QWERTY is the worst keyboard layout. A Colemak Odyssey
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2024
- Compared to other keyboard layouts, QWERTY is very inefficient. Despite that, it remains the de facto standard. This video discusses the merits and pitfalls in switching to a layout like Colemak and tips to manage the switch.
If this was useful, please consider buying me a coffee. It really helps out with getting these videos made: ko-fi.com/benfrain
Test your own text and code to see what would be the best layout for you at patorjk.com/keyboard-layout-an...
You can read more on Colemak at the official site: colemak.com
For typing practice I recommend keybr.com and Monkeytype.com
I used the ErgoDox EZ to learn on but the other smaller keyboard in this video is the Preonic.
There's a written version of this on the website: benfrain.com 
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One thing that is important is to try to type QWERTY once a week or so because if you need to use other people's computers you will look like someone who has never typed a day in his life.
Main reason I’ve not switched is that I need to go into an office where we’re not allowed to use our own keyboards/ custom layouts
@@mgd8867why does that rule exist?
@@dasdos002 security concerns about drivers
@@mgd8867 colemak, dvorak and workman is a preset in windows, not sure about mac
Make the switch man@@mgd8867
“Do your own research… then choose Colemak”
Haha! True
I switched to Dvorak almost a decade ago and after a few weeks I got up to speed, but just couldn't live with the most used hot keys moving all over and eventually begrudgingly switched back to qwerty. Years later(which would be 4 years ago now) I found Colemak by chance and didn't hesitate to just jump in right before I had a bunch of tests at university. Terrible idea, but I don't regret it. I managed and got up to speed in a few months, I exceeded my qwerty speed in about a year, because it forced me to learn better habits with the layout.
I can still switch between qwerty and Colemak, but no doubt that Colemak is by far the better layout in every possible way for all the languages I know, be it c, python, English, German or Latin; Colemak wipes the floor with qwerty.
You sound like you have a lot of experience in typing layouts. As someone who is interested in making the switch from QWERTY (I just started doing COLEMAK lessons on my macbook a few days ago), but who primary uses my computer for fiction writing (not programming) which layout would you recommend?
@@loganyu7117 depends on the language you're writing. A variant of Colemak is a good pick for English (and honestly does pretty well for German and Dutch too, once you find the alt combinations). Ctrl v, c and x are all in the same location as on qwerty.
Dvorak works well for programming, but shortcuts are all over the place and ctrl + v (or cmd v on Mac) becomes a 2 hand ordeal.
Colemak is optimised for English. Take from it what you will.
Would workman do good for programming too?
@@midmeh for programming you can use any layout that you prefer, after all programming is just english with extra braces, but i think there is one thing which can make working in IDE 10000 times better - use custom keyb layers. with custom layers you can bind all symbols you need to buttons in home row, you can bind any navigation like arrows, even mouse movement to another layer and with some practice you wont need to move hands from keyboard at all.
@@Wanyanoexactly this, plus macros to do things like arrow functions () =>
I appreciated hearing your experience. There really isn’t a whole lot on the platform right now about using Colemak, let alone using it on an ortholinear keyboard. I just ordered a 40% ortholinear and plan to transition to Colemak slowly once it arrives. I had a hunch that the strangeness of an ortholinear layout might help reinforce new habits when it came to learning Colemak and I was glad to hear that was true in your case.
Joshua - do let me know how you get on. 👍🏻
im guessing you got either a planck or a planck ez. hope it went well :3
Yes, I ordered a Planck EZ from ZSA. I enjoyed the concept but found I was experiencing regular wrist pain using the Planck. So, while I still find the keyboard undeniably interesting, I traded it for a Moonlander, also from ZSA.
Two months since my post and about four weeks typing Colemak later, I am up to around 65-85 WPM. I do find it much easier to switch layouts when moving from my Moonlander (Ortho, Colemak, mechanical, and split) to my Microsoft Sculpt (staggered, QWERTY, membrane, and connected) than switching between layouts on the same keyboard.
@@joshuawalker8759 I have a Preonic too, similar to the Plank and found the same. As the Moonlander is so comfy and packs up fairly easy for when you need to take elsewhere, the Preonic doesn’t get much use!
What an awesome anecdotal journey. Thank you for sharing sir.
Thanks for sharing. These are exacty the questions I was asking myself.
many thanks for this! i'm just starting to change to colemak, and these tips and suggestions are very helpful
I really enjoyed this video (and another of yours I watched earlier). I love your down-to-earth approach and your straight-forward explanations. As someone who has just built a split ortholinear keyboard but have been on the fence as to whether to make the jump to colemak or not, I think you may have just given me the push I need to get stuck into Colemak. Thanks....I think!
Ha, there will certainly be points where you wonder if it’s worth the bother. I still have occasions when I wonder 🤣
@@benfrainuk 4 months later and I’ve built a couple of split keyboards & have gone fully colemak - it is at least partially your fault!
@@JonnyIrwin I feel proud and guilt in equal measure 🤣
Thanks for sharing your experience and for the encouragement!
I love the moonlander in the background, congrats on learning colemak!
I am in the exact same situation as you were back making this film. Very nice video, thanks. I makes me believe in continuing with colemak and moonlander 😊
The layout on your Preonic is fantastic! Ive not thought to move the alpha outwards and put the rest on the inside, I have a helix so even have 2 extra inside keys per side. Might have to try that arrangement.
Yes, I did that on a whim but haven’t really battle tested it yet. Not even got round to coding the rotary encoder functionality with QMK. Might be worth a video on that if any interest?
I’m trying to find a preonic with a knob like that. Mind sharing which one you have?
Having used QWERTZ (German) for 20+ years I decided last year in March 2021 to do the switch to Colemak-DHm on an Ergodone (the 'cheaper' chinese version of an Ergodox EZ). There war no real reason, I stumbled across a few videos here and I thought "why not?". Basically I did the same cold turkey transition that you did, staggered/full size/QWERTZ to ortho/ergo-split/Colemak-DHm. I was at about 125 - 130 wpm on QWERTZ with heavy linear switches (110 gr spring swapped Gateron black) with 90 - 95 % accuracy, with Colemak I'm not quite back to that speed yet but getting slowly faster each week now up to 90 wpm.
I alternate between the split Ergodone and a Planck or Preonic when on the road. For me that switch to ortho and Colemak was the best decision I made in a long time, typing is SO MUCH more comfortable, the inward rolling on many words is so satisfying (e. g. the word 'ersten' is a good illustration when one compares QWERTY and Colemak), I wouldn't go back, neither to QWERTY nor staggered. The process is mentally challenging (I love a good challenge), I woulnd't say it's painful but it did get frustrating at times.
I can agree with eveything you said, it's probably not for everyone and rather 'nerdy' but it makes typing a new and for me a better experience overall. I stuck with rather heavy/stiff switches (95 gr Hako True) and high profile sculpted keycaps SA Green or MT3 Susuwatari [which has a set for Colemak-DHm].
This was genuinely very nice to hear. I have just decided to start learning a new layout (Dvorak) and it has been quite frustrating since I had been using Qwerty for more than 15 years. I type unbearably slowly and sometimes want to go back to Qwerty since I think I will not be able to learn Dvorak. I have gone from 115 WPM with perfect accuracy on Qwerty to 4 WPM with 12% accuracy on Dvorak. I suppose I should specify that I really do mean I just decided to switch. I have been using it for a day. I was a bit discouraged when I heard it can take several months to relearn how to type, but I think I should be able to get through this learning curve. It is reassuring hearing that basically everyone struggled at the beginning.
I’ve started practicing Dvorak recently as well. Im curious to know how it’s progressing for you
@@user-oj1fg7yq3z I had to stop typing Dvorak since work didn't allow my slower typing speeds. Despite this, I occasionally switch back to Dvorak and still remember where all the keys are (for the most part), but have effectively restarted. Once I have more time, I will try to learn again.
Thanks for posting about your experience. Everything you talked about (timesinks, ortho boards and ofc switching layouts) hit very close to home. I've been looking into switching off qwerty and to ortho layout recently been sinking too much time into ColemakDh vs workman but I'm scared for how it will affect work. I think I'm settled on colemak as it is similar to qwerty and the xcv keys like you said. Just preparing myself for the jump.
Also what is the keycap set you are using on the ortho board, I haven't been able to find much with a 2U spacebar
Hi! Key caps are from pimpmykeyboard - they do quite a few DSA sets with ortho keys and extra homing keys for Colemak/Dvorak. I don’t even think about the layout anymore, except when I sit at another computer. Just need to accept it will take a little time 👍🏻
Loved hearing about your experience, seems very realistic. Personally I'm not even interested in swapping layouts i just find these interesting.
Such honesty!
Mr. Frain, you have yourself another subscriber.
Great video. Thanks Ben 👍🏻
I really appreciate you sharing your experience moving to colemak. I will be giving it a good go and will follow your advice to focus on accuracy. Thank you 👍😎🇦🇺
Hi John! Great, let me know how you get on. I’m still childishly amused when I know people on the other side of the globe are watching something I’ve done. Thanks for stopping by 👍👍🇬🇧
I see that you went with the DH mod of Colemak. Good choice, that version is a lot better than the normal colemak.
I switched to Halmak a year ago, which has some benefits over colemak (but also some downsides) and I really like it.
I’m almost scared to look at Halmak in case I love it and need to start all over.
Ha just looked at Hallmark and funnily enough the punctuation in the middle is exactly what I've done with both my WASD v3 87 key and a Preonic I have. Will check it out in more detail!
@@benfrainuk Nah don't worry. On metrics it's pretty similar to Colemak-modDH. What I liked about it was the reduction in sideways movement compared with other layouts because only very uncommon letters are on the centre columns. Colemak is better at not using the same finger twice in a row
The general consensus is that “a lot better” is not really true. It might be slightly better, however I would say there are diminishing returns between the two compared to QWERTY > COLEMAK
@@benfrainuk ohno
Funny enough I am attempting to switch (not sure yet if colemak or colemak dh??). After watching several videos about ortholinear keyboards and layouts and such, your video gave me the swift kick in the behind, necessary to go ahead. Part of it was your honest communication about being guilty of tinkering with stuff best left alone :) which is my hobby as well.
Thanks for your video - this morning my glove80 keyboard arrived, in part because of you I'm going to start out with Colemak-DH and see if I can shuck off 20+ years of qwerty habits.
Good luck 👍
when I was younger, I switched to Dvorak and got up to speed with it in like 1-2 weeks. It felt so good and so natural to write compared to QWERTY, it felt unreal. But then I started highschool and had to use QWERTY keyboards at school and the computers were locked down so I couldn't change the layout. So I had to switch back, but when I tried, I was completely brain dead, I couldn't type with QWERTY. It took me 1-2 months to get rid of the mental blockage and get back to speed.
really cool! thanks for sharing!
Where did you get that orange rotary encoder knob from? I also have an orange Preonic and that knob looks really nice on it!
It was just one I found on eBay (in the U.K.)
You definitely nailed this on the best reasons for changing to an alternate layout. I've always had wrist mobility and pain issues my entire life due to a birth condition. I switched to Dvorak way back in elementary school in the early teenage years, and immediately received comfort and pain reduction benefits over QWERTY. Your hands and wrists just move so much less. Decades later, and I've never once regretted switching.
Most people will also gain a little speed, but it's not enough to be anyone's primary motive. Comfort for the rest of your life while typing is the real, GIGANTIC benefit.
hello I know this is quite an old video but I loved it. It was a great watch, also I would love to know what that ortholinear keyboard that is as I would like to buy it :)
Ha, thanks. The keyboard is a Preonic from Drop. Similar boards are the Plank. Ultimately I never used it so ended up selling it - a little too minimal for me!
@@benfrainuk ah thank you very much, I have been wanting to learn a new layout for a while now, thank you very much 🤠
Wow your journey was almost the same as mine. Went from bog standard keyboard, no touch typing, to a columnar stagger ortho split and up to around 60-70 WPM in a little over a month. I didn't change the layout and now I feel like if I do, I would lose all the progress I have made.
Yes, you’d definitely take a hit, progress wise. If you are at 60-70 and good with accuracy I’m not sure it would be worth the investment. I certainly prefer it but you need to get stuff done, it’s definitely going to slow you down for a few weeks
I also thought it does not matter to much which layout to choose. I was wrong. I created an own layout, which is pretty close to Colemak (mine is a bit better for non-english languages and roughly the same for English). But I found that with Colemak as well my layout the right hand is way too busy. I am now learning a variation I made on XOY (AdNW-variant). This is much better overall and I would recommend to either stick with qwerty or consider the switch to a fully optimized layout and not stop at Colemak (or Dvorak).
what did you use to optimize your keyboard? I optimized a layout for me once, that used books like a moby dick and such a a reference, but i'm not sure if this reflects what modern english looks like (same for german). Did you use any coding examples while optimizing? how do you go about using different layers? Sorry but your comment seemed like you've been through this journey i'm about to delve into. :)
I've starting using Colemak with the DH mod on a Kyria keyboard I built not too long ago. I realized how much the computer world is centered around QWERTY, and I've had to rewrite a whole bunch of dot files for various Linux utilities, but oh boy it was definitely worth the extra time and energy.
Oh, been looking at the Kyria; how you finding it? How long has it taken you to feel competent with Colemak?
@@benfrainuk it's really great, you'd find it easy to get used to since you're already on an ortholinear split board. I'm not sure what kind you're using at the moment or if it uses QMK firmware, but the learning curve isn't steep at all. It took me about a month to learn, and I threw myself to the sharks when I learned since I write long papers every week for school, so practice wasn't hard to come by 😄 I'm still at around 35-40 wpm though so not a complete speed demon. Thanks for the video, it's always great to see how others find alternative tools and get insight on how to better use them
@@natec.2346 hey Nate, I’m on a Moonlander right now. I do like QMK but the benefit of the ZSA stuff is it sticks version control in front of it which lets you save and fork your layouts easier. You obviously pay a little premium for the service but I have been happy to.
Yes, essays will do it. I’ve found the biggest help just doing it. Just gotta make grooves in your muscle memory. Thanks for sharing the info. Like you, love to hear other people’s experience 👍🏻
@@benfrainuk You can use version control with qmk. You clone the repo from github. Then you just have to make the changes you want and can make new branches and anything you like using git
Hi Chris, yes, that's fair, it's just kind of abstracted away with the ZSA tools which means even people unfamiliar with Git can benefit. It might just be a personal thing but I always tend to put off meddling with QMK; got a Preonic I've added a rotary encoder to and keep putting off sorting it out with QMK. I probably just need to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in!
Hey Ben, nice video thank you, I’m in progress of switching to Workman, 3 days in, I’m around 20 wpm right now 😊
That sounds pretty good. Give us an update 1 month in?
@@benfrainuk Just passed 40 wpm yesterday 👍 working for 50 now
@ excellent. Even now I rarely get above 50WPM 👍
@@benfrainuk just passed 50 wpm working towards 60 now 🤗
perfect. i was looking for a new layout for coding, especially web developtment
Great. Let us know how you get on 👍🏻
It´s colemak good for coding?
I'm just starting with moonlander, I have a modified halmak layout on the site called halmak programmer.
I created a bunch of patterned texts to develop muscle memory and dexterity. Since the patterns are based on finger motions and relativity, I can practice without having to remember where a key is, I just zone out on that and pay attention to what the key is when pressed, focusing on rhythm and agility.
Once you get going, I think a good trick is to pause between each 3 or 4 key pattern, and figure out which keys you're going to press, then press them as smoothly and swiftly as you can. It's like a rat-a-tat-tat way of increasing speed.
I think it's important to stay relaxed, don't fret about speed. If you're not relaxed you can induce physical trauma even if you never had that problem before.
how is the programmer version different?
great insight, thanks so much ^^
I guess it's kinda off topic but do anybody know of a good website to stream newly released movies online ?
@Warren Riley lately I have been using FlixZone. You can find it on google :)
QWERTY is a legacy layout that does in fact derive from an attempt to prevent people from typing too quickly for a mechanical typewriter to handle. It's kind of like NTSC, aka "never twice the same color." It served a purpose once, and now it's holding everyone back.
Yes. Sadly I can’t see anything other than a revolutionary new input device unseating it’s dominance now though
World record is 262 wpm for qwerty. Learn it properly before saying
I agree with almost everything you said. I decided to go all in and swapped to Colemak DH (which I highly recommend for anyone trying colemak on an ortholinear keyboard as it's more optimised for that) with blank keycaps when I got my Preonic. I figured if I was going to be relearning touch typing (which I have TERRIBLE form for on qwerty) then I might as well learn a more efficient layout at the same time. No regrets! The learning curve was fairly steep and my speed definitely took a serious hit at the start, but it's definitely noticeably more comfortable, right from the first few, annoyingly slow words that you type on it.
Did you end up sticking with the Preonic on Colemak DHm? I'm currently learning Colemak on a regular staggered 65% board but I'm really interested in picking up a Preonic.
@@DeltaInsanity TL;DR: I used my Preonic for about 6 months or so and Colemak-DH until just last week.
The Preonic is a beautiful board and the case is great quality! The steel plate tray mounted on an alu case leaves a lot to be desired in regards to sound though. I ended up getting some case foam for it which helps a bit. I suggest looking up some sound tests as the hollow metallic sound may annoy some people. I heard some people complaining of damage to usb ports (I think more of an issue on the planck?), so I've always used a magnetic connector on mine just in case.
Interestingly I never actually ended up using the number row for anything other than shortcuts as I used to use a numpad on a full sized board so it made more sense to put a numpad on a layer under my right hand. After reading an article on the Absolem by MrZealot I settled on the concept of 1DFH (1 distance from home) being the optimal ergonomic option, so I actually only ever really used 36 of the keys on the Preonic for any of my base keymap and layers. I shifted the 3x5 alpha clusters out to the edges of the board (so there's 4 keys of distance between index home keys instead of the standard 2) which made the wrist angles more ergonomic and also enabled me to use the middle 6 bottom row keys as 3 thumb keys per hand. About 6 months back I built an Absolem (36 key unibody ergo board) and have since built a number of other split 36 key ergo boards. I still have my Preonic and it's a nice solid board to throw in a backpack (I got the travel bag with mine) without any concern about it being damaged. These days I use it with the alpha clusters shifted into the top corners, so there's 2 columns of unused keys between the halves and 1 row between the alphas and the thumb keys.
I stuck with Colemak DH (I believe DHm is the old name and it's just called DH now?) until just last week. It's a great layout and does a lot of things right. Having some keys stay the same as QWERTY makes the transition easier and keeps some shortcuts in the same spots. I got to the point of being able to daily drive it and then never really put in any work to improve my speeds with it. Just recently I decided I wanted to improve my speeds, but before I sunk the time into that I figured I'd look at some alternative layouts as I wanted to sink that time into improving with the most optimal layout for me (or at least close to it). I ended up on APTex by Apsu. It de-prioritizes the pinky and inner index keys and focuses on rolls (which was the element I most liked about Colemak).
Anyway, probably more information than you were asking for... The Preonic started me on the slide down the ergonomic rabbit hole and, as such, I have no regrets buying it. It's not the most ergonomic keyboard option out there, but I found it more comfortable than a standard board (admittedly in part because I shifted my hands further apart by moving the alpha clusters). It also taught me the power of layers, which showed me how few keys I really needed.
In summary: The Preonic is a well made board. The case is a highlight for me as it's beautiful (I got an orange one). It's versatile, allowing 2x 2u spacebars, 1x 2U space or all 1u keys along the bottom. It's a great entry point into ergo mechanical keyboards :)
Feel free to ask me any specific questions you have!
@@Xeptance thanks for the extremely detailed response, I appreciate all the info! I ended up ordering an Acrylic case Preonic a few days ago, partially because of the pingy sound I had heard of for the aluminum case. I'm hoping the Acrylic case will sound decent enough with my Boba U4Ts to not require moding.
@@DeltaInsanity Yeah, that's a great choice! It also allows you to make use of the underglow RGB (if you're into that sort of thing) which are completely hidden in the Alu case. The acrylic should sound fine with no modding, although perhaps a little hollow. Case foam is cheap and easy to install if you decide to try out modding and should fix that hollowness if it bothers you. The foam I got had cutouts for the RGB, so it likely wouldn't impact on the effectiveness of that, although I can't say from experience since my case is alu.
The stabilisers that come with the Preonic aren't great, so if you are planning on using 2u spacebar(s) then you'll probably want to mod them. Alternatively you can do what I did when I was using a 2u space on my Preonic and run it without a stabiliser. 2u is short enough that as long as you normally hit it somewhere near the middle of the key it's really not necessary to use a stab on it (at least in my opinion).
Congrats on the purchase, I hope you find it works well for you!
Switched to colemak dh yesterday and I just have to keep qwerty on the side for now. Currently all my social life is in the internet and it is just impossible to communicate typing 10-15wpm. I've done about one and a half hours of training and my qwerty speed is starting to go down and this whole process is starting to feel really hard. I will just have to keep on practicing.
How fast were you typing with qwerty? I never learned to properly type. I find myself in this weird place where I don't look at the keyboard when typing but only use my middle fingers and thumbs to type. My typing speed is about 60WPM. I have tried learning touch typing but find it very hard to use my other fingers.
I was slow on QWERTY. I’m still slow on Colemak! About 40WPM. I need to get back to some deliberate practice
I have a weird experience with keyboard layouts, i first started to learn on workman back in year 6 (11 yrs old) but stopped due to needing to type for school. I didn't have my own laptop, the school used school laptops so I couldn't change the layout, so I stopped. However when i revisited the idea of swapping layouts over the holidays between year 6 and year 7, I started on colemak and made it to 40 before switching back. On qwerty I averaged around 100wpm so it was pretty hard for me. Now i am starting again and i'm at 20wpm with colemak.
Wow. If I could ever get to 100wpm on a layout i think i would stop right then and be happy! What’s your motivation to use a different layout? Comfort?
I created my own layout for 24key split pads, (I had to make my own layout because qwerty doesn't fit, and there are no layouts for such boards exist), took me ~3 weeks to get to ~35wpm I'm now at full alphas more or less drilled, time to get to symbols, it's interesting how it would feel to type in double key combos for symbols, and if my brain would confuse everything, because single key is now 3-4 different functions.
I did they same: I got a moonlander, and since I had to get used to a different keyboard I jumped to do that with colemak dh. I will use the keybr now, sounds a good idea but the accuracy argument is really good and I just started doing that. I am struggling but I am getting there :)
Excellent video. I use the Colemak layout via Gboard on my Android devices.
7:27 Wow! That's the much improved Colemak DH layout
Yes, works well so far although I tend to take my Moonlander wherever I go so the Preonic there isn’t getting much use
I started learning Colemak 4 weeks ago and can already type at 30-35 WPM with 90-95% accuracy. 2 tips from me: get blank keycaps for your keyboard (you will memorize layout way quicker) and drop qwerty as soon as possible. I have started using Colemak for my everyday typing after just 4 days of practice on Monkeytype (though I was painfully slow).
That’s great progress! I tried the blank caps but while it was fine with alpha’s I struggled with symbols at times. Brackets, pipes, braces etc for coding - kept forgetting where I had mapped them!
I'd be curious to hear from others who've switched. If I'm already accurately typing ~100-120wpm on QWERTY, can I really expect to make much of a gain speed-wise beyond that? I can understand comfort, maybe, but I'm already using an ergo keyboard that seems to have solved any comfort issues that I used to have. The layout looks really good, though. I love that they kept Z, X, C, V, and A in the same place versus something like Dvorak.
Jason. In your situation, I’d stay put. Don’t fix a problem you don’t have. 😉
I switched to Dvorak about a year ago I'd consider Colemak if Windows adopted it, but as it is right now, I'd have no way of getting it onto my work computer as I am heavily restricted on what I can download onto it. The fact that Dvorak comes default on Windows just means I'll always have an easier time transitioning to another work computer if I need to.
I definitely get you about switching off of Qwerty though. I touch typed with Qwerty, but was definitely under-utilizing my ring and pinky fingers. Changing to Dvorak forced me to work those ring and pinky fingers into typing and I am enjoying the comfort of typing now without having my fingers flying all over the keyboard. I'm not quite up to my old speed yet, I really need to just sit down for a few weeks practicing. I was at 80 wpm on Qwerty and I am only at about 65 on Dvorak.
its been a couple of weeks now going between normal staggered qwerty and split ortho colemak dh and while im clearly still very very slow i can already feel the difference and im enjoying it alot and can tell that in the long run its def worth the effort
That’s great. 👍
Currently learning colemak dh. I touch type on QWERTY, and learning Colemak only aftected the speed around 10/20wpm (Down from 110 to 100/90). After around a week and a half of around 30min daily practice, I know the locations of the keys already, but it still is somewhat slow to type (around 25wpm), which is too slow for regular use, but I feel like I'm on the correct path. I spend around 12 to 15 hours a day on the computer so colemak being so much easier on the hands will be a massive improvement over a few years. Hopefully I can get to usable speeds soon.
Edit: regarding worries about other peoples computers, after touch typing on qwerty for some 15y I don't think I'm going to forget, somewhat like a native and second language. As for the keyboard not being the same, it has never bothered me as long as the tactile bumps on F and J are present, the rest works itself out in a couple minutes.
I don't plan on buying a colemak keycap set, I don't look at the keys while I type so it doesn't matter what's written on them. Maybe I could get some blank keycaps.
So Ben, you actually set time apart to practice while still doing your work using qwerty?
I'm about to get a moonlander and was thinking about switching layouts now that I'm going from a staggered to columnar.
No, I went all in. Used Colemak whilst practising. Only place I use QWERTY now is on the phone, where oddly my brain has no issues at all!
@@benfrainuk haha.
I've followed your footsteps.
Painfully doing all in. Horrible first couple if days. Much better now. Long way to go.
I'm still cheating with qwerty when a quick answer is needed on slack
@@ronaldomsjr I think as long as you persevere you will bi fine 👍
I’ve just swapped to Colemak, but I find that some changes from qwerty are arbitrary. So on the left board I have QWPFG, ASDRT, ZXCVB. On the right it’s still Colemak, except I’ve swapped Y and O so I can type the word “you”. Also Y is usually the ultimate letter in English and O is rarely the ultimate letter, so for me it’s much more comfortable. I don’t really have the same problem with A on the left though. Maybe soon I’ll go full Colemak, who knows
I have to type a lot in french and I've created with AutoHotKey a script to enter french accents. Bigrams, Trigrams, etc... are very similar except "th". Compared to Canadian French keyboard, I'm not sure if I will type at the same speed before my dead. I also have an Ergodox keyboard with blank keys and I'm wondering if I would be enough in term of comfort for my wrist. It will be a long journey for sure.
If you have an ErgoDox, could you program some of the Bigrams/Trigrams onto certain keys on a layer?
I use Colemak DH on a Moonlander and I've grown quite comfortable using it without the homing keys. For my left hand for example, I try to find the right side of the rightmost key of the bottom row and once I am touching it I can immediately put my index finger on the T key. Most days I only consciously notice I'm doing this once or twice.
I went the opposite way - ended up sticking a mix of two other DSA sets on that I have proper Colemak homing keys for. Feel some degree of inner calm. For now at least!
@@benfrainuk awesome, so I understand you ordered custom T and N homing keys from zsa?
@@tobiasfeil1993 no, ZSA don’t do them. I ordered Colemak homing keys for a set I have from Signature Plastics
@@benfrainuk awesome, thanks for the pointer!
I will switch to colemak. I tried using it, but it has too much inpact on my productivity. So I choose using the method with tarmak layouts.Did you try this method or is it better to switch directly to colemak ?
Hi Track, I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to do it, it’s whatever works best for you. Plenty of people do the tarmak route but I didn’t. Update us in a few weeks time and let us know how you get on 👍
@@benfrainuk I will, I am only on tarmak 1 for the moment. I will use tarmak 2 when I will receive the moonlander. A video on the tap dance of the moonlander will be nice
@@trackvegeta8716 As long as you are learning proper typing techniques then tarmak is fine. But as he said starting completely fresh on a new keyboard and new layout is a great way to make sure that you don't carry over bad habits from how you used to type on qwerty
Hey, is Dvorak or colemak better for English ?
I'm using dvorak on my Ergodox EZ and qwerty on other keyboards and my brain doesn't seem to have any trouble keeping them apart. Probably in part because of the ortholinear layout being so completely different, so the brain says "These two things has nothing to do with each other"
But even on the same keyboard, switching layout isn't that difficult. The trick is to not stop using the other layout completely so you don't forget it.
What I am finding however is that qwerty is tricky on the ergodox, since I can't rely as much on muscle memory. While I recently learned dvorak (or rather, I had learnt most of it years ago, but since forgotten), so it's not just in muscle memory, but also visual memory.
I switched to Colemak when I was told at 25 years old that I needed surgery to address carpal and cubital tunnel pain. That felt like it was just too early in life for that. I switched back to qwerty when I had to work in computer labs, instead of just using my own keyboard at home. But, 15 years later, I'm back on Colemak. As Ben says, it is a massive pain at the start. The transition time, where I would subconsciously switch to qwerty, was the hardest part of it all. But, now that I'm about 6 months into Colemak again, I can say that I fully intent to stick with it. To solve the problem of having to use other computers sometimes, I'm now carrying a programmable keyboard that I can plug in via usb and that acts like a qwerty, but is physically a Colemak. It's worth the effort, really really!
I would love for you to make an update video.
Hi Thomas, I’m still using Colemak but not sure I have much extra to add at present. Is there anything in particular you are interested in?
I moved to dvorak four weeks ago and it's not an easy task at all. The first week I've only done some exercices to learn where the letters were, and from the second week I completely dropped qwerty, I had a 11 days off from work and could train before having to go back to work.
I'm near the 40 WPM, but I'm still far from the my old score of 60~70 WPM. I think that I have a good progression speed so I'm not worried about it at all.
I'm a software engineer, but I don't mind being slow for two months, especially considering that our job isn't about writing non stop.
i was typing in qwerty for year to get to 80 wpm, a week ago i switched to colemak dh. this feeling again omg, typing slowly like turtle.. with a week of intensive typing i can type 30 wpm now. trainings paid out, but holy moly, it is really difficult to not throw idea of learning new layout because of learning process and hotkey hell with new layout
Oh yes, I feel that. But persevere; you’re over the worst bit 👍
I switched to Dvorak about 7 years ago, mostly because colemak wasn’t as supported and I wanted to use developers Dvorak (which is horrible fyi) and I have really enjoyed it. I have always been a touch typer so that part was never an issue. My biggest gripe is this like copy and paste, which I get around by using the QWERTY Dvorak keyboard on Mac (which JetBrains products really hate). This is where a keyboard like the moo lander really interests me.
its easier to learn something completely new when everything is completely new, sometimes.
i tried learning colemak a few years ago using my then regular staggered keyboard and it just didnt work. i gave it a solid 2 weeks and it never really clicked for me.
a year after that i build my first split ortho board ( iris rev 5) and decided to go all in. colemak, ortho, and split all at the same time.
the first month i was typing at like 10 wpm and was constantly tempted to give up again. however i was beginning to see some improvements. after a few months of immense frustration, it clicked. and within another 2 months i exceeded the wpm & accuracy i did on the old qwerty. i went from about 90wpm on staggered qwerty, to around 130wpm with colemak on a split ortho ( piantor & Crkbd )
Sounds similar to my experience although even on a good day I’m only around 50WPM. I really need to get back to some dedicated accuracy training
@@benfrainuk i spent about 30 mins everyday actively training on monkey type and similar sites. but i was also stuck with colemak for everyday use aswell, which further forced me to get used to it if i was gonna get anything done. actively training is something i highly recommend for anyone who uses a keyboard for a living.
I had to do a double take. I thought you were Stefan Molyneux
Had to look up who that was. Don’t know whether to be more offended by who is is or the fact he’s 54! The cheek!! 😁
it took me about a month to learn to type with dvorak and now I type with confidence
Thanks for the great video. Starting soon…
unfortunately there’s no way for me to learn a new layout right now as I have everyday work to do, I’d love a way to just switch out some keys everyday so it can happen naturally without interfering with what i need done too much
this is my second week into colemak and i managed to hit 41 wpm. i learned colemak just for the similarity to qwerty alone, cuz this is my first alt layout. i think of alt layouts like a minigame though, cuz i have no problem with qwerty in the first place despite typing for hours and/or at high speed. just gotta find your own ergonomy at qwerty and use 9 fingers.
but anyway, it was nice to hear this experience of yours.
Would love an update to see how you're getting on with Colemak nowadays
Still using it. Although I’m not sure it’s done anything for me other than be a little more comfortable. Considering how much friction it adds (everything in the world is designed for qwerty) I don’t know I’d bother unless I had a more serious problem to solve with it. That said, I have no intention to go back!
@@benfrainuk I just started my Colemak journey. Knowing what you know now, should I abort? (I was only doing it for a different typing feel and the challenge of learning something new)
@@user-ix5vf8wu1i I know this was a while ago, but if you already know how to touch type I would definitely still recommend learning Colemak(-DH). I started learning it casually, while still using QWERTY as a daily driver. This meant that when I got colemak up to speed I could switch between them pretty easily. So the issue with all keyboards being QWERTY hasn't been an issue for me. I think it is just about how you approach it and your ability with QWERTY before.
If it's any consolation, apparently ring finger is the least mobile digit on the hand, so Colemak is actually optimised to reduce movement of the ring finger, among other things
qwerty to dvorak to colemak. 70/150/166 WPM whenever I managed 100% acc, But I still prefer the feel of dvorak. Sadly learning dvorak removed my muscle memory for qwerty, and then learning colemak made me forget dvorak. A year for each new layout to reach 120wpm+
Overall, colemak DH mod is the layout has the last amount of stress on my wrists. No matter what though, the best thing I did for my wrist pain was getting an ortholinear split keyboard.
Ortho alone is okay but the split really helped. What helped the most is the 'tenting' of the orgodox. I have each hand at a different angle because each one gets pain in different positions.
Great vid Ben.
Wow. That’s some serious speed. Bravo 👏
"I've got the brain elasticity of a stick". Love it!
“Without copy, paste, and StackOverflow, my career is finished” - GOLD
So it took me 12h total to go to 60WPM in colemak - - i almost never touch typed in qwerty..
i really want to swap but i just cant be typing 30 wpm for a few weeks during lectures while adjusting to a new layout lol. going to commit to colemak when I have time off and hopefully get back to 100 wpm then
What’s compelling you to swap? I can only dream of getting to 100wpm!
@@benfrainuk the comfort mainly. My wrists and fingers kinda ache after typing for 3 hours during a lecture and I'm hoping that colemak can help me with that. if it doesn't then I guess it'd also just be fun to learn a new layout lol
@@Sasha-jo4tw in that case, yes, I think it may be a good choice. I certainly find it more comfortable than QWERTY. If you are that quick with QWERTY, I don’t imagine Colemak will take you more than a few weeks to get to a solid rate. Consider Colemak DH from the off - I wasted a little time with standard Colemak when the DH variant is almost certainly slightly better. Good luck! Will you let me know how you get on when you go for it?
@@benfrainuk for sure! ive been looking into colemak DHm as most people recommend it over standard colemak. Ill probably start my "training" around the end of December because I have 2 weeks off to study for my exams in January
I'm at 120-130 wpm on qwerty, I wonder how much time it'Ll take me to get up to speed on a moonlander , swapping to Colemak ahaha.
Having seen and spoken to a few people on this subject now, I don’t think it would take you that long. Say a month? People who have 100+ WPM have good accuracy and so my hunch is as soon as they ’remap’ where the keys are in their heads they very quickly get up to speed. If you do go for it, please let me know how you get on 👍
It's been almost a month since I practiced colemak and I'm still struggling at 30wpm. Maybe the reason of the slow progress is the switch to ortholinear keyboard and full thumb keys instead of using pinkies thinking that the different environment will cause no conflict with my qwerty knowledge. It turned out wrong because it still hurt my qwerty speed so bad. I've been using qwerty for 27 years with the latest speed of 120 to 130wpm 100% accuracy at monkey type and now It went down to 70wpm something with lots of errors. Add to that my mediocre colemak speed and Now I feel useless and start to doubt whether I should pursue this journey considering that I'm already 44 years old. I'm giving this 1 more month and if nothing happens that's it.
Why were your reasons for moving to Colemak? You obviously had great speed on QWERTY. Was it comfort? Anyway, it sounds like you just need to carry on. Keep the accuracy high and I’m certain the speed will come. If you’ve reached those speeds on QWERTY, you can do it with Colemak!
I don’t see how you could keep such a speed on QWERTY as well though - I would expect that to suffer as you are introducing a load of new muscle memory with Colemak. Let us know how you’re getting on in a month 👍
@@benfrainuk Qwerty is fine for regular typing but my obsessions with ergonomics led me to colemak. Typeracer has become my new favorite hobby but Typing in qwerty tires my fingers after an hour of race proving the importance of ergonomics. My newly bought Microsoft sculpt inspired keyboard proved that by allowing me to race longer but it just doesn't feel right trying to improve on qwerty while knowing that there's a much better method around the corner. I knew for a long time that qwerty is sub optimal but it's just this very recently where I learned from forums that transition is actually doable. When my planck inspired ortholinear keyboard arrived, I decided to go all the way with colemak dh. The process in my case is so painful though because my 27 years of qwerty is engraved so deeply inside my subconscious. My training grounds are mainly colemak-academy and ngram-type-master. In the 2nd month I'll concentrate with your suggested keybr.com. BTW I'm typing this using colemak with too much effort lol! I'll update soon!
Update after 2months of colemak. I found the main culprit that contributed to my slow 25wpm near 1st month progress. It's because my fear of losing qwerty forced me to do some qwerty tests before training on colemak. I just can't afford to lose my 27 years of qwerty knowledge. Note that I stayed about 25wpm on colemak for a week and nothing happened therefore the parallel qwerty tests must be the culprit. So I experimented serious training without qwerty for 2 days and boom my speed went 35wpm ending the 1st month. 35wpm is not that great but the point is there is progress if u give up the other. Now my most feared moment has come. typing qwerty has now become very difficult. It's the moment I have to make important decision because it's not yet too late to go back to qwerty but in so doing I will spend the rest of my life failing to enjoy the fullest potential of the coolest layout. My curiosity won and decided to giveup my beloved qwerty entirely. There's no going back so I pursued my 2nd month with keybr.com
Keybr filled the holes in my typing and I finished my 2nd month with 70+wpm in Keybr and also 70+wpm in Monkeytype 100 words tests. Adding punctuations brings it down to around 55wpm. At this point I can no longer type on qwerty :( It's a mixed feeling between success and regret because I can no longer call myself a fast typist and secondly I feel useless in front of my laptops keyboard because my colemak knowledge is in 40% ortholinear. So my goal for the 3rd month is not about speed but rather the transfer back to standard staggered keyboard.
Sorry for the long post because this is part of my colemak practice LOL.
Thanks for the update. Detail is interesting!
I need to get back to practicing each day as oddly enough I find qwerty patterns creeping back in.
Found myself on a QWERTY board the other day and was oddly unaffected by the layout!
@@benfrainuk I remember few nights practicing colemak my consious brain was in colemak mode but whenever I felt tired or sleepy the subconsious qwerty kicks in. The occurence lessened as I never touched qwerty since month two. To start my 3rd month Im going to apply colemak for the 1st time in my laptops staggered keyboard & see if there r qwerty memories left. Expecting negative speed impact for this.
After trying Colemak on a regular keyboard and then on an ortholinear, Colemak feels more natural on the latter. I dont know why.
Because orthlinear layout is more natural.
I think ortholinear is better on all layouts
@@tuananhdo1870 Yeah it is generally better, it is however a PITA when you have to use someone else's keyboard and you grow used to ortholinear layout.
have you tried colemak dh?
Yes, that’s the variant I’ve settled on 👍🏻
@@benfrainuk nice, thats what ive been using recently. specifically because the preonic xD
2.5 weeks into colmak and im at 50 words a minute. with qwerty i had 70 so still not there yet.does feel like a bit of a waste of time to go form 70 down to 50.
also choosing the varient is a massive problem, ive gone with colmak dhm mod.
its very clear that colmak is more efficient than qwerty, but its not faster at the moment anyway
I think the speed angle is a bit of miss direction to be honest. I never really get above 60WPM (and never have on any layout). For me, nowadays at least, it’s more about efficiency and comfort.
Wondering how you're getting along with Colemak almost 3 years in now. A short update would be interesting.
I’m still using it. Do you have particular questions?
@@benfrainuk What's been your progress over the past few years since you've made the video in terms of accuracy and wpm? Are you still using MonkeyType to gauge progress?
The staggered layout was never about preventing keys getting jammed. It's that way because you need to stagger the typebars so that each has a clear line to the platen.
Today is my first day learning colemak; did 90 minutes and have all the alphabet... understood. My plan going forward, as a life long 'keyboard looker', is to only, only, ONLY ever touch type with colemak; as its simply a different layer on my keyboard, I don't even have the keys moved (keeps the home keys and the keycap profile).
I am hoping this will help my brain to understand the difference, so if and when I need to switch back and forth it will be natural as looking at the keyboard, to cheat as I had always with qwerty. And more specifically, I can still use other peoples computers.
For comfort, I am learning C with my left index, and M with my right index.
Let us know how you get on 👍👍👍
Wouldn't a solution to dvorak, be programming the hot key macros to a mouse with side buttons. That way copy is one button, paste the other and ect. I think that would be a good solution to that problem. But, yes, I agree, it appears all the other layouts are without a doubt better. Colemak seems to be the one that has the overall best. In terms of increase in speed, comfort, and programming. But, I am stilled not sure if the programming dvorak keyboard layout is the best for a programmer.
6:40-6:52 WELP I'm convinced
It's a small detail, but QWERTY definitely doesn't stop the keys on an old typewriter from jamming even if that was the goal. It might help if you type slow, but if you type too fast the parts will collide anyway.
Yes, seem to remember that happening when I was a boy and i pretended to ‘type’ on my mums typewriter! 🤣
Comfortable? I like that. I don’t care about speed. I just want to be a touch typer and not a hunt and pecker. I will try Colemak or Colemak DH.
switching to colmak or any other layout it not bad idea sometimes it's reallly good investming in your life at the long run but rather i would invest that time in my health -training- or reading or anything that will make a bigger diff.
It's good for you - english speaking people. What about us - czech speaking, who has special letters such as ěščřžýáíéůú = we need additional row or symbols... Iam struggling so so much with keyboards, but the split version of keyboards are so expensive... I guess i need to save up for it as my job requires typing a lot...
Mytrhicrocket crying rn
I know this comment... is like super new, compared to the youtube video. But the thing is... I wanna get used to a new keyboard layout, and I tried Dvorak, but I didn't really like the layout, so I want to get used to a new layout which is Colemak
Give it a whirl! Let us know how you find it 👍
clearly this guy hasn't tried AZERTY
No when you're talking about how qwerty came to be you're actually talking about the staggered nature of the layout, not the position of the letters themselves. The keys were staggered so that straight metal rods could reach the ink letter press for each letter.
Isn’t it funny how both Colemak and Dvorak are faster than Qwerty, yet neither of them appear anywhere close to the top on any speed typing top lists?
/Former Dvorak user
Comfort was always my priority. I was horribly slow with QWERTY and I’m also horribly slow with Colemak! 🤣
I use dvorak
Qwerty is not the best, but it is also not the worst nor even a bad choice for many non-English languages. Dvorak, for instance, is often worse. That is why one should go for language optimised layouts, not blindly choose colemak. For a general purpose layout for multilingual users, qwerty is usually good enough, though.
what?
the fastest typist don't even use an alternative layout. It's all about practice. (btw i personally type 140wpm on qwerty)
Ah yes cherry-picked anecdotes, the best form of evidence. Here's mine then: stuck at 50 WPM on QWERTY, now 110 WPM on Dvorak.
What abt workman
TNWMLC, in theory, is the worst layout ever designed.
"...is not the best!"... for English only or also for any other of 2000+ languages!? I am learning Colemak... but i also really hate clickbait these days. Mby there IS A REASON why Qwerty is all around the globe besides the common argument of soft transition from typewriters?
I cold-turkey switched to Colemak-DH just because I got my hands on custom split keyboard, so i decided to flex on my brain a bit. Thou... it's a MASSSIVE PITA for the i3, Tmux, Vim, Ranger user because all shortcuts are broken. I feel like i am total d***ss when trying to chat with people. :D
Interesting. Did you try pasting your content into the linked site to see which layout most efficiently matched it?
@@benfrainuk Yes. I speak and use Latvian, English and Russian daily. That page suggests me to use 3 different layouts (besides Personalized), and Qwerty seems the most optimal for me. Taking into account the software shortcuts I do rely on daily and interaction with other people as well.
But I still want to see those MASSIVE gains every single Colemak user is promising me, so I keep learning it. :)
@@Oswee if the content you write suggests Qwerty is optimal (or no worse), this Colemak user woild suggest you stick with QWERTY! 😀
@@benfrainuk My point was - it's not black and white like all these videos are trying to make. Anyway... thank You for making this content. :)
Best of luck to your quest Ben.
I'm here to offer a different perspective.
The world is run on customs. Objectively English is
not the most efficient, unambiguous or most beautiful language, but it's
used by the most. Similarly, metric system is a lot more logical and
easier to use than imperial. but here in the US, we still use imperial
because everyone else does.
If the only thing you type are sentences or post, I think switching to
Colemak will help. But with all these programs and their shortcuts
designed around the fact that 99% of their users have qwerty layout,
using Colemak will make everything messy (wasd or hjkl for arrow key
movements, for example) and you have to spend extra time customizing
your config.
And if typing out poses is all you want to do, speech recognition
program is a far better option (faster and more accurate). Case in
point, lots of people use that to type message on their smart phones.
Lastly, like my comment to your other video, I think not having to
using modifier keys for typing helps a lot more than switching
layout. (QMK mod-tap and tap dances, combined with auto-captialization
mode in Emacs or google doc/MS word)
As your hands don't tire out, you don't make as much mistakes. If you
program in javascript/c etc, having a single key press for symbols like ()_"
are huge wins.
Here's the deal: you map the cursor keys to a modifier layer and use those. That's what cursor keys are meant for. Why does VIM use HJKL? Because they're easier to reach. That's software trying to solve a hardware issue. The cursor keys exist as a software-independent means to move around and they should be used as such. Forget HJKL, fix the underlying problem by making the cursor keys easily accessible on the home row, and you're done.