Here is the Notehand textual dictionary that I created for my homeschool students. Every word that is found in the 1st edition of the Notehand textbook has been included in this dictionary, along with the page number in the textbook where you can find the outline. I’ve also included the technical terms found in the appendix of The Essentials of Gregg Notehand: Intensive Theory & Practice.
Since a dictionary for Notehand was never published, this .pdf is the closest you’ll come to having an actual dictionary for Notehand. At this stage, this document only includes the textual spellings and not the actual outlines. I plan to print it out and hand-letter the outlines on my own copy as time permits (my shorthand is less than exemplary, so I’d invite those interested in Notehand to do the same). In time, when it’s finished, I may scan in my copy, but we’ll see. Anyway, this represents every spare moment I had during the spring/summer of 2015 (a definite labor of love for my kids, and a great learning experience for me!) So enjoy!
To access, click on this link.
My next hope is to create audio dictation files just for Notehand, but I have to work out the technical logistics. This is another project that will take a lot of time, though. But I’m pretty serious about trying to bring Notehand to the upcoming generation and to find interesting and updated ways of teaching it.
Thanks Teri! Nice job! I'm hosting the file now so you can close the Evernote link. I already updated the link in your post.
Great! Thanks, Carlos!
Thanks Teri. You put a lot of work into this and it's a great contribution to Notehand students. Hmm, what would you call a Notehand advocacy organization? Society for the Preservation and Advancement of Notehand?
Society for the Preservation & Advancement of Notehand… love it!
Awesome! New shorthand content being created… a big step toward a shorthand comeback? With all those articles about people using shorthand on iPads etc – maybe there's something going on! XD
Great work on the dictionary, Teri.
On the "dictation," I assume it would be oriented towards note-taking rather than verbatim transcription, Which is explicitly warned against in the teacher's guide.
It might be better to focus the students on using the Notehand for taking notes in their other subjects rather than having specially dictated materials. The things they are actually doing will always be more contemporary that static files just intended for teaching, and they will be more relevant to the student. It is claimed by some foreign language instructors that actually using the language is an important key to learning it. The same principle may extend to Notehand. If it is proven to be a useful tool for the student, it is quite probable that it may be utilised in the future whereas an abstracted skill in noting irrelevant content may be acquired but not used to further future objectives.
Lectures, TED talks, news stories, etc. from other subjects the student is studying could be made available for 1-time viewing with note-taking expected. This may be frustrating in this day of rewind and instant replay, but it would be teaching a skill that is still valuable in many professions, where one has to take notes on verbally delivered content.
Actually, I was thinking of creating Notehand recordings that use actual slow dictation from the text (say 40 wpm or less)– not so much for the purpose of verbatim dictation, but just to make sure outlines can be produced under a little pressure. Sort of like a spelling test, only with sentences as well as single words. Learning to read shorthand is fairly easy, but learning to produce the outlines from your own head takes more time. It's interesting that although Notehand warns not to do dictation, each of their Reading & Writing Practices do give the wordcounts in the key, as though they could be used for dictation.
Penmanship rules aren't taught at all in Notehand, either, yet at some point I do find it helpful to know the theory behind how to make the strokes. Notehand is definitely the "no pressure" way to learn shorthand! I even remember the teacher's manual saying it was ok if a circle ended up on the wrong side of a line– as long as you can read what you wrote, then it doesn't matter. Other Gregg editions may be a little stricter. But I do like a little consistency, myself, at least; though you do absorb the rules pretty well via osmosis from just copying/reading Notehand, even if they don't teach a single rule.
I do like your idea of using lectures from TED talks and such as practice material. A thorough Notehand program definitely needs to include the note-taking aspect as part of the study skill-set. It's the whole reason I'm taking the trouble to teach my kids. We're definitely shooting for the practical here.
Teri, thank you very much. What a labor of love. 🙂