horthand is any system of rapid handwriting which can be used to transcribe the spoken word.

Shorthand systems use a variety of techniques including simplifying existing letters or characters and using special symbols to represent phonemes, words and phrases.

A brief history of shorthand systems

Ever since the invention of writing scribes have used various techniques to enable them to take notes quickly and efficiently. The Ancient Egyptians devised two scripts, complex ieratic and !emotic, as alternatives to their ieroglyphs but the symbols

ieroglyphic script, which was used mainly for monumental inscriptions. "oth

ieratic and !emotic worked on the same principles as the were considerably simplified.

!uring the #th century "$, the %reeks devised a number of symbol systems which reduced letters to a single stroke and which could also be used to represent common words, suffixes and prefixes. Such systems are generally referred to as stenography &narrow writing', brachygraphy &short writing' or tachygraphy &swift writing'. Their purpose was to make writing more compact and(or faster. )ne shorthand system popular with the *omans was Tironian +otes or Notae Tironianae, which was invented by $icero,s secretary Tiro in order to record $icero,s speeches. -t used a combination of simplified letters and special symbols and was used in Europe in various forms until the .iddle Ages. !uring the an !ynasty &/01"$ 2 //0A!' the $hinese devised two methods of rapid writing

known as xngsh &running script' and cosh &draft script'. -n the *unning script some of the strokes that make up characters are 3oined and others are left out. -n the !raft script each character is written with a single continuous stroke and there is considerable variation in how this is done. As a result, the !raft script is very difficult to read without special training. Attempts have been made to standardise the way the characters are written in the !raft script but they have not met with popular acclaim.

Modern shorthand systems

There are many different shorthand systems currently in use. The most popular ones include4

Pitman Shorthand
5itman Shorthand was devised by Sir -saac 5itman &676826791' and was first published in 6781. )ver the years is has been gradually improved and has been also adapted for 6: different languages. The system was widely used in the ;< and ;SA by secretaries, reporters and writers, but lost popularity with the invention of pocket tape recorders.

Notable features

5itman is phonetic4 it records the sounds of speech rather than the spelling. =or example, the sound >f? in form, elephant and rough is written in the same way for each word.

@owel sounds are optional and are written with small dots, dashes or other shapes next to the main strokes. This helps increase writing speed because most words can be identified from their consonants only.

The thickness, length and position of the strokes are all significant. There are many special abbreviations and other tricks to increase writing speed. The record for fast writing with 5itman shorthand is 8:0 wpm during a two2minute test by +athan "ehrin in 69//.

Pitman consonants

Pitman vowels

Pitman abbreviations

Sample text in Pitman

'Translation'
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) Tower of "abel in 5itman Shorthand

Gregg Shorthand
%regg was invented by Aohn *obert %regg &67B1269#7' and was first published in 6777. Since then many different versions have appeared, including some for languages other than English. %regg is still used, particularly in the ;SA.

Notable features

%regg is phonetic4 it records the sounds of speech rather than the spelling. =or example, the sound >f? in form, elephant and rough is written in the same way for each word.

@owels are written as hooks and circles on the consonants.

Gregg consonants

Gregg vowels

Gregg punctuation

Gregg sample text

'Translation'
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) regg illustrations !rovi"e" #$ An"re% &%en' Tower of "abel in %regg Shorthand

e use coo!ies to ensure you get the best experience on our website " change your settings
#lose

Skip to main content

ome

Please be patient and wait for the page to load... if you see a yellow bar at the top of the pa run' - click on 'Always run on th

Chy usD

Free Trial Teeline Shorthand esson

5ackages

5rices

(Please note this is a free trial lesson and is not a FULL lesson - it includes extracts from are structured. The graphics in the paid for lessons do not have the copyright logos acro may not be used e cept as provided in these terms and conditions or in the copyright no materials.!

$orporate

Our lessons have been approved by the Teeline Partnership (formerly Teeline Education online learning system

)n site training

Here's Alison - she will tell you more about learning Teeline horthand with Teeline Onlin

The Eessons

!SS"# "#! - T$! T!! %#! A P$A&!T

!ictations

This lesson covers the Teeline al"habet and how to #oin letters together! $ou will learn so of writing outlines that occur regularly in the English language! There are a lot of these t %uic&er you will be able to write!

$ree Teeline %esson

A%'

'y the end of Lesson One you should be able to write the letters of the al"habet( includin %uic&ly and easily from memory!

*egistration

()%T%#* %# T!! %#! - +##!,!SSA)- !TT!)S

Testimonials

$ontact

)ritten words can still be read after leaving out silent consonants( 'double' consonants an word must be written( as must a vowel at the end of a word if it is "ronounced! Therefor LT, ( -O++A becomes -+A( A'O.T becomes A'T( L/*HT becomes LT!

Omitting unnecessary letters reduces the amount of writing by about 01 "er cent giving a
About Teeline

2ow try E3ercise 4!

=AFs

!.!),%S! /

Terms and $onditions

The following "assage includes only the essential vowels! ee how %uic&ly you can read it

U shld b abl t rd ths wth a lt o vwls tkn out. Ths is hw Tln is frmd b

About ;s

pncl to rt Tln, tho a pn is btr as it flws acrs th pg esly n wnt brk. Hw

5rivacy G $ookie 5olicy

A#S(!)

(you will need to highlight the bo3 below by holding down your mouse button and draggin
Einks

$ou should be able to read this with a lot of vowels ta&en out! This is how Teeline is form a "en or "encil to write Teeline( though a "en is better as it flows across the "age easily most comfortable with!

Teeline letters are ada"ted from the longhand letters either ca"ital or small versions! Th word i!e! *( 6( 7 and 8 go through the line and T is written on or #ust above the line re"r outline as T but is written on or #ust above the line to start a word! /n s"eech( 9 is somet therefore T and 9 are the same outline in Teeline! Other letters are "laced on the line! T smaller than the consonants! There are two versions of each vowel called the full vowel a and are used in this lesson only for "ecial outlines!

The arrow ne3t to the letters shows the direction they should be written! ometimes( tw more common and the second is used to ma&e it easier to #oin to other letters! Here they 2ow have a loo& at the first half of the al"habet!

The Teeline letters are ada"ted from the longhand letters - either the ca"ital or the sma *( 6( 7 and 8 go through the line and T is written above the line re"resenting the cross st Teeline letters are the same si:es as in longhand! ;owels are smaller than the consonants indicator! Have a loo& at the first half of the al"habet5 Letter Formed From Teeline Outline How to write this letter

)ritten as one stro&e without li

a indicator b c d e e indicator

or A curved version of a small '

Also re"resents -< at the end of

or

.sed only rarely for easier #oini

or

Also used for *H and 7H when m

Also used for soft sound 9*E wh

i indicator

or

The dot is removed from a smal

&

The bac& is removed from ca"it

or Here they are written in order5

This version can be written u"w

;iew the video to see how the Teeline al"habet is made u"5

T$! (")0S$!!TS

The wor&sheets are designed to enable you to "ractise writing Teeline and learn the new wor&sheet as fluently and %uic&ly as you can( saying the letter or letters over in your min begin to write Teeline with ease!

'efore you begin )or&sheet One( familiarise yourself with the al"habet! -om"lete the w al"habet thoroughly!

To "rint the wor&sheet5 -lic& on the image you would li&e "rint! The image will o"en in a while they download! )hen the image has fully loaded onto the screen( clic& on the brow After the image has finished "rinting( you can return to this "age by clic&ing the browser

(")0S$!!T /

1"%#%#* ,"#S"#A#TS

)henever "ossible( letters are written in one stro&e without lifting the "en! The first lett must not change si:e /nsert wor&sheet more about letters

+ost vowels are omitted so the following combinations could re"resent different words5

(note - we have not covered all of the words or letter combinations that are in this e tra

SP!,%A "+T %#!S

ere are the first of the "ecial Outlines! These are commonly used words that are re"re thoroughly (by drilling as you do with the wor&sheets)! <ee" revising them as you go thro faster you will be able to write!

!.!),%S! 2
2ow see if you can read the following sentences5

(note - we will not have covered all of these words in this trial lesson so you may not be line paid lesson!

A#S(!)
6. The man saw the girl and stopped to talk to her /. - will come and collect you and take you to the park 8. 5lease show me how to type this letter #. Chen you go home, take the letter to the letter box :. Cash your clothes and put them where - will find them B. Cill you please to the shops and get me some fish

Hou can check your answers by dragging your mouse over the following box which contain

!.!),%S! 3
Try writing these sentences in Teeline5

(note - we will not have covered all of these words in this trial lesson so you may not be line paid lesson! 4! ?! 0! @! Ta&e the letter and ma&e the change / got a blac& eye from a fall The man at the club left his "hone there The bad fog made him get lost

A#S(!)
-lic& here to chec& the answer

4%,TAT%"# !.!),%S!

There now follows a sim"le( slow dictation! /n order to listen to the sound files and under com"uter - such as ,eal 7layer - )indows +edia 7layer - )inam"! )e cannot suggest whi would suit your own machine( however there are "lenty of free ones available on the inte

/f you can write the letters of the al"habet and some of the common words from this tria comfortably( and read it bac&! The transcri"tion follows but as long as you were able to r thatAs the main thing so donAt be too hard on yourself if your some of your outlines were

2ow you can "ractise writing some words in to Teeline as dictation! -lic& on the '"lay' bu don't e3"ect to get every word first timeB +a&e sure you have your s"ea&ers turned on an This dictation is at 01 )7+ (words "er minute)

(note - we will not have covered all of the words in the dictation in this trial lesson but th

/f the "layer does not wor& - clic& here instead to hear the file - alternatively you will n Ta&e the letter to the bo3 *o and find the dog the lady bought today Tell the manager to sto" and go home The chairman told me to call him today Tell the lady to sit there till / get her hel"

Once you have finished writing( "ress "lay again to chec& your wor&! <ee" writing the Te

A#S(!)
$lick here to view the answer

(!

4"#!5

$ou have com"leted this trial free lesson! This has been #ust a sam"le of a lesson to show li&e to learn the rest of the al"habet and lots more - how to #oin multi"le words together e3ercises and sound files with timed dictations you will need to register( so read on!

$"( T" )!*%ST!)

'efore registering "lease go to the terms and conditions "age! /f you have already read t our registration "age!

'y com"leting the registration form you have agreed to the terms and conditions! ."on Teeline Lessons( a "assword which you will need in order to access the site and our Teeli

The information collected from you remains strictly "rivate and for the use of contacting "olicy.

Teeline Outlines C The Teeline 7artnershi" All other images and content C Teeline Online Teeline Online has been a Online meets the standards set by The Teeline 7artn