130wpm Gregg Shorthand Dictation - Introduction to Gregg

[TheMatt0220]

Cool, I wish i could write that fast soon, gonna take that exam tomorrow :D

[xBl00dBrothersX]

Hummm, today I learned about "shorthand" ... This video showed me for the very first time what it looks like - and right now I am like "WTF?" What is the point of learning this? Why not get a keyboard and learn to type fast? I average 85wpm with 95% accuracy and I can take notes at school perfectly well with that much speed. Seriously what's the point of this method? Taking notes like this is so uncool.

[ddr4lyfe]

@xBl00dBrothersX There were no netbooks or PDAs in the early 1900s. On a more time-appropriate note: some people prefer to hand-write their notes, as well as there's just something fascinating about handwriting. Typing has it's advantages, but you get no view into the personality of the typist. It's a stylistic difference I would say. Being unique is cool, I'd rather stand out than be just like everyone else.

[xBl00dBrothersX]

@ddr4lyfe Unique is cool and I always like to stand out rather than being part of the "bunch" and be just like them. However, writing like this is totally uncool and this will make a person stand out but this is just plain useless, unnecessary, and quite frankly, stupid. Get a netbook/notebook to take notes instead. I type at 90WPM with 95% accuracy, and besides me there's probably 1-2 more that type and get nowhere near my speed (class is of about 120), so with my typing speed I standout enough

[ddr4lyfe]

@xBl00dBrothersX I thoroughly enjoyed your counter-argument. I believe that in this day and age, that either is just as productive/applicable. I decide to hand write my notes over taking my laptop because I find that there are too many distractions if I take my laptop (Internet, games, IMing, etc.). Also, call me crazy, but I love the way that a pen glides across paper. I say that if you already type at over 60 WPM in typing, there's no need to learn a potentially faster method of note-taking.

[looktalike]

@ddr4lyfe @xBl00dBrothersX I currently type at about 90wpm with the Dvorak keyboard layout and 110+ on QWERTY, but I was raised on the keyboard. I'm actually interested in learning shorthand (I'm probably going to go with Gregg Simplified) because I currently need to take notes at Uni, but cannot bring my laptop to class. My writing speed is very, very, low. The professors speed through slides before I can take down everything to my notebook. Learning shorthand wouldn't be useless for me.

[ddr4lyfe]

@looktalike I tried Dvorak once but could NOT get the handle of it, QWERTY has been embedded into my brain too much. I'm taking a shot at learning Teeline because Gregg is too abstract looking to me.

[looktalike]

@ddr4lyfe Never looked too much into Teeline, though it seems pretty straightforward. I started using Dvorak cold turkey last December, using a "blank" keyboard. It was VERY hard at first. After about 4 days I was able to get my speed to 15wpm, then Instant Messages pulled me through. Can still type using QWERTY, but I prefer Dvorak, plus my hands don't hurt as much when typing for a long time. Still, It took me about 16 years to get to 110+wpm with QWERTY; took 1 year to get to 90 with Dvorak.

[xBl00dBrothersX]

@ddr4lyfe 60WPM is nowhere near enough to take nearly-perfect notes during class. I'm at 90 and feel I can still go up to 100 and still keep my 95% accuracy. Anyway, at first I meant to bash this "hand-writing" method, but now I feel I must apologize. But I must hold my stand: I still strongly believe there is absolutely no point in learning in this time and age. I also strongly believe this is uncool. I really need someone to tell me why anyone would want to learn this "weird" note-taking skill

[looktalike]

@xBl00dBrothersX It's like I already said. I can't bring a laptop to my classes, and I need to write down powerpoint slides as the professor quickly buzzes through them, as well as note what he's saying during his lectures. Printing is too slow for getting this done, and shorthand seems to be an ideal non-electronic solution.

[ZarocLow1994]

Why do they write on only half of the paper? Is it so they can go back and transcribe their notes so they understand them?

[KimmyGibson]

@ZarocLow1994 I learned Gregg in high school and college in the 70s. IIRC correctly the use of half page was merely for speed. To proceed to the next line, the writer need only 'return' from 1/2 a page to the next line rather than having to 'return' from across a full page, with almost no need to lift the hand to do so. Shorthand notebooks were designed with a red line down the middle indicating when to 'return' to the next line.

[EpicAthiest]

I'm learning Probaway shorthand. It's the easiest and slowest shorthand of all since it converts the words of the alphabet directly to symbols, but college is starting so I'll have to be happy with 80 WPM.

[stahlawhile]

If anyone has found a gregg shorthand plugin to any online text tool so I can actually type in shorthand - please email me about it. stahlawhile@gmail.com Now THAT would be sexy! Pat Stahl

[stahlawhile]

I remember specifically why I took shorthand all through high school - I was the only guy in a class with 29 girls :-) It made passing notes much safer in other classes too when the teacher couldn't read them aloud to the class when she confiscated them :-) 130wpm is really impressive. I was left handed so I wrote down the right side of the page first and then moved to the left. Used to drive my instructor crazy but I got less ink on the side of my hand and I was really a lot faster.

[haxor758]

GREAT! now what does it say again

[muffemod]

COOL VACUUM CLEANER

[DepartmentOfLove]

Hellanguage.

[JerrySpock]

I've started learning Gregg, and I've noticed that's some words that are very similar in how they're written. For example, Dear and Deem. Need and Made. When you're writing like this, do you worry very much about the subtle details, or do you just figure it out from the context of the sentence?

[lisitsamic]

When you condense words to 2 or 3 strokes, you will have to rely more on context but not in the examples above. 'mate & mat' are the drawn the same but 'need & made' are completely different, and you have to learn to recognise and reproduce these differences. 'Need' is produced with a short horizontal line, a small circle and a long diagonal line. 'Made' is a long horizontal line, a LARGE circle and a long diagonal line.

The good thing is that we all can learn to notice these differences.

[macron12388]

@TheArabiandesert No, these aren't the characters to any of those languages. These are phonetic represntations used in Gregg shorthand. Oh wait I think I know what you meant, are you asking if you can apply this to other languages? I am pretty sure you can.

[KittyBentley]

Gregg shorthand gives me a headache, but I love taking my notes in it so that when lazy people ask if they can copy them, I just hand them the shorthand notes.  The look on their faces is priceless.

[intellaricovision]

@KittyBentley, lol. I can imagine their faces...I would love to do that..

[KittyBentley]

@intellaricovision It's actually very, very fun. The perplexed look is to die for.

[angelfishynet]

Fun! I'm surprised I haven't seen this yet. Neat to see my own words being dictated. :-D

[Mal1234567]

I see you were running out of steam towards the end. "Dependent" looks like "depended." "On" looks like "or." You skipped part of "he or she" and just wrote "he." And I wonder about the readability of the entire text. I see you provided longer versions of some forms which could be shorter, such as "why." In my Gregg, "why" is shortened to the dipthongal "i." Whereas you included the 'w' sound. Well, whatever works for you.

[zeebraneighbah]

you have good handwriting

[notfromlongbeach]

stop scribbling

[mkd1964]

mbfla,

Yes, and the short form for "Gregg Shorthand" is: G crossed by SH. I think that's quite inventive. But that's the cool thing about this "language". It's adaptable. I took all my Microbiology class notes (even lab notes) in shorthand and made an 'A'.

I actually think shorthand improved my ability to remember things I had written down. I just saw "shapes" for ideas instead of word-for-word translations or rote memorization.

[icannotfalter]

lol, "um... that's it."

[michaelisitsa]

Ha, it was a lucky bunch of factors.

My desk has a bench above my head, and I have this little mini tripod that can wrap itself around objects. The image was upside down so I then used one of those free 'video flip' tools that you find on google.

PS - this is the author, although I have a few usernames which I've never managed to narrow down to 1.

[Dracopol]

How did you place a camera so well over what you were writing?

[mbfla]

I note this is in Gregg Shorthand - in the "Gregg Simplified" form -- I learned the next version, Gregg "Diamond Jubilee" form, but went back and learned Simplified as well. The example is the outline for the word "shorthand" -- in Simplified it's sh-and in DJ it's sh-t-nd...

[Dracopol]

By the way, I was inspired by videos like this to make a crude video of my own explaining the basics of Pitman Shorthand, only because I was surfing around and saw nothing on YouTube so far about Pitman. It will be in 3 parts. I will be posting it on my alias account very soon.

My intention is not to start a war; I am okay with any kind of shorthand system as I mention at the end of the video.

[Dracopol]

My original videos were badly focussed, so I revised my 3-part video and you should find it in my member account.

[Dracopol]

Another site about Gregg is shorthandshorthandshorthand(do­t)com.

I run a Web-site about Pitman shorthand which was prevalent in the UK and the Commonwealth, but suffered a similar decline like Gregg for the same reasons. In an attempt to popularize it, it was over-simplified in the 70's. My site is pitmanshorthand(dot)homestead(­dot)com and features the older method of Pitman New Era (1922-1975). Pitman is often written more up-and-down and needs somewhat wider standard lines of 3/8".

[IhaveaKugelschreiber]

Yeah I've sometimes wondered whether an up-and-down system would be more suited to some uses.

I live in the australia actually, and here every person that i've met that did shorthand is a 50 year old woman, and they all did pitman. Its amazing how gregg never even got a foothold here in Australia

[Dracopol]

No, I don't necessarily agree that a system that allows you to go up and down is better. Ideally a shorthand should be linear, always written in the same direction. There are some Pitman words which go down, down, down and never up and clutter up the following line. Some strokes were written right to left, which could also cause congestion of the outline. After a few decades they changed the alphabet of Pitman completely so there were fewer right-to-left strokes.

[shanrene08]

its so amazing to watch your steno typing speeds up, i hope i can have the same speed as you do, hope i can catch your speed, bravo

[apolloniavitelli]

Question: I noticed in other videos that people split their paper down the middle. Why is that??

Thanks for uploading btw

[kakerlakenklo]

Good question. I also wondered why.

[AzBower]

Greetings fellow shorthand pilgrims.

I can write shorthand clearly at 150+ words per minute, and dictate at twice that speed.

The reason the page is divided in half is to increase ones speed, if the paper is halved in width, it is therefore easier and quicker to return to the start of the next line.

[Omnipharious]

how long did it take you to learn?

how often did you practice?

how long have you been practicing?

how long have you been doing shorthand (as a master)?

where did you learn?

what do you recommend to learn?

what do you recommend to buy?

[Webrider101]

Yeah, what he said...

Shorthand is like a new language that I need to learn if i want to be a journalist...

[Dracopol]

I learned Pitman Shorthand during a bout of unemployment, took a couple of hundred hours of practice. It helped to read more than one book. But I was associating the printed word to symbols which is not ideal since it creates an extra step of thought in your brain. You should hear sounds and immediately associate sounds with the right symbols to write. At maximum of 80-90 words per minute I am not a master, but much better than ordinary people stuck at the 30-35 wpm of handwriting.

[eakiofval]

will you teach me how to do shorthand? i've been dying to learn it my mother wants me to learn it and it'd be great for me in highschool keep in mind i'm only 13 so we have to start off with the easy basics if you would teach me.. please reply ASAP..

[teelineuk]

Hi I really enjoy watching your videos. Im learning Teeline (as you can guess from the handle) its been about a month i guess and im up to 50 WPM with it. im happy. I dont like gregg for one reason ~ there are too many vowels. im sure this really helps when reading back but i just cant get the hang of it.

Teeline four journalists has a good method to teaching.

I think its amazing that so many people still like shorthand! its an amazing skill to have!

[ltlnphngrphfrth1e6]

By all means there could be an aversion to you and many circles and hooks in your writing, but its not a problem that I've heard described too often in the learning of Gregg Shorthand.

On the contrary, Dr Gregg himself described the benefits of joining strokes with circles rather than forming accurate angles at high speed. You have to consider the beauty of the system you learn as well. Can you guess my bias?

[teelineuk]

Can you guess my bias?

Yeah, its pitman right?

Nah just joking. I agree that at high speeds circles are gonna help but I love the simplicity of Teeline. do you guys have teeline down under?

[ocergnairb]

Hello again,

How are your Shorthand studies going?

I've been continuing to work and have attained around 80 words per minute.

I just have a quick question...

What type of pen are you using?

It looks like just a fountain pen, but I am looking to purchase one and the one used in this video looks very aptly designed for writing shorthand (especially Gregg).

Do you happen to know where you purchased it?

Thank you!

-Brian

[ltlnphngrphfrth1e6]

Its a Lamy Safari. Lamy's a German company, and this is a very popular inexpensive pen of theirs. In Germany it is marketed towards students because it is made of hard-wearing plastic, has a very industrial design, and a hard nib that's not likely to get damaged.

I heartily recommend this pen, but invest in a converter cartridge that allows you to fill the pen up from a bottle. Those bottles last forever unlike the pre-packaged cartridges.

[ocergnairb]

Thank you very much for your recommendations!

-Brian

[ocergnairb]

Hi, sorry; one more question...

What size nib is on that Safari? I was thinking of purchasing one, but didn't know whether to get a fine nib or extra fine nib.

Thanks so much!

-Brian

[IhaveaKugelschreiber]

Sorry for the late response. Its a medium nib. I also have an EF, although I tend not to use the EF unless I'm doing engineering calculations.

The medium one is very smooth to write with, unlike the EF. I can't comment on the Fine. IT also depends what ink you're using.

[humayun78]

That was amazing: congratulations. I would like to learn a system for the English language. I tried Pitman, but think it's too hard. I prefer Teeline, but still have a few doubts. Gregg just doesn't attract me that much... congratulations again anyway!

[ocergnairb]

Hello again,

I see. Hmm. I think I'll see what I can do with Handywrite, but I'd like to look into some of the older, more "dead" shorthands such as Munson, Pernin, Eclectic and Pitman shorthand. As well, I want to try some Gregg, probably Anniversary or Pre-Anniversary.

See my new video of Handywrite at 40wpm. (I've just been learning for about a month, and I was nervous when writing during the video production...Haha)

Thanks, talk to you later,

Brian

[ltlnphngrphfrth1e6]

Oh Oh. I was enticed by Handywrite as well and spent 4 days on it before I decided to give it up for Gregg Anniversary.

You won't go far with Handywrite, the system is not well thought out. I would call it a bastardization of Gregg. You'll never get past 80 with it. You should move onto at least Gregg Simplified, or anniversary.

[ocergnairb]

Great job!

Your shorthand abilities are very dexterous.

I'm so happy to see some other people out there learning shorthand, and making videos too.

I'm learning a method called Handywrite that is based off the Gregg version, and have reached only to a measly 40-60 words per minute, through about two months of unmethodical self-study.

Hope to possibly see some more videos, and I'm thinking of making some of my own too.

-Brian