The Gregg Group was founded 22 May 2004, prompted by the lack of online shorthand resources. As the primary use for shorthand — business and legal recording — has waned in recent decades, we generally acclaim the skill as a hobby or personal tool. The purpose of the group is to promote the use of Gregg systems of shorthand by providing advice to beginners, support for students, and an association of users of this efficient, attractive, and enjoyable method of writing.
Second Attempt
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The immediate impression is of Pitman as the outlines are more circular than elliptical. I find it difficult to read and wonder what version of Gregg is used. For example, the last outline in the first line could be "characters" but there is a brief form for character which is "c a c". Could you or Carlos elucidate please? Finally, if anyone has any functional manuals available I woiuld be pleased to acquire as I believe these contain solutions to exercises and all the manuals I have do not.
Hello,
if I'm not mistaken, the version is in the title: it's Simplified. 🙂
(My opinion is that if it could lead to such complicated forms, it's not simplified at all…)
As you say you appreciates feedback, Jeff, I have a question: the beginning, it's "I fear…" ? In this case, the "f" is not curved enough. As I told Aaron Carlow, with signs like "f", "v" and "right-motion-s" in the beginning of words, you should start a bit more on the right…
🙂
Thank you so much, Len. As regards the circular vs. elliptical, I know just what you mean; I'll work on that. You got it; the outline at the end of the first line is indeed supposed to be "characters." Thanks for the tip on the brief form; that is a much easier way to write "character."
Thanks, Christine. It is indeed "I fear." As I look at it now, I see that the f is almost a straight line. I am impressed that you were able to make it out. Thanks for the feedback! I do indeed appreciate it.
Please, don't be impressed, Jeff… If it had been a "ch", the circle should have been drawn inside like in "Charles"… 🙂
"I fear that I shall be fired by one of the characters in the simplified manual. It seems that I sent him to Venice for a meeting that was supposed to take place in Phoenix."
Very good! Even when some of the outlines were not written according to theory, they were written phonetically. Here are some outline corrections:
1. I fear
2. I shall be
3. characters
4. simplified
5. manual
6. I sent
7. supposed
As you can see, "character" and "suppose" are brief forms. The word "simplified" is just the outline of "simple" + f, where the "f" represents the -ify ending. The "nt" blend is used in "sent." Likewise, we use the "men" blend in "manual", which is a slightly longer "m" (think of it as an m+n without the circle in the middle). The "ual" ending is just an "l." Lastly, try to phrase any time you have "I" + verb when you can: "I shall be", "I fear", and "I sent" are nice phrases that can be written quickly using one outline. The same can be applied every time you have a personal pronoun + verb: phrase it whenever you can!
Here's a minor penmanship point about the "s" that it is not well explained in the manual. When a word that starts with "s" is followed by a downward consonant (p, b, f, v, sh, j, ch), that consonant rests on the line and not the "s", irrespective of whether there is a vowel between the "s" and the following downward consonant. The downward consonant is always written on the line and not below it (by doing so, you're not wasting space). So when writing the word "suppose", the "p" rests on the line; you have to start writing the "s" in the middle of the space so that you can write the "p" on the line (and not below it). Another example: if you want to write "sage", you start the outline on top of the space so that the "j" is placed on the line of writing. Slanting the "s" a little extra to the right will help with the placement.
Jeff,
I wouldn't worry about the guy. Not only did you prevent him from attending a boring meeting, but you accidentally sent him for a vacation in an amazing place. Besides, he's fictitious.
In regard to the shorthand, I'm not so concerned that your style verges to the circular. But note that the s in "place" looks more like an x. Also, remember, for "sent", that there's a blend for nt. And "manual" is usually written mn-l, using the mn blend.
It looks like Carlos beat me to some of the comments on the shorthand. I guess I should have read the replies to the post before writing mine.
Note that in my comment above, "hi" should be "him". Carlos, is there a way of editing a comment after posting it?
I think we posted at about the same time, so no worries. I also corrected the "hi" in your comment. Do have an "Edit" link next to the time of the comment? If so, you can edit your comment.
I'm learning Simplified, too. It took me two times but I read right through it and found it quite funny. Hope it wasn't a true story.
Cheers,
Connie
Thank you all so much for the feedback!
I posted a second attempt.
Very nice improvement!
I see a small mistake due to theory. "One of the" is a common phrase in which the "of" is omitted, so it is written without the o-hook. The same principle extends to other phrases with "one of" such as "one of our", "one of these", "one of them", etc. Further, the th (the outline of "the") and the o-hook are omitted in phrases with both words, such as "one of the most", "one of the best", etc. Here are some examples:
Thanks, Carlos!