If there's one sure-fire method of imprinting an entirely nauseating language format onto your brain, it's undergoing a rigorous learning process that guarantees your undivided paranoia of being incorrect, in some perplexing way, about your own first language. Who would've thought that translating English into a system of symbolic formulas could be so testing and exhausting to the old noggin...not I for one, seeing as I, before being introduced to the wonderfully deceptive shorthand technique, was relatively assured of my knack for standard English.
Shorthand, or Teeline shorthand, to be precise, is a unique transformation of those easily recognised words and letters, then sentences and paragraphs, we were raised on. Slowly but surely, I'm beginning to understand how essential such a linguistic adaptation is to someone in the profession of journalism. And I won't forget to mention that it's a bitch to learn the foundations in only 12 hours of lessons, but you get the picture - life's a bitch that needs taming (as best you can).
The fundamental ground rules of Teeline revolve around the instrumental purpose of vowels (full and indicator), which can be taken as the way in which they ultimately dictate so much change in the structure of your shorthand; for example, the addition of I indicator following a word to represent the verb suffix 'ing'.
This useful device of Teeline also applies to consonants. W in Teeline, for example, can be positioned below any word/symbol, like HM to make homebound, which saves significant amounts of time when your overall aim is to be able to speedily construct legible Teeline under the conditions of, say, a courthourse trial, which requires a competent and considerable skill in order to be done legitimately.
Other core components to the Teeline formula are:
Shorthand, or Teeline shorthand, to be precise, is a unique transformation of those easily recognised words and letters, then sentences and paragraphs, we were raised on. Slowly but surely, I'm beginning to understand how essential such a linguistic adaptation is to someone in the profession of journalism. And I won't forget to mention that it's a bitch to learn the foundations in only 12 hours of lessons, but you get the picture - life's a bitch that needs taming (as best you can).
The fundamental ground rules of Teeline revolve around the instrumental purpose of vowels (full and indicator), which can be taken as the way in which they ultimately dictate so much change in the structure of your shorthand; for example, the addition of I indicator following a word to represent the verb suffix 'ing'.
This useful device of Teeline also applies to consonants. W in Teeline, for example, can be positioned below any word/symbol, like HM to make homebound, which saves significant amounts of time when your overall aim is to be able to speedily construct legible Teeline under the conditions of, say, a courthourse trial, which requires a competent and considerable skill in order to be done legitimately.
Other core components to the Teeline formula are:
- size matters: to accurately write, according to the recommended size of the shorthand symbols is vital because the risk of confusing similarly written letters is quite high, especially when given a time target for transcribing your writing
- word-line proximity: the space between the shorthand letter and the line is critical in the understanding of actual words. How close or how far you are writing in relation to the line is predetermined by the choice of letter; for example, T is, on its own, above the line, so when a word including T comes up, it's easier to place that word above to line to indicate the T presence. Without doing this you run the risk of confusing T with D, which is practically the same in written form
- word grouping: for Teeline to be at its most effective you must be able to construct words in shortened groupings, which usually means combining the words (after you've omitted the unnecessary vowel and extra consonant presences). A good example of this word grouping is in the make-up of the phrase "I will not be able to"; here the I indicator is connected to the shortened version of will, a T joins the WL for 'will not', followed by a circular B on the T and, lastly, a full A for 'able to'
Teeline is, in essence, a swift and approachable method of learning shorthand, which, despite beginners angst (still got it), I imagine will prove itself to be a popular asset to those of us on the course in the years to come.
For now, though, I'm up shit creek without shorthand...
For now, though, I'm up shit creek without shorthand...
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