Track your Reading/Writing speeds

Hi all,

I’m posting a spreadsheet that I use to track my reading progress (screen shot at left), in case there are any people out there who are like me and enjoy seeing a snapshot of their learning progress, etc.

Each line item refers to a paragraph of shorthand in one of the texts (right now I’m pulling from the Anniv. Manual, Fundamental Drills and the Functional Method.)  I add new lines to the spreadsheet as I progress through each chapter.

When I sit down to practice reading, I can sort the sheet and see what sections are taking me the longest to read, and I can work on those.  I also added data bars (Excel 2007) which help me see how my speeds compare to each other.  They’re also useful in comparing the lengths of various passages.

If I re-read a passage and my time improves, I update the sheet and re-sort it by WPM.  This may not be something every shorthand learner would be interested to use, but I’ve attached a copy if you want to play around with it.  It’s very helpful to me in determining how well I’m retaining the material that I’m learning.

– Michael

Attachment: SHORTHAND SPREADSHEET.xlsx

(by Michael
for group greggshorthand)


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4 comments Add yours
  1. Glad you like the spreadsheet…. I agree, I've only been focusing on chapter one, and re-reading the same material and I've noticed that the manual has the shortest passages, which allows me to get them up to speed fairly quickly, while the functional method uses the biggest variety of words/brief forms, etc. plus it has the longest passages.

    I'm using the .pdf of the Fundamental drill book, and sometimes it's a bit hard to read, but I appreciate that it has been posted, it's been a huge help.

    My speed studies 3rd edition should come in a day or two. Does that start at chapter one, or will I use it later?

  2. An excellent idea! My suggestion is to reread the same exercise several days later and note the speed for that as well. You'll find that even one day later, you can't read the same passage as fast and will have to reread it several times to hit a maximum speed. But that repetition practice is important to speed building. GO FOR IT!

  3. Wow, this is really awesome. Thanks for sharing!

    Interesting that although the material between the books is supposed to be of the same difficulty, the reading speed is very different. It proves the principle that one should not be progressing in theory unless the material in the lesson is mastered.

  4. You may want to also print the pages from the pdf of the fundamentals book to help you in your reading.

    The speed studies start at chapter one, just like the manual. The length of the passages is similar to that of the functional method books.

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