Ask HN: Do you use a Dvorak keyboard configuration? If so, how did you learn?

It only took a few days of recreational learning to get the basics down. I found a number of lame flash typing games online that helped a lot. There are also a few sites with dvorak-oriented typing tests that can help too.

To get started, I simply switched OSX into dvorak mode in the International preferences panel and then turned on the keyboard viewer to see the layout on screen. I started just doing things like facebook messages, and it was painful. Minutes just to type a few sentences. But within a day it seems reasonable to be up to 15 wpm or so.

The main thing for me was only using it for social communication or typing games, which allows it to remain a fun challenge rather than a big frustration.

I still use qwerty often for dev-related things because the muscle memory for shortcut keys seems harder to overcome than it was for typing words.

I still use a normal QWERTY keyboard, so I put a printout of the specific layout I was using above my monitor. This gave me a way to check if I needed to, while ensuring I had to link the position to actual keys mentally.

I then spent some time each day practicing related words. This helped to bed down a memory of where the keys were and then to build up muscle memory of the combinations. A typical practice could include 'there then that thin thine ten hen her this' etc. This helped to focus on the keystrokes/combinations on a subset of letters.

This works for any keyboard layout - I used the same approach to move from my original hodgepodge approach to QWERTY.

I know I'll probably get downvoted for this but...

I was looking into trying Dvorak a few years ago, and was talking to a friend that used it for a few years. He liked it, said it was a little bit faster for him than QWERTY.

The reason he switched back is because with multiple devices, very few able to use Dvorak, the benefit of being used to using a single common standard (he felt) far out weighted any benefit he got from using Dvorak while on his PC.

This is what turned me away from using Dvorak. Doesn't answer your question, but I thought it might be good to have another opinion here.

I changed my keymap in the OS cold turkey. Making the keycap labels wrong was the easiest way to force myself to learn touch-typing. I was back up to normal speed within a week or two.

Do not rearrange your keys or buy a Dvorak keyboard. This is counter-productive as there's no point switching if you're not going to learn how to touch type.

There's plenty of typing tutors for all platforms, a surprising number support Dvorak and working through their graded lessons will get the common keys memorized in no time.

A print out, open window or desktop background with the key layout will get you through the early stages.

I bought the cheapest keyboard i could find, i rearranged the keys and i installed ktouch, which is a touch-type training program for KDE. Took me about a week to get used to, now people make fun of me for typing slowly on querty, and get shocked when they take a look at my keyboard.

UPDATE:

I forgot to ask if it has increased your WPM and by how much if it has.

change mapping, change keys, type until done