The Dvarak Learning Experiences of Vaughn H. Seward --------------------------------------------------- The following is a day-by-day log of my progress of learning the Dvarak keyboard layout. 1. 2001/Jul/25: ABCD Lessons 1-3 (U H E T), 4-5 (O N). A few days ago someone mentioned in one of the email newsgroups I belong to that they use the Dvorak keyboard. I had wanted to do this a few years ago too but it was impractical at the time. Now with our modern operating systems this is very easy to do and it isn't hard to switch back & forth. I am on vacation so I took the opportunity to go for it. This first day was awkward and it was difficult finding the letters that my mind wanted to type. To accellerate my progress I did a web search and found an on-line Dvorak Tutor: http://www.karelia.com/abcd/abcd.html My approach is to work through a few of the 29 on-line ABCD Lessons each day and then go cold-turkey with Dvorak in a week or so. In the meantime I plan to also use Dvorak as much as possible in my everyday typing. 2. 2001/Jul/26: ABCD Lessons 6-8 (A S I D). I have left my PC on Dvorak & so everything I type takes a lot longer to do now. Even so, I am beginning to see the advantages of the Dvorak layout. Most of the letters in the new layout seem natural to me and some of them I get confused (e.g. t/n, f/g, q/j). I think the thing I most get wrong is the period ("."). 3. 2001/Jul/27: ABCD Lessons 9-10 (P G). I know where all of the letters are and have been touch-typing from the start. However I now have to concentrate as my brain keeps slipping back to QWERTY. I found and downloaded a Dvorak-capable keyboard for my Palm-based Handspring visor so I'll be able to "practice" just about anywhere. 4. 2001/Jul/28: Lesson 11. I no longer need to refer to the little Dvorak chart I printed out but my speed is relatively slow. I decided to test my speed every so often in order to monitor my progress. Speed: Dvorak: 18 words/minute; Qwerty: 46 words/minute (text: Lesson 11). 5. 2001/Jul/29: ABCD Lessons 12-13 (. C) I feel I am progressing but more practice will be required to get where I'd like to be. Today I discovered another keyboard designed for one-finger typing as with PDA's such as the Palm (Fitaly). I spent a fair amount of time trying it out -- it seems promising for use on the Palm. Speed: Dvorak: 15 words/minute; Qwerty: 39 words/minute (text: pedit manual). 6. 2001/Jul/30: Lesson 14 (, R) This is the last day of my vacation. I had Dvorak turned on for most of the day but in the late afternoon and evening I went back to QWERTY as I had a lot of typing to do and I felt I was typing too slow. 7. 2001/Jul/31: Lesson 15 () It is beginning to come a little easier today. 8. 2001/Aug/01: ABCD Lessons 16-17 (' L) I am finding that I can type faster and more accurately when I am typing from a document. When I am thinking up what I'm typing, my mind gets distracted from Dvorak and tends to slip back into Qwerty. On the other hand I think that once I get going with Dvorak that my accuracy will be better at higher typing speeds. Speed: Dvorak: 16 words/minute; Qwerty: 47 words/minute (text: random newspaper article). 9. 2001/Aug/02: ABCD Lessons 18-19 (F Y) The letters are tending to fall more quickly under each finger as each day of practice passes. 10. 2001/Aug/03: ABCD Lessons 20-21 (K M) Today I used the Dvorak keyboard all day and made out okay...it was a vacation day but I was doing a fair amount of typing. 11. 2001/Aug/04: ABCD Lessons 22-23 (J W) I have to confess that using Dvorak has altered my data input habits in an unexpected way. I used to use the and keyboard commands to copy and paste from the clipboard. With Dvorak the "C" and "V" keys, of course, are on the other side of the keyboard. Instead of re-learning the new positions for these keyboard commands, I found myself using the mouse instead (right-clicking in Windows brings up a sub-menu that almost always has Copy & Paste on it). 12. 2001/Aug/05: ABCD Lessons 24-25 (Q V) Today I found a Windows typing tutor, KP Typing Tutor, that was designed to properly support Dvorak. It was developed by Zijian Huang of Australia. You can download it free from: http://www.arlido.com/zijianhuang/kpe.html To get it to run Dvorak you need to change the settings in the "Advanced Options" which requires the password "love". It works quite well and I have started using it, however I plan to finish the on-line ABCD course. 13. 2001/Aug/06: ABCD Lessons 26-27 (; Z) Tody was another vacation day so I had Dvorak on all day. Using it continues to get more comfortable. 14. 2001/Aug/07: ABCD Lessons 28-29 (X B); Cold Turkey Day 1 I finished the last lesson of the ABCD course tonight. Today I also went cold-turkey with Dvorak at work without a hitch...I think I'm going to make it. There's no turning back now. 15. 2001/Aug/08: KP Course 27-99/278; Cold Turkey Day 2 Speed: Dvorak: 18 words/minute; (text: newspaper article). 16. 2001/Aug/09: KP Course 95-170/278; Cold Turkey Day 3 Going cold turkey really forces you to "do or die"... fortunately it has been mostly "do". 17. 2001/Aug/10: KP Course 171-211/278; Cold Turkey Day 4 I had lot of typing to do today but I got through it okay. At times my brain wants to type 50 or 60 words per minute but my Dvorak fingers can only go 20 words per minute. Then the demon Qwerty jumps in... I had to use someone else's Qwerty computer today. It was very strange, I had to keep looking at the keyboard. Speed: Dvorak: 21 words/minute; (text: newspaper article). 18. 2001/Aug/11: KP Course 212-221/278; Cold Turkey Day 5 Again, when I am paying full attention to Dvorak I go along fairly well. When I am in a hurry and my brain is pumping commands to my fingers there is a little confusion and my speed suffers considerably. However, for fun I switched the Qwerty back on for a few moments to see if I could still type the Qwerty layout. It was very awkward and found it harder than when I first switched to Dvorak. Speed: Dvorak: 23 wpm; (source: KP course). 19. 2001/Aug/12: KP Course 222-250/278; Cold Turkey Day 6 20. 2001/Aug/13: Cold Turkey Day 7 KP Course 251-278/278; Sentence Drills It seems to be going fairly well although my speed doesn't seem to be able to exceed 23 wpm. I will be able to go faster when my brain starts learning more groups of common letters like "ough" or "ing". Speed: Dvorak: 23 words/minute; (text: newspaper article). Week 1 avg: 21 wpm. 21. 2001/Aug/14: Cold Turkey Day 8 WKT Dos Dvorak typing tutor, Tom's Tale#01 Speed: Dvorak: 25 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #01). 22. 2001/Aug/15: Cold Turkey Day 9 I did't do any typing tutor work today as I did enough typing during the day. I am feeling more & more comfortable with Dvorak but when I am really flowing there is a lot of 'back-spacing' going on. Hopefully this will improve with time. 23. 2001/Aug/16: Cold Turkey Day 10 Again, another day & evening with a lot of typing! 23. 2001/Aug/17: Cold Turkey Day 11 Speed: Dvorak: 26 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #02). There was lots of typing again today and not as much "back spacing" over Qwerty errors. However, today I was using a co-worker's Qwerty keyboard and really noticed for the first time how poorly some of the Qwerty keys are arranged! 24. 2001/Aug/18: Cold Turkey Day 12 (Week 2) Speed: Dvorak: 30 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #03). I am starting to feel a rythm in many phrases that I type. 25. 2001/Aug/19: Cold Turkey Day 13 (Week 2) I've noticed I've begun using the ctrl-C and ctrl-V for Copy/Paste in Windows -- when a first started with Dvorak I tended to avoid this and used mouse clicking for this. Speed: Dvorak: 30 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #04). 26. 2001/Aug/20: Cold Turkey Day 14 (Week 2) Speed: Dvorak: 25 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #05). Week 2 avg: 27 wpm. 27. 2001/Aug/21: Cold Turkey Day 15 (Week 3) A lot of typing today...and more "finger stumbling" than I'd like. Speed: Dvorak: 27 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #05). 28. 2001/Aug/22: Cold Turkey Day 16 (Week 3) Speed: Dvorak: 29 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #06). 29. 2001/Aug/23: Cold Turkey Day 17 (Week 3) Speed: Dvorak: 30 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #07). 30. 2001/Aug/24: Cold Turkey Day 18 (Week 3) I am beginning to feel some improvement today. Speed: Dvorak: 31 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #08). 31. 2001/Aug/25: Cold Turkey Day 19 (Week 3) Speed: Dvorak: 31 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #09). 32. 2001/Aug/26: Cold Turkey Day 20 (Week 3) Speed: Dvorak: 32 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #10). 33. 2001/Aug/27: Cold Turkey Day 21 (Week 3) Improvement seems to be accelerating. Speed: Dvorak: 35 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #11). Week 3 avg: 31 wpm. 34. 2001/Aug/28: Cold Turkey Day 22 (Week 4) 35. 2001/Aug/29: Cold Turkey Day 23 (Week 4) Speed: Dvorak: 33 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #12). 36. 2001/Aug/30: Cold Turkey Day 24 (Week 4) Speed: Dvorak: 33 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #13). 37. 2001/Aug/31: Cold Turkey Day 24 (Week 4) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #14). 38. 2001/Sep/1: Cold Turkey Day 25 (Week 4) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #15). 39. 2001/Sep/2: Cold Turkey Day 26 (Week 4) Speed: Dvorak: 33 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #16). 40. 2001/Sep/3: Cold Turkey Day 27 (Week 4) 41. 2001/Sep/4: Cold Turkey Day 28 (Week 4) Speed: Dvorak: 31 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #17). My speed is getting worse! Maybe I was tired when I took the test. I feel I am improving but I still haven't "busted out" as it were. Week 4 avg: 33 wpm. 42. 2001/Sep/5: Cold Turkey Day 29 (Week 5) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #18). 43. 2001/Sep/6: Cold Turkey Day 30 (Week 5) 44. 2001/Sep/7: Cold Turkey Day 31 (Week 5) Speed: Dvorak: 31 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #19). 45. 2001/Sep/8: Cold Turkey Day 32 (Week 5) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #20). 46. 2001/Sep/9: Cold Turkey Day 33 (Week 5) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #21). 47. 2001/Sep/10: Cold Turkey Day 34 (Week 5) Speed: Dvorak: 32 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #22). 48. 2001/Sep/11: Cold Turkey Day 35 (Week 5) Speed: Dvorak: 36 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #23). Week 5 avg: 33 wpm. My average has leveled off -- I think the exercises may be getting tougher. 49. 2001/Sep/12: Cold Turkey Day 36 (Week 6) Speed: Dvorak: 32 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #24). 50. 2001/Sep/13: Cold Turkey Day 37 (Week 6) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #25). 51. 2001/Sep/14: Cold Turkey Day 38 (Week 6) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #26). I think I'm finally feeling comfortable with Dvorak! My speed is not the 50-60 wpm that I once had. It is now consistantly at around 34 wpm and I am able to type as fast as I think without a lot of "stumbling" and back-spacing which was so characteristic of my first few weeks. My wife and I spontaneously invented a little Dvorak/Qwerty game today. I was showing her my newly-aquired Dvorak skills and in the process invited her to try typing something which would be a real challenge for her as the keys are still marked for Qwerty. Instead, she wrote me a little message in Qwerty and asked me to figure out what she had written. It looked something like: Kagidb O.,ape frg ap. mf dgoxabev I was used to finding letters by touch on the Dvorak layout and not the other way around. It was a greater challenge than I thought as I had to letter-by-letter locate the Dvorak position of the letter and transpose it back to what my wife had intended to type in Qwerty. 52. 2001/Sep/15: Cold Turkey Day 39 (Week 6) Speed: Dvorak: 38 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #27). 53. 2001/Sep/16: Cold Turkey Day 40 (Week 6) Speed: Dvorak: 36 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #28). 54. 2001/Sep/17: Cold Turkey Day 41 (Week 6) Speed: Dvorak: 35 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #29). 55. 2001/Sep/18: Cold Turkey Day 42 (Week 6) Speed: Dvorak: 37 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #30). 56. 2001/Sep/19: Cold Turkey Day 43 (Week 7) Speed: Dvorak: 35 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #31). 57. 2001/Sep/20: Cold Turkey Day 44 (Week 7) 58. 2001/Sep/21: Cold Turkey Day 45 (Week 7) 59. 2001/Sep/22: Cold Turkey Day 46 (Week 7) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #32). 60. 2001/Sep/23: Cold Turkey Day 47 (Week 7) Speed: Dvorak: 33 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #33). 61. 2001/Sep/24: Cold Turkey Day 48 (Week 7) Speed: Dvorak: 37 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #34). 62. 2001/Sep/25: Cold Turkey Day 49 (Week 7) Speed: Dvorak: 36 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #35). 63. 2001/Sep/26: Cold Turkey Day 50 (Week 8) 63. 2001/Sep/27: Cold Turkey Day 51 (Week 8) 64. 2001/Sep/28: Cold Turkey Day 52 (Week 8) 65. 2001/Sep/29: Cold Turkey Day 53 (Week 8) Speed: Dvorak: 37 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #36). 66. 2001/Sep/30: Cold Turkey Day 54 (Week 8) Speed: Dvorak: 35 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #38). 67. 2001/Oct/1: Cold Turkey Day 55 (Week 8) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #37). 68. 2001/Oct/2: Cold Turkey Day 56 (Week 8) 69. 2001/Oct/3: Cold Turkey Day 57 (Week 9) Speed: Dvorak: 36 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #39). 69. 2001/Oct/4: Cold Turkey Day 58 (Week 9) Speed: Dvorak: 34 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #40). 70. 2001/Oct/5: Cold Turkey Day 59 (Week 9) 71. 2001/Oct/6: Cold Turkey Day 60 (Week 9) Speed: Dvorak: 37 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #41). 72. 2001/Oct/7: Cold Turkey Day 61 (Week 9) Speed: Dvorak: 36 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #42). 73. 2001/Oct/8: Cold Turkey Day 62 (Week 9) Speed: Dvorak: 39 words/minute; (text: Tom's Tale #43).