Who Wants to Learn in a Month in January

[Deb]

ETA: Is there another month you'd like to try? Reply with suggestions and I can go from there.

I was reading a board and apparently in November they have a National Novel Writing Month where you write 50,000 words of a novel in one month. There's also a poetry month (March or April) and a songwriting/album month (February). As well as other items like that. I know June is John Robert Gregg's birthday and would be the perfect month, but there are other Gregg celebrations as well that month. So I picked a month coming up with New Years resolutions and all. Plus it gives you time to get things together and momentum and enthusiasm to build.

Someone did ask about Learn In A Month or so. I keep thinking about it because with study it might be possible to learn the basics.

This would be just to get the basics of the theory. Yes you would learn the entire Gregg Shorthand Anniversary theory. Looking at the manual, there are a few lessons that could be combined simply because they're short and Unit 34 is just states and cities that are good to know if you need them. Units 28 & 29 combined in one day, Units 31 & 32 combined in one day and Units 33 & 34 combined in one day. That still is only 30 days to learn the system (so a 30-day month could be used as well).

So who hasn't learned or learned just a few lessons and is willing to take on this challenge? Take the poll and/or reply.

***Please note! ***
You will not be a super shorthand writer. Your speed will be slow and you will need to review as you will struggle to write certain words (I still do to this day). This is not a get rich quick type idea.

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UPDATE
It looks like even though there were a lot of people thinking about doing this, not many people did and it doesn't seem like it went over well. It was a good experiment though. If anyone would like to try it on their own, feel free to do so.
Learn in a Month - How Are Your Lessons Coming?

[abbylia]

This is actually how I became introduced to shorthand. I was on bed rest during my pregnancy and losing my mind from boredom. I ordered some Gregg shorthand textbooks from Amazon and taught myself in a few months. Of course I haven't practiced at all since then. And have forgotten the majority of things I learned. Still I love shorthand and would love to improve and make it a priority once again. Sign me up for the intensive class! It would be a fun way to start the new year and everyone always has more discipline in January! Great idea!!!
Abby

[gsmember]

I would love to participate in a one-month learning class....and not keep putting this off! Starting in January is good, December is way too busy. Maybe start in mid-January? Whatever is fine with me. Thanks!

[gsmember]

Will you be posting the instruction and assignments online here? Or will we need extra materials we need to order before we start?

[phoenix]

I am interested in this and plan to participate. Looking forward to it keeping me focused and on target.

[jkardo92692]

I have a diary my mother wrote in the 1920's and I would really like to be able to read it. I think this is a great idea!

[Deb]

I love all the enthusiasm for this idea.

A few answers:

MATERIALS

--The book is free online and you can download it as a PDF. Which means you can have it on your phone or tablet or laptop or I think even a Kindle Fire. This allows you to read it on the go or study on the go. You could even print it if you want. You could also study it directly from the website online, which has the key (the key is not in the book or pdf book). You can order a used book from somewhere, but please don't spend more then a few US dollars. There were plenty printed and they are available often, plus it's free online.

Here's the copyright info from the website. There are a few year versions.




--Paper or steno notebook.
--Pen, pencil or some writing instrument.
--You could use an electronic paper and pen if you choose.


LESSONS
All the lessons, with instructions have been added to this site all ready here. There are two lessons for each unit, you will combine them into one and a few later ones several of them. The first lesson was just to read through and maybe write the unit, the second was for writing, transcribing and maybe dictation. They were moved to subboards to condense the board and make it easier to navigate. Please look for the ones marked "Anni - Unit...". I will add something for this particular "class" so we have an assignment lesson log.


I think we'll start January 1. This way we have a good starting and ending date (January 31).

[lvw]

Shorthand practice takes lots and lots of paper. If you want to go cheap, you don't need a steno notebook. Just buy a ream of wide-ruled lined paper. (Wide-ruled is the same as Gregg-ruled. College-ruled has the lines too close together for shorthand.) To get the same feel as a steno notebook gives, draw one or two vertical lines to divide the paper into two or three vertical columns.

I'm a mathematician, and I use wide-ruled paper for my math notes. Typically I write on just one side so I can compare pages without flipping them back and forth. Then when I'm finished with them, I use the blank sides for shorthand practice.

[Deb]

Ivw, thank you. That's why I put paper or steno book, I just wanted to leave it open. I remembered that suggestion. If they also use a ball point pen, which if one that moves across the paper easily, that would make it easier to use both sides. I use a gel pen at work and on a steno book with the green tint, it can be seen on the other side a little bit. I had one manager that didn't like the last assistant who flipped the book over and around trying to find her notes, it was his pet peeve. Knowing how to use a steno book (rubber band to hold used pages together so I can flip to a clean page and dates in the lower right hand column) helped me look good to this boss. There actually was a tip in an old shorthand magazine to draw a line down the paper. This was before steno books had them.

[sheila57]

This is a good idea.  I am up for it!

[baker]

I have studied anniversary off and on for some time but have been wanting a solid review.  Doing this in the month of January sounds great!  I would prefer to use the functional method books.  I think they generally follows he same content.  Any thoughts?

[Deb]

Dec 2, 2016 10:53:58 GMT -5 baker said:

I have studied anniversary off and on for some time but have been wanting a solid review.  Doing this in the month of January sounds great!  I would prefer to use the functional method books.  I think they generally follows he same content.  Any thoughts?

You could do this. Since it's just a review, I don't see why not. A great challenge.

For the Functional Method I did two lessons to every 1 unit in the little brown book. This month course would be using the little brown book. So for the Functional Method (FM), there was a Lesson 1 for a week, while the little brown book (Anni) had Unit 1-Week 1. Then for the FM Lesson 2 the next week, the Anni would be Unit 1-Week 2.
It did follow along pretty well in the learning of theory.
So that would be 2 lessons a day. It might work really well at first since the Functional Method you don't have to write until Lesson 17, and even though you're dong a review, you could follow that procedure as well. This will help you stay up and then you can decide how much to take on after that. Maybe read and write every lesson, but dictation every other lesson or ever few.

You could even do one lesson with one unit and go through it a bit slower and take two months or as short or long as needed.

Anyone who wants to start with the FM, I would suggest not doing it in a month. There is a ton of reading and writing. You could skip some of it (NOT recommended), but if you want to learn Gregg Shorthand Anniversary edition, start with the little brown book, then review with the Functional Method books.

[washbear]

This would work better for me in the summer time. I'm getting ready to move in the next few months, so things are kind of crazy for me these days. Great idea, though.

[Deb]

Dec 2, 2016 16:21:10 GMT -5 washbear said:

This would work better for me in the summer time. I'm getting ready to move in the next few months, so things are kind of crazy for me these days. Great idea, though.

I'm thinking if this works out this will be offered again as a group. All the study materials will be here, but like the other items I mentioned above, they are done as a group and I think that helps everyone want to participate and finish. Thanks for letting me know you think it's a great idea. I wasn't sure.

[Deb]

I put up an assignment lesson log here that might work. Amy thoughts?
greggshorthand.proboards.com/thread/1424/