[boomercj]

Hey folks!

Does anyone know of a good tutorial (not very expensive would be nice, also) for Left Handed Dvorak keyboarding? Although this has been around for years, I just found out about it. I would love to learn this because in my job, I use the alpha keyboard and the numeric ten keypad all of the time. Learning the left hand dvorak and using my right hand for the 10 key and mouse would be such a time saver and much more efficient. I have done a bit of research on the amazing world wide web and found some tutorials, but I want to make sure that they are geared for Dvorak and not just QWERTY exercises set to a Dvorak keyboard.

My biggest challenge will be that I'm a touch typist with QWERTY (I blow my kids minds when I look and talk to them all the while typing away. They tell me to stop because it's too creepy. I love messing with their little heads.) So anyway, I will have to unlearn QWERTY and learn left hand Dvorak. Has anyone done this? Is it relatively simple? Am I setting myself up for disaster?

I have already found out how to switch the keyboard from QWERTY to Left Hand Dvorak in the control panel. What I discovered is that some of the keyboard layouts out there on the amazing world wide web don't actually correspond with Microsofts idea of Left Hand Dvorak. I also understand that Dvorak keyboards are quite expensive, but it's relatively simple to switch the keys on a standard keyboard.

Thanks for your input in advance.

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http://en.wikipedia....lified_Keyboard any help?

[dsenette]

http://en.wikipedia....lified_Keyboard any help?

[boomercj]

I've already been there. I've printed out the keyboard layout. What I'm really looking for is a 'Mavis Beacon(fused)' does Dvorak, or something along that line.

edit - just read that Mavis is no longer supporting Dvorak.

Edited by boomercj, 01 November 2006 - 02:38 PM.

[Johanna]

Well, I got suspended in the seventh grade (1976?) for telling the typing teacher her class was dumb, I didn't care if I passed it or not and that when I was a grown up, I would have a secretary. I never learned to touch type, or even close, but I can type about 70 wpm fairly accurately with two hands or just one. I found out that I could type with one hand the hard way, after I shattered the wrist for my dominant hand and had four nails holding the whole thing together for about 6 months.

What does this have to do with your question, you ask? First, I commend you for being adventurous enough to try an alternative keyboard. If I tried a non-qwerty keyboard, I would write the great American novel that could never be read. I will be interested at the advice you get, and how it works out for you re-teaching yourself to type. (Imagine a piano with all the keys mixed up!) But maybe you could teach yourself to use your superior qwerty skills to type with one hand, and enter numbers with the other more quickly than mastering Dvorak? I wonder. It was so easy for me to learn that I wonder if it wouldn't be a snap for you, because I have too many bad habits to list, and if I didn't have a split keyboard, I'd probably tie my fingers in knots. You already are so comfortable with your keyboard that you are creeping out your kids. I don't even want my kids to watch me type, because I'm embarrassed.



So no, I didn't add anything useful to this thread, but I hope you let us know how this works out for you. If you don't mind sharing progress reports, I'd love to know what you ultimately decide to do, and how easy or hard it is to make the switch, especially because you already know how to type well without looking on a qwerty board. I agree that entering data with letters with one hand and the numbers on the other would be more efficient, because I did similar work for years as the financial secretary at my church. (If I had to do it on my laptop I would buy a USB number pad!) Best of luck with this!

Johanna

[dsenette]

http://www.powertyping.com/
http://typingsoft.co...ping_tutors.htm
http://sourceforge.n...cts/typefaster/
http://sourceforge.n...mp;words=dvorak

[boomercj]

http://dvzine.org/type/DVtutor.html

This was a link from Wikipedia. Everything I find is for two handed typing. I really don't want to learn two handed Dvorak and then try to learn just with the left - the keyboard is laid out differently. I have the keyboard for left printed out and taped to my monitor for reference and I set up the keyboard to switch from QWERTY to LH Dvorak at the touch of a button. I just want to know where to place my 'home row' fingers on the LHDvorak keyboard. The rest I think I can figure out from there.

Johanna - Thanks for the support. I love learning new ways to do things. I just wished I had this desire to learn when I was 100 years younger.

[boomercj]

Thanks dsnette. I've already checked out http://www.powertyping.com/ but that was for two handed typing. I'll have to see what the others offer. If I'm going to do this, I want to do it to suit my purposes which is, alpha input with left hand, 10 keypad/mouse input with the right hand. I know, I know, I'm so picky.

[boomercj]

But maybe you could teach yourself to use your superior qwerty skills to type with one hand, and enter numbers with the other more quickly than mastering Dvorak? I wonder.

The idea behind a Dvorak layout is that the keys are positioned in a way that makes it easier to use. The QWERTY layout is to make it easier for the keys on typewriters - frequently used letters are on opposite sides so the keys won't get jammed. Dvorak lets hands work faster. I think if I tried to use only my left hand on a QWERTY, there would be a whole lot of wasted movement from one end of the keyboard to the other.