The Gregg Group was founded 22 May 2004, prompted by the lack of online shorthand resources. As the primary use for shorthand — business and legal recording — has waned in recent decades, we generally acclaim the skill as a hobby or personal tool. The purpose of the group is to promote the use of Gregg systems of shorthand by providing advice to beginners, support for students, and an association of users of this efficient, attractive, and enjoyable method of writing.
Have just received the book. Was surprised to see someone had neatly clipped off the bottom 1/4 page of the first page with shorthand content, probably to have that “missing” sample of the example of how to do your homework. Could someone email me a scan of the first two pages of written shorthand (as page 2 is the opposite side of page 1. The book looks extremely interesting, tomorrow I’ll have a chance to examine it more thoroughly.
(by jrganniversary for everyone)
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Or a photocopy by snailmail would do. With respect to others asking which system book to buy, I think it really depends if you're a beginner on what you want to use shorthand for … however I do emphatically recommend the Functional Method manuals of all versions where available. Reading well-written shorthand is so important in learning to form the words!
Chuck, thanks so much. I've downloaded the jpegs and will make good use of them.
Odd that anyone would carefully clip out the content from the book I just receivved … it was done neatly, with I presume an exacto knife.
I'm very enthused about this book – the shorthand is so beautifully written … I plan on "taking" the entire course.
I found the book for approximately $30 from an Amazon reseller 10 days ago … it must have been in someone's personal library because the condition is excellent … clean, binding intact, a corner of the first blank page torn off, probably for use as a bookmark.
I was amused by the 1916 m-o-t-r for "motor" and the 1929 m-o-t-reverse e for the same word in the first exercise of Swem's Intensive Drills in Vocabulary Building. Of course I first learned m-o-t-r from simpolified in 1958.
The overall consistency in Gregg is remarkable. I am so pleased (and surprised) at the availability of the older out-of-print material.
I had thought of looking for the simpliied edition of the subject book but feel it now would be superluous for my purposes as I'm most happy with the 1945 book.
What a surprise. I just reviewed my order and the book was only $13.95 including postage. What a bargain!
Hmm … is there a teacher's key available, perhaps a photocopy?
Zoubek's shorthand is really a pleasure to read. As I remember, he also wrote for the Simplified series.
Both Zoubek and Swem should be used as models for everyone who wants to write Gregg.
I could snail-mail you a photocopy if you like. Are you talking about page x that has "Penmanship Drills", or page 1 which is labeled "Part I/Assignment 1/1. High-Speed Pointers"? I'm curious where you located the book and how much you had to pay for it . . . it sure doesn't show up in the usual places like E-Bay or ABE.com very often. Alex
OK, in all fairness, I just woke up from an afternoon nap and my brain isn't fully engaged. I re-read your message and see it's pages 1-2 you need . . . My scanner makes huge files–I haven't figured out how to get it to save scans in a reasonable format. So a photocopy would be simpler for me. But if someone else can send you a scan that's great. Alex
I have posted them in the Documents section of the site. The titles are expert-page-1.jpg and expert-page-2.jpg. Let me know when you download them so that I can delete the pages from the site.
I'm glad I was of help. Let us know if you need anything else. The shorthand in both the Simplified and Anniversary versions of the book was written by Charles Zoubek. $13.95 is not bad at all!
Yes, there is. It's 220 pages. I would need to scan it though. Let me see what I can do.
You definitely got a bargain! I bought a copy several years ago for $25 from someone on abe.com . . . at that time I couldn't locate any other copies of the book, and definitely because of the scarcity $25 seemed like a reasonable asking price. It's interesting how some Gregg publications are abundant, and others are scarce to the point of rarity. The "Gregg Shorthand Junior Manual" comes to mind as a book that never shows up on E-Bay, and apparently there was a book of "Gregg Shorthand Junior Readings" that I've never seen. I also have a copy of the pre-anniversary manual, 1916 edition, that for some reason was published in 3 separate volumes–Part One is bound in red, Part Two in green, and Part Three in gold. Hard bound, and as far as I can tell the identical content of the regular manual, just split into 3 parts. Wonder why . . . The Gregg company surely published everything in the thousands of copies . . . and it's interesting that some have just completely disappeared. Alex
Alex, thanks so much for your reply. Guess my brain was more addled by all the rain the Palm Beaches experienced Friday and Saturday, anyway: Chuck has graciously made .jpg of the two missing pages. I'm having a great time doing the reading practice.
I must really have studies the abbreviations and brief forms when I worked on anniversary, because everything is coming back to me – even "crucial" – "k-r-ish" which I guesed immediately. I doubt now that I can retain all the "Expert Shorthand Speed Course" offers, but I sure liked produce (p-r-o-s) and its derivatives. My goal is to read the material in each lesson several times until I can read it as fast as printed English, then practice writing it carefully looking at the plates several times, then (by use of a recorder) dictate to myself at various speeds, always trying to push the limit. Doing this lesson by lesson, it will take a while … but do I have too much time on my hands? I really enjoy reading and writing shorthand!
Chuck is going to make .jpg of the Teacher's Key to ESSC which will enable me to make use of a re-read as though it were a Functional Manual.
In retrospect, expecially since Anniversary material is so abundantly available, that is the version of Gregg I'd recommend – not just the manual by itself, but Speed Studies (3rd Edition) should be worked on conjointly lesson by lesson with the Manual … or preferably, the 2-volume Functional Method is really the best intro. Although I do think Simplified (which was my basis originally) is a fine alternative, I can't warm up to DJS … I have the texts, but I really dislike the DJS way of defining the "o" hook with "r" or "l" plus I always thought some brief forms had been dropped that should have been retained. Ah, well, guess I'm old fashioned.
I have been unable to find a copy of Taquigraf챠a Gregg Simplificada. One eBay dealer took my money and never delivered, another promised "Simplificada" but delivered a 1955 impression of the 1945 edition, so now I have two copies – one for home and one for work. Do you know of any way to obtain other Taquigraf챠a books with drills beyond the 1945 Manual. (I decided to forget Simplified and just work on the Anniversary (1945) version … very neat, the way they decided to use in English "th" signs for Spanish "ll" … nifty, I thought.) Was there a Spanish version of the shorthand dictionary?
I would like to find a copy of Gregg Shorthand Reporting Course … perhaps one will show up sometime.
Am enjoying the MSN group very much. So nice to discover there's still interest in Gregg's clever creation.
PS – with respect to rounding off angles, seeing Zoubek's "I would have been" and "I would not have been" in ESSC, the theory makes more sense to me.
No suggestions about the "Taquigrafia" books . . . my copy (I just pulled it out to check) is actually pre-anniversary, copyright 1921/1923. In the "Prólogoâ it says: “La primera adaptación de la Taquigrafia Gregg al idioma castellano, fué hecha por el señor Camilo E. Pani, y no podemos encomiarle lo bastante, no sólo por el magnifico texto presentado, sino por los numerosos esfuerzos que hizo en pro del conocimiento de dicho sistema en los países de habla española . . . . El señor J.F. Avalos de las Escuelas Internacionales de la América Latina y el señor Leo Alvarado de la Embajada de Méjico en los Estados Unidos han cooperado con la señorita Johnson y el señor Leslie, no sólo en la adición de nueavas palabras, sino también en la corrección de pruebas.” As far as Anniversary vs Simplified vs DJS etc., it's all a matter of taste and preference, plus I think first exposure has a lasting influence on that. Finding all these materials is really a matter of serendipity. Sometimes they show up and you can grab them, other times not. I would say it's much harder now than say 10 or 15 years ago . . . it seems there are a lot more people interested and competing for the same materials. And I don't think shorthand books are showing up quite as often in used book stores. Alex
About the Taquigrafia Gregg books: the first adaptation was done in the 1904, the second in 1921, and the third in 1923. The 1923 adaptation is called "Aniversaria", even though it's really pre-Anniversary. There is a dictionary for this 1923 edition: a first edition in 1926, and another in 1945. The 1945 edition is identical to the 1926 edition, except that it includes an appendix with geographical names. The 1923 edition, along with the "Ejercicios Progresivos" (Progressive Studies) and "Lecturas Graduadas" (Graded Readings) were reprinted as a single bound book in 1970, and renamed "Curso de Taquigrafia Gregg, Edición Aniversaria." In addition to the 1923 edition, they have also published Simplified, DJS, Series 90, and Centennial editions. The Simplified edition shows up once in a while in eBay.