So I have decided to undertake a very large project… become Colemak – Fluent.
If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Colemak or other alternative keyboard types, here is a pretty decent writeup of what they are and what they do. As a basic overview, the standard QWERTY layout was actually meant to slow down typists so that there would be minimal jams when writing on a typewriter.
However, with modern keyboards, jamming is a thing of the past. Yet, QWERTY isn’t. There are other alternative keyboard layouts out there that optimize finger movement when typing, but I have chosen Colemak because it keeps a lot of the punctuation in very-easy to reach places, a must-have for programming.
Yet, I can’t just go from typing nearly 90 wpm to 5 wpm and expect to stay caught up in school. So, I found out some steps called “Tarmak” which will help in assisting in the transition. This way, I can change my whole keyboard layout and start transitioning as fast as possible.
I’m going to put up some baselines out right now, and I’ll love to keep this as a live post to track my progress, and if you are interested in the transition as well, then this may be a quick guide into your near future.
Also, I should also state that I’m a high school senior when I am making this transition, and I have been using QWERTY ever since 3rd grade. Keep these factors in mind when you think about how long your transition might take.
This is my benchmark score on typeracer… I was also doing this on my MacBook Pro keyboard, which I type a bit slower on because I’m not using the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.
Hopefully, I will be able to surpass this wpm within the next month or two.