Which Shorthand to use???

Greetings to everyone,
I have just recently joined your group and must say, what a great group it is!  Very well organized and a wealth of information.
I have had a long standing wish and need to learn a shorthand style.  This new years sealed the deal.  I am learning something and soon.
My problem is that I haven’t yet decided on what style of shorthand to learn and use.  I though perhaps some of you more fluent users might advise me in my final selection.  To aide in this endeavour, I have listed my core objectives for using a shorthand style.

  1. Take notes at meetings that are normally not too demanding on speed

  2. Take notes and make work journals in a form not easily read by “average” people or those reading over your shoulder.

  3. Make notes in my journals for researching history (cut down on page usege in journals)

  4. Be able to go back and read any of the above in the future years as needed for reference.  Hopefully with high accuracy and detail.

So with that said,  what advice may I solicit from everyone regarding the best system for my needs?

Thanks for reading and replying!!

(by zero_spot for everyone)


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  1. Welcome to the group!   I can see two different options for your needs, and of course, both are based on Gregg Shorthand.  (There are other shorthand systems in the market — speedwriting, Pitman, etc. — but since this is Gregg group and that's what I write, then that's what I'll plug):   Option 1.  Based on your requirements, I believe you would be a good candidate for learning Gregg Notehand.  It was designed for the primary purpose of taking notes, and not for office dictation.  In reality, it is is a watered-down version of Diamond Jubilee series of Gregg Shorthand (DJS).  The book is good in that it presents the shorthand principles in the context of note taking: the reading and writing practices are literary in nature, and not business-oriented, such as the DJS books.  The memory load in terms of abbreviations (or brief forms as they are called) is very light:  42 in total (in comparison to 132 in DJS).  Two editions of the book were made.  They differ slightly in the presentation of the principles and the practice materials, but both books teach the same:   1.  Gregg Notehand, by Louis A. Leslie, Charles E. Zoubek, and James Deese, Gregg Publishing Division, McGraw-Hill Company, 1960 2.  Gregg Notehand, by Louis A. Leslie, Charles E. Zoubek, Ray W. Poe, and James Deese.  Gregg Division, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968   And now the bad news.  For starters, the book is relatively hard to get, though you may try Abebooks (www.abebooks.com).  I've seen both versions of the book in eBay as well.  Also, the shorthand is relatively slow, but at the same time easy to write and learn, in comparison to older systems.  So don't expect to break any speed contests with this one , but that seems to be not of a concern for you.   Option 2.  Any one of the following Gregg Shorthand series:   a.  Diamond Jubilee b.  Series 90 (not one of my favorites, but a possibility nonetheless) c.  Centennial (the latest and greatest)   In the Documents section of this group there is a file called "gregg-shorthand-comparison.pdf" which lists the appropriate books for each of these three series.  You may want to take a look at it.  The good thing about any of these series is that the books are relatively easy to obtain (online used book stores, eBay).  In fact, I believe McGraw-Hill is still publishing Centennial books.  A word of caution: the material in the books is business-oriented.  So if you don't mind that your reading practice starts with "Dear Mr. Brown" or the like, or if you don't mind reading about orders that were not received, or invoices that were not paid, or tips on how to be a better secretary, then this may be for you.  The vocabulary is rather limited in scope, but you may be able to create any outline for any word in English if you know the principles of the system.   Good luck on your choice, and if you have other questions, let us know.

  2. Welcome zerospot, About not deciding which style of shorthand to learn, the nice thing about Gregg shorthand, is that if you're undecided upon which version to learn…it doesn't matter…you can pickup a Simplified, DJ, or Ann, start working on it…and decide later. They all begin relatively similarly, and from preAnn to Ann, Simp to DJ, Cent to S90, etc there isn't much difference until chapters into the books.   For your objectives…anything from Diamond Jubilee or earlier should be easily sufficient for #1, any Gregg will qualify for #2 and 4, and no Gregg will fulfill #3.   Of course, no "normal" people will be able to read any shorthand…it's an elite, upper, esoteric beauty that seperates us from the masses of herded proles…the blind lambs in the storm of corporate control over their souls…the militants of all that's true, beautiful, freedom, and to use a new word I just learned yesturday…"human." : ) Ok…so after a little bit, you realize that people aren't stupid just cause they don't like your kindof music and art and writing…but it's a nice, nescient time of life, adolescence is…so…the point being?? Don't read my posts! You mention "Take notes at meetings" and I'll wind up talking about how the adulation of environmentalism in the '92 elections perpetuated strife between the Native American Moccasin Makers and their Canadian counterparts, the Makers of Instant Milk…   Otherwise, I've found from counting words and such in my journals, that my Gregg takes almost exactly the same amount of horizontal space as longhand (normally 12-13 words per line in my smaller-paged journal) And the vertical space is just a little larger with Gregg…of course everyone's shorthand is a little different…but Gregg isn't a good "space saver" for paper. Hope that helps…I'd suggest for you to start with Diamond Jubilee if you can find a book for it, and you can decide where you want to go once you've reached a "deciding point" in your shorthand life!   And hello hello everyone! I hope everybody's had a swell holiday time…I had a blast in Berlin, but now I'm back, practicing Gregg, and programming like an (obsessive) fiend! I hope nobody here has family or friends that have been personally affected by the tsunami…prayers and peace to all. ./[tyler]

  3. Thanks so much for the detailed information.  I very much appreciate the sharing of knowledge.   After reading and surfing, I belive the Diamond Jubilee will work best.  Now the important question.  Are their any distance education or online courses for the DJ version?   Thanks again.

  4. <> Another alternative is to find a dictionary.  I have one for DJS and it's huge with tons of words in it.  They may be hard to find but you probably won't need one until after you learn the version a little anyway just so you understand how to write shorthand and the basic principles before you try a word you don't know. Debbi

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