Learn Gregg Shorthand

I’ve tried learning this on my own… off and on. It is such a cool way of writing quickly. It’s not always easy to practice, though. I’m interested in any tips from people have who are learning this on their own and have experienced some success.

i just printed the whole manual. :D

i have no idea when i’ll start. i have to finish up a few other things first.

I was in this class in highschool, and dropped out because the teacher was also the typing teacher (I had her for that too!) and she was mean (i.e., strict and a perfectionist!) Because of her I learned to type some 90 wpm (on a manual people….I’m 39). Now I wish I’d stayed in shorthand and want to learn.

http://gregg.angelfishy.net/antwtbgr.shtml

Learn to write quick!

I bought the Gregg Shorthand Manual Simplified: Second Edition from Barnes and Noble for only $19.95. I thought the pictures in the book of smiling women from the 1950’s were meant to be a cute reminder of the heyday of shorthand. However, I discovered that the book was last published in 1955 and those pictures are contemporary.

I have worked through lesson 5, and have found that it is much easier than I would have thought. I did discover that it is harder to decipher new outlines at midnight when you are about to fall asleep.

My wife thinks I am.. well.. eccentric at best. I am a computer guy, and type ~90 words per minute. She just doesn’t see the point. However, I think that my typing speed only serves to emphasize my s..l..o..w.. handwriting when I don’t have access to a keyboard.

There are many occasions in which I must take notes in a setting where a laptop would be cumbersome. I suppose I could use a handheld, but there is something so non-concrete and ephemeral about that which bugs me in an unexplainable way. I like the friction of pen on paper. I like the click of keyboards. Sliding a stylus on a slick screen is like writing in air. Okay, maybe I am eccentric.

Very, very useful. When I have to get a recipe down, I just write it down in under 30 seconds. Notes in class are much easier, as is rough-drafting essays since I can quickly brainstorm in shorthand and get my ideas down before trying to tackle writing it.

Even though I haven’t been glued to the manual (been learning on and off for three years and am on the last 5 lessons), it’s still proven immensely useful. My humble 60wpm have proven to be a big asset.

You can’t take a computer everywhere to write important things down, but with a small pad of paper, a pen, and your shorthand knowledge, you have everything you need.

I’ll gladly answer any questions. I learned Simplified.