rolls were standard QWERTY touch typing would have me do a single finger bigram (SBF). That is, I do not always use the same finger for the same key to avoid SBFs. So learning to touch type for me is a frustrating experience because it forces my fingers into less efficient movements. That’s why I’m working on learning an optimized layout called Hands Down Neu. Up to 20 WPM atm using feurix “speedpad” to train and track progress offline. Matplotlib to graph progress.

sebzim4500 4y ago
How much has it damaged your QWERTY skill? I have avoided trying to learn another layout because occasionally you need to use someone else's keyboard and I don't want to look like an idiot.
- ArchieMaclean 4y ago
  I use Colemak DH, and have done for a few years. I could never touch type very well on QWERTY anyway so using QWERTY I am no slower than I was originally (in fact, I'm probably faster, since I now use my fingers properly). As long as it isn't very frequent, using hunt-and-peck on any QWERTY keyboards you come across is fine, and touch typing a different layout won't affect it.
- catfishx 4y ago
  Probably off-topic, but I recently made the stupid decision of learning dvorak while I had to get some important work done. I am currently at: 1) I don't type dvorak fast enough which really reduces my motivation, but I'm getting faster pretty quickly 2) My qwerty typing skills have gotten even worse, I look a bit stupid when I try to fix problems on other computers at ~15 WPM. Generally I don't regret starting to type dvorak, I just wish I had done it another time where typing slowly doesn't affect me as much.
  - mynameisash 4y ago
    I started learning Dvorak my first semester of college (many years ago). I sort of "regretted" it for a while, especially when I needed to write a paper before a deadline. But I pushed through and am glad for it. Keep at it!
  - sirtomato 4y ago
    If you regularly use both (I use workman on my ergo layout board at home and qwerty on my [school] laptop) I type roughly the same speed on both
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
JasonFruit 4y ago
Shouldn't it be SFB?
throw1234651234 4y ago
"my fingers into less efficient movements" - don't lie to yourself. I could type fast from games, but standard touch typing saves my index finger joints and lets me type in meetings without being distracted at all. I also finally understand why the notches on f and j exist and can pick up most keyboards and just type. I still want to take classes sometime so space and special characters don't slow me down. Key to touch typing is always keeping fingers and hands at neutral position, which is still hard for me to do when typing something long.
- Galanwe 4y ago
  > "my fingers into less efficient movements" - don't lie to yourself. I used to type at 120+ wpm using my self taught typing experience. I purchased a new keyboard recently with ortholinear layout and figured it would be a good time to learn proper touch typing. I'm at 70-80 wpm and cannot see how to improve unless I _free_ myself from pure touch typing. There are just limitations to how a single hand can move when multiple keys have to be hit on the same side or even the same finger.
  - throw1234651234 4y ago
    Could you give me some concrete examples? Genuinely not arguing for sake of argument. I can still "burst" half a sentence quicker using "no form", but for sustained fast typing, I find touch typing to be the best. If you want to get to 120wpm, the few key (hue) points to focus on are training yourself to hit the space with the correct thumb, to use both shift keys, to turn caps lock on when you are typing a long const, and then obviously to memorize all the number keys and their symbol equivalent. And, of course, consistency. I find this to be a really good test for programmers: http://wpm-test.com/programming-typing-test/ http://wpm-test.com/programming-typing-test/ Most people will double their speed with plain text as compared to above.

sebzim4500 4y ago

How much has it damaged your QWERTY skill? I have avoided trying to learn another layout because occasionally you need to use someone else's keyboard and I don't want to look like an idiot.

ArchieMaclean 4y ago
I use Colemak DH, and have done for a few years. I could never touch type very well on QWERTY anyway so using QWERTY I am no slower than I was originally (in fact, I'm probably faster, since I now use my fingers properly). As long as it isn't very frequent, using hunt-and-peck on any QWERTY keyboards you come across is fine, and touch typing a different layout won't affect it.
catfishx 4y ago
Probably off-topic, but I recently made the stupid decision of learning dvorak while I had to get some important work done. I am currently at: 1) I don't type dvorak fast enough which really reduces my motivation, but I'm getting faster pretty quickly 2) My qwerty typing skills have gotten even worse, I look a bit stupid when I try to fix problems on other computers at ~15 WPM. Generally I don't regret starting to type dvorak, I just wish I had done it another time where typing slowly doesn't affect me as much.
- mynameisash 4y ago
  I started learning Dvorak my first semester of college (many years ago). I sort of "regretted" it for a while, especially when I needed to write a paper before a deadline. But I pushed through and am glad for it. Keep at it!
- sirtomato 4y ago
  If you regularly use both (I use workman on my ergo layout board at home and qwerty on my [school] laptop) I type roughly the same speed on both
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

JasonFruit 4y ago

Shouldn't it be SFB?

throw1234651234 4y ago

"my fingers into less efficient movements" - don't lie to yourself. I could type fast from games, but standard touch typing saves my index finger joints and lets me type in meetings without being distracted at all. I also finally understand why the notches on f and j exist and can pick up most keyboards and just type. I still want to take classes sometime so space and special characters don't slow me down. Key to touch typing is always keeping fingers and hands at neutral position, which is still hard for me to do when typing something long.

Galanwe 4y ago
> "my fingers into less efficient movements" - don't lie to yourself. I used to type at 120+ wpm using my self taught typing experience. I purchased a new keyboard recently with ortholinear layout and figured it would be a good time to learn proper touch typing. I'm at 70-80 wpm and cannot see how to improve unless I _free_ myself from pure touch typing. There are just limitations to how a single hand can move when multiple keys have to be hit on the same side or even the same finger.
- throw1234651234 4y ago
  Could you give me some concrete examples? Genuinely not arguing for sake of argument. I can still "burst" half a sentence quicker using "no form", but for sustained fast typing, I find touch typing to be the best. If you want to get to 120wpm, the few key (hue) points to focus on are training yourself to hit the space with the correct thumb, to use both shift keys, to turn caps lock on when you are typing a long const, and then obviously to memorize all the number keys and their symbol equivalent. And, of course, consistency. I find this to be a really good test for programmers: http://wpm-test.com/programming-typing-test/ http://wpm-test.com/programming-typing-test/ Most people will double their speed with plain text as compared to above.