Northampton

36

Pitmans New Era

So glad to have found this. I studied pitmans shorthand at college in 1972 and now rusty but realising how I want to learn it properly again to use it, was looking for books and found your site, so will be working from that now. Many thanks, this is great.

New Jersey, USA

0+

N. Era

The troublesome contractions aren\'t initial-letter abbreviations but common forms like \"he\'ll\" and \"haven\'t\". \"Won\'t\" is in the dictionary (way + nt) but forms like \"shouldn\'t\" are not. These are not important in writing business letters, but they do appear in writing dialogue.

(=These are all listed in Phrasing7 page, item 9 \"Contractions that use an apostrophe\". BP)

NJ, USA

0+

N.Era

I haven\'t checked in here in a while. My exercise work is completely neglected, as I am actually using the shorthand for some writing I am working on. I\'m still slow in both reading and writing, but getting faster. The vocabulary that I don\'t need to look up is also growing slowly. Doing two things at once is risky, but it seems to be working.

I wish the dictionaries listed Distinguishing Outlines with words, so that you could learn them as a group. I find that much better than trying to learn the outlines for the words individually. (=You can create groups for easier learning from my D.O. lists, which include all the outlines that are formed differently on purpose, and many which are just similar in shape and meaning, and need extra care in writing and reading. The lists include some derivatives as well. BP)

Apart from that, my worst problem is longhand contractions. I do need to write them. Some of them are listed in the large dictionary I have, but many are not. The miniature dictionary has almost none.

(= A longhand contraction should just be written with lower case letters of the longhand alphabet, things like \"i.e.\" \"e.g.\" \"ATM\" \"CNN\" and possibly with a wavy underline underneath so that you know they are not actual shorthand. Writing these phonetically is only worth doing if you need it all the time, like \"eejee\". Acronyms like NASA, NATO, AIDS, FAQ, can be pronounced as words so they can be written phonetically in shorthand, and you may need to look up similar words to create your outline. For UNICEF, you would look up \"united\" and \"safe\". DVD would be written like \"divide\" but with a final vowel added, CD-ROM would be the longhand letters c and d, or \"seedy\" then an outline like \"room\". BP)

Dublin, Ireland.

Nearly 40 yrs.

N.Era

What a great website!
I use Pitman New Era shorthand as a reporter with the Irish Examiner, a Cork-based newspaper.
I try to brush up on my shorthand from time to time and your site is a great help.
Well Done.

Ramsgate, Kent

72

New Era

Hello, I was required to learn shorthand in my first job in 1940, when aged 14. I was able to take dictation down at normal speeds, but it is many years since I have had to use it at work! Nevertheless, I still use it for taking down notes in a hurry and have never forgotten the system. I\'m finding your articles written in shorthand very interesting, and very occasionally I have to look up the transcription for the odd outline. Incidentally, I still have most of the original books I used for study (the Shorthand Manual and Shorthand Reporter) and have since acquired other \"gems\" such as the Pitman English and Shorthand Dictionary through EBay. I still have a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in Shorthand, which I occasionally read! Best wishes for your interesting site. Tony

(= Thank you, 72 years of shorthand sets a record for this guestbook! BP)

Croatia

Since 1964

N.Era

I am thrilled to find your blog. My passion is shorthand and my hobby is to read my collection of Sherlock Holmes books written in advanced shorthand. In my heyday I could write at 240wpm but that is long ago. It\'s good to know that people are still interested in shorthand and interesting to see that some are artists. My particular favourite outlines which I like to paint are `albeit oriental statistics` I think these are the most difficult of all outlines and the most artistically beautiful.

(= Statistics is my all time favourite as well, but I don\'t ever remember getting to write it for real. There is a still a goodly interest in shorthand, going by the website statcounter, and I am hoping that visitors will be encouraged to give it a go. BP)

USA

45

New Era only!

I bought a bunch of Noodler\'s pens, and they\'re great for learning and practising at the very low speeds. Unfortunately, when I am writing at the higher speeds (anything over 120), they just don\'t glide smoothly. Very frustrating. I\'ve had to resort to my more expensive flexible pens to do the job.

However, I\'ll encourage anyone who is starting out to obtain the inexpensive Noodler pens.

(=Thanks for your observations. I would also say to learners that ink and paper quality are equally important factors in getting good performance from any pen and should be varied and tried before spending on further pens. Good as Noodler\'s pens are, they are not to be compared with the flexible gold-nibbed Senator shorthand pens that I bought in 1970\'s, which with Sheaffer Skrip black ink made a perfect combination of bouncy nib and smooth ink flow. It\'s a shame this pen is not still in production. BP)

Wyoming, New South Wales, Australia

1966 onwards

Pitman New Era and Pitman 2000

For this site I say thank you, thank you, thank you! I\'m impressed. Just what the doctor ordered. I was a Secretarial Studies\' teacher with TAFE--not only my occupation but, also, my hobby. Pitman New Era reigns supreme.

York England

I have taken up shorthand again after 40 years!! I was a secretary for several years before getting married.
Really enjoying your blog, it is all coming back to me.
Thank you.

Adelaide, South Australia

52

New Era and 2000

I started learning New Era at school in 1959, and left school at 16 with 110 wpm which was a perfect asset for a secretarial career in the legal profession. After having my children, I became a secretarial studies teacher in the UK and taught New Era and 2000 to secretarial and business studies students in a Further Education College. Although now retired, I have used shorthand throughout my career in England and Australia, and still use it now for personal use. It is such a fascinating skill and should be taught to everyone - even instead of normal words and letters as when you read the shorthand outlines they are just words and letters, but written much quicker! Young children in schools here in South Australia learn to read with the Jolly Phonics method, so they learn the sounds of words - just like in shorthand! I intend teaching my granddaughters the skill, even if only for notetaking. It would be great to start Pitman Shorthand clubs! I have a great collection of shorthand books going back many years and I just can\'t throw any of them away as they are so precious and useful to me. Great website!

(=I hope learners are encouraged that the outlines do look like words after a short time. You might have made a job for yourself with the suggestion of clubs. It is quite exciting for a beginner to find that they can read some else\'s shorthand, as we did in class when swapped books occasionally to read back, and \"shorthand buddies\" can always dictate to each other, whether in person or sound files by email. BP)