Speed Drills in Gregg Shorthand

This 1938 text, authored by Leslie and Zoubek, answers all needs for varied and entertaining reading material. Business letters are interspaced by comical stories and factual articles. It’s a big volume, 440 pages mostly all written in shorthand. The lessons are preceded by penmanship drills (similar to those appearing in The Gregg Writer at that time) as well as “preview” outlines which will be encountered in the lesson. There’s also a short list of words which are often misspelled or confused by students. The book is designed for someone who has completed studying and working with either The Functional Manual or The Manual and Speed Studies. There is no printed transcription of the shorthand plates, so it’s clearly not intended for beginners. For a thorough review of theory including brief form derivatives and phrasing, I could not recommend Speed Drills in Gregg Shorthand more highly. It’s a fun text to read for pleasure.

(by Philip for
everyone)

 


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5 comments Add yours
  1. I like that book a lot. It is probably to be used before going to the Expert Shorthand book. There is an equivalent book in Simplified: Gregg Advanced Dictation Simplified. The material is very entertaining as well. Too bad they did not continue this series of books in the ensuing series.

  2. Because of mcbud's comment I obtained a copy of Gregg Advanced Dictation Simplified which I'd never noticed or heard of before the above post. Yes, mcbud is 100% correct, it's a very fine book for practice, theory review and that all important READING of well-written shorthand. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it before when there've been queries about Simplified reading material. If you're learning Anniversary, though, stick with Speed Drills in Gregg Shorthand which is way cool in the humorous stories, and theory review, and emphasis on phrasing. As mcbud stated, it's indeed a shame that McGraw-Hill discontinued the publication of any shorthand readers within a decade of acquiring the rights to Gregg shorthand.

  3. Just got a very nice copy of this book on eBay ("Speed Drills" 1938).  An abundance of material to peruse.  I'm sure I will spend a lot of time with it.  It just has some penciled notes that I'll have to erase as I go through it.  I may make a key as I read through it, as well.  If I do, I'll be sure to post it here!

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