Is shorthand difficult?

Hello, in shorthand-related boards, I often see someone who is asking advices to choose a shorthand and, among other criteria, there is always a shorthand that is easy. Each time, I’m surprised because, for me, shorthand is not the kind of thing that can be considered as difficult: there are rules and you apply these…

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Quotation Collection

I thought I would share an idea I came up with for practicing shorthand that is turning out out to be quite enjoyable. I have a dedicated notebook in which I am creating a collection of my favorite quotations, written first in longhand and then in shorthand.  It’s really fun and I look forward to…

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The Fourth of July in Westminster Abbey

Phillips Brooks was an American Episcopal clergyman and Bishop of Massachusetts. Renowned for his charismatic preaching, he was invited in 1880 to preach at Westminster Abbey in London and at the Royal Chapel at Windsor before Queen Victoria. After his sermon on July 4 of the same year titled The Candle of the Lord, he…

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A Plea for Separation from England

Common Sense was a pamphlet published by Thomas Paine early in 1776. It was so popular, that over 100,000 copies were sold within three months; few writings of the period had so wide an influence. Paine’s epigrams and apt illustrations stuck in people’s minds and proved him a master of the art of spreading ideas;…

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What Independence Means

This selection by American statesman and political philosopher Samuel Adams — whom the famous beer was named after — was taken from a speech delivered in the Continental Congress, about one month after the Declaration of Independence. At the beginning of the speech, Adams is thinking of the hope still cherished by some Americans of…

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