Know of Unusual Tips to Learning Gregg?

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I practice for 45 to 60 minutes three or four days a week. Do you know of any tips to learning Gregg besides using a manual or book? Does practicing Gregg in your head while not practicing help?


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  1. That's very good! Applying the principle of "Mastery before Speed" is probably the most important while learning: do not go forward on a lesson until you can read the lesson you're studying like reading a book. Also, at the learning stage, tracing Gregg outlines for unknown words is not recommended since you're still learning the rules. Concentrate on the outlines that were presented in the lesson. Since you're studying Anniversary, you can also supplement your lessons with graded reading material of other books.

    1. No problem. Studying for the 1929 regular Anniversary manual is fine, but you should supplement it with additional material from other books. I made some recommendations in this post. Another book to consider having is the two-volume set of Gregg Shorthand-Functional Method by Louis Leslie, which contains plenty of practice material and a key in the back that is intended to help the student in learning.

  4. Thanks for the recommendation. Do you suggest I buy the the 1936 or later editions? I am learning the Anniversary edition of Gregg, so perhaps the Diamond Jubilee edition would differ significantly? (By the way, I learned Gregg via the 1971 edition of the Leslie book. Foolishly, I gave the book away!)

    1. Diamond Jubilee will indeed differ significantly.

      The basic alphabet is the same, but Simplified did away with many of the short forms of Anniversary (and the 'reversed r', and much of the abbreviating principle, among other things) and Diamond Jubilee continued still further along that simplifying path. The peak of that simplifying scale would be Series 90, the second-newest version. (Unless you count Gregghand as part of the "real Gregg" series.)

    2. Indeed — very significantly!

      Simplified, DJS, S90, and Centennial were designed with the business office in mind, so a lot of the special speed expedients that Anniversary and earlier series relied on were totally eliminated because secretaries were not doing high speed work — those speed expedients weren't necessary for them. In your case, since you'll be doing reporting work, I would recommend sticking with Anniversary — besides, you already went through six chapters — and if you want, get the two-volume GS – Functional Method 1936 set. You can get those cheaply from eBay.

  6. Hello, I haven't been on here for a while. I studied Pitman New Era at college, but I keep getting drawn to Gregg and I so want to learn it. I have a book on Anniversary and one on Simplified. I just love the light line and the look of Gregg.

  7. Hi Carlos
    I do need something to keep my brain nimble. Luckily I happen to have to hand the Gregg Shorthand Manual Simplified! I love the fact you have so many pdfs here of stuff to read. It is a great motivator!

  8. A tip for learning. Use Gregg for something useful every day. Just as actually using a language is a great help in learning it, so with Gregg. True, you may come back from the store with bikinis rather than bananas, but it gets easier over time.

  10. I'm a math professor, and I use shorthand daily for writing my class notes, my personal copies of answer sheets to classwork, notes of meetings, and to-do lists. I agree that this sort of constant use helps to learn and maintain shorthand. (But it doesn't seem to help much with dictation speed. I guess taking dictation is a different skill.)

  11. In my case, I spend a lot of my time in front of a computer because of work; most of my typing is work-related, or answering emails, or posting on this blog. However, if I write something with a pen, it is in shorthand most of the time. I write very few things in longhand.

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