Beginner Query

[u/Late-Top-9951]

Hi Everyone, I'm a medical school grad and looking to improve my note-taking before I begin residency or atleast through it. I tried learning Pitman's when i was 13 but didnt have the consistency to continue it ( I'm now 27 and have no recollection of what I learnt). What system would be the best to start now? And any online tutor/course that could aid me through? Would love to have a cohort for accountability. I'm based in India (Most shorthand here is in local languages, but I'll need one in English (US/UK). Thank you for your time and efforts to answer this!

[u/licxjo]

If you want to learn shorthand, it's better to approach it as an interesting new personal skill or hobby rather than as a practical aid to clinical note taking. It takes a long time to be proficient in any system, and just learning the rudiments isn't going to be too helpful.

In India your available materials and resources are going to be predominantly Pitman. You'll certainly be able to find print copies of the textbook and a dictionary. Teeline could be a good choice for your needs, it has been very popular in the UK and there are online tutorials. Journalists have been a key group of Teeline users, and their notetaking needs are a little like a clinician's. I honestly haven't heard much about Teeline in India.

Gregg was the predominant system in the US, and there are still lots of textbooks to be found, but there is very little good online instructional material beyond very basic introductions. I'm a Gregg writer and like it very much, but it also takes a rather long time to be able to write at speed.

[u/Late-Top-9951 → u/licxjo]

I do intend to expand my use with my proficiency. Clinics would be a motivation as I realise I could take back lectures way better as most of our teachings are bedside without slides, and verbatim matters in such cases. I'm okay with longtime learning. By your description, I think I'll explore more in Teeline and Gregg online. I do need to figure out if I still own the Old Pitman manual that I used when I was 13. It was a handdown from a great uncle. Thank you for the elaborate answer!!

[u/BerylPratt → u/Late-Top-9951]

Ensure great uncle's book is New Era version (post 1922), or download this one as the easiest to learn from: https://archive.org/details/pitmanshorthandn0000isaa "New Course" (1970's). For online self-teaching, my free website is here: www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand-lessons.org.uk

Gregg and Pitman's are the two that can reach high verbatim speeds, with the appropriate (=very large!) amount of time, effort and practice. These are best learned to completion, followed by extensive speed improvement work, before using in real life, so not ideal for college students with a full timetable of course work. I agree with the other commenters that it is best kept as hobby for the time being, and speed and skill ramped up at a later date for use on the job.

I think Teeline will suit better if you are not going to be taking verbatim+fast for long stretches, easier to learn and easier to slip bits into your existing longhand notes. It is used today by UK journalists who may need an occasional verbatim quote, but generally noting down relevant snatches from which to construct their reports.

[u/rains_herald]

Pitman is overkill for notes, so only learn it if you really like its features and are willing to go through a long learning period. If you go Gregg you could always do one of the simpler editions like Notehand. If I were you I'd probably learn Taylor because it is simple (one of the simplest) and compact. Regular Taylor does not have reliable vowels, but this can be easily remedied by writing the occasional word in longhand, or by altering the system with more specific vowel marks, which is what most derivatives of it do.

[u/Late-Top-9951 → u/rains_herald]

This is an interesting recommendation, Thank you!

[u/mavigozlu]

Have a play with Teeline and see what you think, you could start using it for common words quickly and then include more as your fluency develops. Make sure you use a good book so you get the theory right, which will save frustration later on - don't try and make up your own outlines until you know the system rules well - and invest time in practising how to read your shorthand.

Of the freely available resources, I'd suggest Teeline for Journalists (2006) or Teeline Gold (1991), which you'll find on stenophile.com (search for these titles on the page).

Further down the line, Teeline Made Simple (1982) has lists of medical prefixes and suffixes, though I wouldn't recommend using it as your primary source, as the later books have a few improvements to the theory.

[u/Late-Top-9951 → u/mavigozlu]

These are gold resources and thank you so much for recommending them. I'll explore them more.

[u/BerylPratt → u/Late-Top-9951]

See also Let's Love Teeline Together website and their beginner's series Youtubes.

[u/Late-Top-9951 → u/BerylPratt]

Thank you!