I’ve long had an interest in shorthand, because it seemed like a magical power to write quickly in (to other people) gibberish squiggles. But nothing ever came of it (because I’ve long had interests in dozens of other things). Hopefully, I can learn it now. I’m starting the Functional manual for Anniversary (from archive.org). I have some mostly unrelated questions about it (of varying importance). In no particular order:
- What would be the negative impact of using the shorthand I learn when I write (before Assignment 22)? The point of the functional method, as I understand it, is to learn how to write it correctly before trying to write it. How much would I spoil that?
- What is appropriate use of the answer key? It says in the “Talk with the Beginner”, “As soon as you hesitate on an outline, refer immediately to the printed transcript. Reread the lists and the connected matter with the aid of the key until you can read them fairly easily without the use of the key.” Even though I know there are no rules, this feels like cheating. Don’t you learn better by focusing until you sound out the letters than by looking at the answer sheet? When you reread it, won’t you be artificially aided by short-term memory of what it said? And should I put a sheet of paper over the key so I only see what I’m looking for? What is the best use of the key?
- How quickly can one typically write starting at Assignment 22? Assuming I complete one assignment a day, this would be after 3-4 weeks. What’s a reasonable speed expectation at this point? Don’t try to overestimate to encourage or motivate me; I just want a reasonable expectation.
- How quickly can one typically write at the end of Part 1 (Assignment 39)? Ditto.
- How would you write my name in Gregg? Ariella, pronounced are-ee-EL-a. I would guess a-r-e-l-a, as introduced in Assignment 1.
- What do the superscripts in the key mean? They would seem to indicate footnotes (they go in numerical order), but I’m not sure where the footnotes are.
- How long do you have to study shorthand for it to “stick”? Since I’ve only done a few lessons, if I stopped working through the book at this point and just used shorthand as I had need of it, I would probably forget a lot of it quickly. If I stopped after practicing reading and writing daily for two years, I would probably not forget it for a long time. How long does it take for shorthand to be anchored in your mind enough for it to “stick”?
Don’t be afraid to tell me what would be a better way of doing something or “bad news”; it probably won’t deter me. Once I decide on something, setbacks don’t usually change my mind.
Thanks!
I’m looking forward to writing shorthand.