5/21/2009 3:46:42 AM permalink
Dvorak Posts 2	I have been using typingmaster pro for only a few days, having sampled it through the trial and then bought it. It avoids all gimmicks and assumes that the user is willing to put in the concentration and many hours required. There are no short cuts, just methodical progress that (believe me!) feels like hard work - and it's worth remembering that it's probably pointless working on it for much more than half an hour a day. - I tried, and found that the error-count shot up as self-esteem took a dive. If other users' experience is anything like mine (as an experienced quick hunt 'n' peck typist) they will find that they sail through until lesson 5, when the (not unreasonable) requirement to use upper case may suddenly slow them down considerably. One problem I have just now found in lesson 5 is the similarity onscreen between upper case 'i' and lower case 'l'. The difference is very slight, so it is all too easy to misread one for the other, with the result that the user is for a while at a loss to know why the keystoke is repeatedly marked as incorrect. --- Or am I just slow-witted? (This is a rhetorical question.) By the way, the typing above is still (corrected) hunt 'n' peck --- since, as I say, I'm still on Lesson 5. I anticipate some difficulty in weaning myself off my old bad typing 'method', and suspect that I'll have to run the two in tandem - i.e. typingmaster 'correct' practice alongside 'bad' hunt 'n' pecking. I wonder if other users have comments on this - did they continue 'pecking' while learning touch typing? If not, how did they manage in emails etc during the months before their touch typing got up to speed?
	5/25/2009 4:24:03 AM permalink
Anniina Posts 15	Hello, Thank you for sharing your experiences with other users of TypingMaster. We fully agree with you in that practicing with the program for longer than 30-40 minutes a day can become counter productive. Regular shorter sessions will work much better. The problem between upper case 'i' and lowercase 'l' is something we are aware of and have been trying to solve and currently use the "serif" typeface instead of "sans-serif" to distinct the two. At the moment this is our best shot at solving the issue - if you have any suggestion, we would be pleased to consider it. Learning to capitalize in lesson 5 will show in your progress statistics as a short-term decline. Do not become discouraged! The ratio of uppercase letters in the drills will lessen to their normal usage once you complete lesson 5 and you will soon see your results at their usual level. I would be interested in hearing what other users have to say about managing their routine typing tasks while trying to learn to touch type. Personally, I would go for a mix of new and old, most importantly keeping fingers anchored to the home row and looking at the keyboard for the "unlearned" keys. With correct anchoring and looking at the keyboard, you are likely to get unlearned keys right even if you've not yet proceeded to them in TypingMaster. Keep us posted on how you are getting on! -- Best regards, Anniina K. TypingMaster Team
	5/28/2009 7:52:47 AM permalink
Dvorak Posts 2	Anniina, you write: The problem between upper case 'i' and lowercase 'l' is something we are aware of and have been trying to solve and currently use the "serif" typeface instead of "sans-serif" to distinct the two. At the moment this is our best shot at solving the issue - if you have any suggestion, we would be pleased to consider it. My reply: Using a serif typeface would help distinguish the two. (But the latest version of the program still uses sans-serif.) Perhaps you could use one colour for all upper case letters? However, on my keyboard (English British) the distinction is already present, viz.: lowerc case l (elle) & upper case I (eye). So if the horizontal strokes were shown on the capital I there would be no lasting confusion. Regarding keyboards - I use the English British keyboard and find that at lesson 7.2 the program's pacing presupposes that the apostrophe (') and the double inverted commas (") will share the same key (extended right hand little finger), the difference being only that for " shift is required. But on the English British keyboard " shares the '2' key on the top row, as your onscreen keyboard illustrates. Use of " therefore requires a significant displacement of the left hand in order to reach it. Since you are encouraging in all the earlier stages familiarity with the central ASFDF JKL: row, with carefully staged departures from it (e.g. firstly ERT UIO, then C,.) it seems unfortunate that the Brit has to take this sudden bungee jump into the beyond. I see no solution to this situation other than your writing a separate program (from Lesson 7) for the English British keyboardist . . . and I don't suppose that that's going to happen. As for attempting a mix of old (bad hunt 'n' peck) and new (good typingmaster) typing practices, at present I disagree. If the old practice is (as in my case ) very secure, and therefore relatively fast and efficient, I think it may be preferable to keep the two practices separate, only switching to touch-typing once speed and correctness are more or less on a par with the old bad method. But it remains to be seen. On we go.
	5/28/2009 11:36:06 PM permalink
Anniina Posts 15	Hello again, Thank you for getting back to us with more feedback. In our key drills, the serif typeface is used only for the specific letters lowercase l (elle) and upper case I (eye). All other letters are with sans serif typeface in key drills, whilst other drill types, tests and games always use serif typeface. See the attached screenshot as example. I have recorded your suggestion of using color coding the uppercase letters as a feature suggestion for future development. The quotation marks on the British keyboard can be challenging. However, as they are fairly extensively used in routine typing, we have decided to include them in the course regardless. Again, as with the capital letters, after lesson 7 their ratio will diminish. Thanks again! -- Best regards, Anniina K. TypingMaster Team Attachments: il.JPG
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