which one for me?

Hi all. I have recently learned Series 90 of GS. I notice that no one talks about this version. Perhaps because it’s not very effective when it comes to speed…??! I am about to start studies on Diamond Jubilee and perhaps Simplified. I wonder, which version out of all six has what benefits and disadvantages? And I’ve also noticed that no one seems to talk about Centennial. Why is that? Isn’t that the most recent one? 

(by misssuzzette for everyone)


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  1. Suzette, this is from a third person's point of view–I'm a Pitman writer–but I think Simplified is probably the happiest medium.

    A very respectable speed potential, but not a too mindnumbing number of brief forms to remember…

    As for Centenial, it came out after Shorthand had already died. Shorthand was killed by 1) computers and 2) Series 90, which had a speed potential of barely 100wpm. Why bother?

  2. If you learned S90 well, you will find DJS a breeze. There are some differences. In DJS, the ending -sume is "s-m", whereas in S90 is "s-u-m". Likewise, "-sumption" is "s-m-sh" in DJS, and "s-u-m-sh" in S90. Also, the prefix "post-" (as in "postage") is expressed by a "p" in DJS, whereas it is spelled out in S90.

    The following words are brief forms in DJS: big (b-g), during (d-r), gone (g-n), great (g-r), how (o-u), merchandise (m-e-ch-d-ai-s), merchant (m-e-ch-t), must (m-s), purpose (p-r-p), put (p), railway (r-a), shall (sh), such (left s-ch), those (left th-s), upon (p-o-n), use (e-u), why (ai), work (u-k), year (e-r), and yet (e-t).

    (Incidentally, DJS is the only series of Gregg Shorthand that uses the combination "uk" for the brief form of "work." All other series use "rk.")

    That's basically DJS for you. If you want to continue with DJS, don't start with the basic book. Go on with the dictation, transcription, or speed building books.

    While I could summarize the differences between S90 and DJS here, there are many more differences between S90 and Simplified — too many to put in a post.

  3. Welcome, misssuzette.   Unfortunately we do trash S90 a fair amount in earlier posts, but one thing you will learn is that almost no one in the group is still using the series they first learned. Members who learned DJS now do Simplified or are learning Anny. People who started with Simplified now do Pre-Anny. The letter forms are all the same, and learning a blend you've never encountered before could be fun.   I started with Notehand, then to DJS, and once I'm finished the manual, I'm moving to Simplified. (Note: shorthand police, i've been doing a little cheating in terms of reading, but I've been writing only DJS.)   I always misread the "you can" for work. And I cannot write that rk blend with any fluency no matter how hard I try. I can do it in a word but not by itself. When I'm going fast, u-k just happens and I don't have to think about it. In Notehand, I think work was u-e-r-k.   But I'm really liking other things in Simplified (I learned DJS first). The o and u hooks on their sides and, of course, the brief forms other than work.

  4. I agree that Simplified is the best compromise.   I was always unhappy with the 'uk' brief form for 'work' in DSJ: I always misread it as 'you can.'   Brian

  5. Notehand is an interesting animal. There were two editions. In both, "work" was a brief form. In the first edition (1960), it was our beloved "rk", but in the second edition (1968) it was "uk."

  6. Wow, talk about switching systems. I started with Speedwriting using my mother's textbooks from secretarial college. That as in 6th grade.   As a senior in college, I started dabbling with DJS, which I liked; but it didn't lend itself as well to medical shorthand. So I switched to Simplified. I used medical Simplified from medical school (1983-87) thru present.   In 1998, I came across Expert Shorthand by Clyde Blanchard and Charles Zoubek. This text borrows heavily from some of the pre-Simplified material. That got me into expert level, which I currently use.   Brian

  7. The reason for changing rk for "work" to uk in DJ was the thought that too many reverse curves (more than 2) would be a problem to write and to read. The form for "worker" would be a perfect example.

    Keep in mind that DJ was the first Gregg to drop the disjoined T's and disjoined R's. Therefore, rkr was considered unacceptable.

    No, I have NO idea why that reverse-curve rule was a problem. . . . After all, I just worked there!

    Marc

  8. Check out the Gregg Shorthand Comparison chart in the documents section to see how they measure up. Welcome to the group!

    ___________________________
    Go, Speedwriter, go!

  9. So, Chuck, didn't you tell us that the DJS and S90 Expert Speed series are identical, too? Are there big differences between the DJ/S90 and the Simplified/Anny sets? Or are they all very similar?   Have the planned or published a set for Centennial?

  10. That's funny that "work" is mentioned.  I always write "work" instead of "car" while I'm at work LOL (we deal with company vehicles)… I forgot that DJS had uk for work… I've been learning Anniversary now.   And I have a Simplified Expert Shorthand book (I think it's to learn how to do political shorthand stuff) and I can read that fairly well. Anyway, just thought I'd throw that in… Debbi

  11. Debbi, if you didn't know, the Expert shorthand simplified and anniversary versions are virtually identical in the content.  There are a few differences in the shortcuts, but the articles are the same in both books (save a few exceptions).  Actually, I use the shortcuts for everyday writing.  The reading material is actually pretty good.

  12. Yea I read that somewhere here and am finding the "shortcuts" they have in there are actually Anniversary words.  So it is easy.  If I've learned them, I'm finishing up learning Anniversary.  But it's nice to use as reading material and interesting to read, funny at times too. Debbi

  13. Yes, there are differences.  Remember that DJS was the first version developed specifically for business use.  So the reading/writing selections in the expert shorthand speed books are more commercial in nature for DJS/S90 , while the anniv/simplified is more literary, congressional speeches, legal, and the like.   To my understanding, an expert speed book for Centennial was never published.  But IMO you can still use the DJS or S90 books, with very little loss of continuity.

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