question on Speed Studies 3rd ed.

I’m having a little trouble without the key  🙁    

On page 127 the first outline on the second row of “Ten” blend words.  Spelled ‘a-tn-r-r-e’.  Anybody know this word?

(by Michael for group greggshorthand)


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  1. Have you actually been studying the manual in conjunction with Speed Studies up to that point? In the Manual on Page 85, second line second word is "item", 3rd line 2nd word i "items", 4th line 2nd word "itemize". I just looked at the outline on Page 127 and before returning here had no problem reading "itinerary". I don't mean to sound sharp, but it seems odd to me that you didn't immediately recognize the word if you caught the preceding "hesitancy" and the following "pretense" with no problem. There is a complete Key to Speed Studies 3rd Edition which perhaps mcbud would be kind enough to post. Now that we have keys to both the 1916 and the Anniversary Manual available, difficulties pre-Simplified students might incur when facing "indecipherable" outlines may be resolved quickly. In school we were always taught to spell outlines aloud and try to pronounce the word. This may not be as helpful when confronting lists of outlines as it is when trying to determine what an outline stands for in context.

    Note in the Manual page 63, item 114 has mentioned that in some words long i is simply expressed by a circle.

  2. Thanks, Lee.

    Yeah, this 'ten'- tem' phase is quite interesting… I think there is more play with this symbol than with any other one I have encountered so far. The outline can stand for 'tain', 'ten', 'tan', 'don', 'tin', 'den', 'ton', 'tern', 'dern' etc. It's pretty versatile. Definitely more options than a circle standing for an 'a' or an 'ai', for example.

    I am following the instructions set out in the functional method on page 'vii' that I should refer to a key often if I hesitate on an outline. It's definitely the most efficient way to learn. Since I don't have a key for SS3e, I have to try the slower methods to figure out a word, with a forum post as a last resort. (Although, this response was pretty darn quick!) I would LOVE a key to this book if it is already scanned and easy to post! That would save the numerous newbie posts.

    I appreciate mcbud's recommendation to obtain and read SS3e, because it branches out with so many unique outlines! I've seen many outlines in "Speed Studies" that don't appear in the manual, the functional method, or the fundamental drills.

    I appreciate your patience and willingness to help a beginner. Some students might skip over outlines they don't know, but I'm trying to increase my vocab and be thorough like the manual says. I now immediately recognize "requirement" when I see it after mcbud helped me out with its form. 🙂 That one's burned into my brain. Looks like 'itinerary' will be also!

  3. I can see that the problem here is that we don't have a context from which to derive the word, and the "ten-blend" words in Anniversary and Simplified Gregg are sometimes tricky (that's one of the reasons they ended spelling many of those out in DJS and later series). Indeed, spelling out the word and pronouncing the sounds should be done in those difficult words, as a habit. On the other hand, sometimes we have a mental block, and we cannot see the word. That has happened to me many times (like the other day with a phrase in Portuguese Gregg). I encourage learners to ask: better to ask than to learn something incorrectly.

    For sure, after these posts, Michael will never forget the outline for itinerary! 🙂

  4. Yeah, I'm practicing copying and also doing the writing practices at the end of the manual chapters to test my outline recall. I always sound out the words when I read, and usually go back and read a passage a second time at a normal speed after I read it a first time.

    Right now I'm not even thinking about speed, just trying for smooth writing and consistent and legible outlines. You don't realize how graceful these writers are until you take a stab at writing. I'm also thinking of using the keys I do have to do writing practice by transcribing the keys into shorthand and then checking the shorthand in the text to my own.

    Any other tips for beginner scribes?

  5. I did the entire DJ manual at a leisurely pace. Not a good idea. My new routine includes pushing to higher speeds. I think 60wpm for end of theory and 85 for end of appendices and/or end of Speed Studies is typical.

    From dictation is usually faster than from plate — less time spent looking back and forth. Dictation also shows problem areas in a way that from the book doesn't. See http://cricketb.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/shorthand-dictation-with-audacity/
    for how to use Audacity

    Daily short sessions are better than hours once a month. (Do as I say…) Long sessions are good to build endurance and show you which muscles are being over-used, but that comes after you've finished the theory.

    Read your own work, both fresh and a few weeks later.

    Welcome!

  6. Great!

    Are you now copying the shorthand on your notebook and reading it aloud as you are writing it? That also will help cement the outlines in the brain.

  7. You're approaching it correctly. The only other comment is to remember to write, not to draw shorthand. The outlines in the text are to be emulated. The better penmanship will come with practice. Get the outlines on your brain first — that's how speed is developed.

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