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Orthic Shorthand – Write as fast as you type

orthic.shorthand.fun

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Re: Orthic Shorthand – Write as fast as you type

#2
Looking at images of shorthand makes me remember how much I just enjoyed playing the 2023 game Chants of Sennaar: https://www.rundisc.io/chants-of-sennaar/

The game’s dialogue and story are all written in a series of ever more complex writing systems, unseen and novel to the game. There’s a mechanic where you get to prove to the game you understand what is being written or said (characters have subtitles also in the writing systems) and it’s really good fun!

Pittman shorthand: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Wr53ouD4Ok/WhxIZR6AOZI/AAAAAAABI...

Sennaarian writing: https://cdn.focus-home.com/fhi-fastforward-admin/resources/g...

Re: Orthic Shorthand – Write as fast as you type

#4
My mom went to a professional school for "company secretary" or something like that in the 70s and learned shorthand notation (and typing). I recall trying to learn from her books as a kid, it's not that hard.

But she never seemed to actually use it later in her life (she still touch typed tho!).

I wonder how useful shorthand is in these days when cheap recording devices are available in everyone's pocket.

Maybe people who keep hand written diaries still use it?

Re: Orthic Shorthand – Write as fast as you type

#5
post #4

My mom went to a professional school for "company secretary" or something like that in the 70s and learned shorthand notation (and typing). I recall trying to learn from her books as a kid, it's not that hard. But she never seemed to actually use it later in her life (she still touch typed tho!). I wonder how useful shorthand is in these days when cheap recording devices are available in everyone's pocket. Maybe peop…

I keep a handwritten journal. I definitely do not use it.

Re: Orthic Shorthand – Write as fast as you type

#7
I learnt Pittman shorthand (and some Greg), and taught it to my kids as a "secret code". They use it in class to jot notes the teacher cannot read :)

Both of these make the writing faster, but reading slower. I once spoke the world's champion shorthand writer - I've forgotten her name. She said the even she cannot read shorthand as fast as regular text.

Which made sense before computers, when a stenographer needs to write very quickly, and English is written long.

Bt, nowadays we need the opposite - a "shorthand" which, once you have learned, can be consumed quickly. I know from experience that it takes much less time to read Hebrew than to read the same text in English (even though my mother tongue is English), since the vowels are assumed and abbreviations are extremely common - the actual text is shorter and quicker to read.

I can scan a long article quickly, but I wish there was a way to convert that to a writing system that was quicker to intake.

Re: Orthic Shorthand – Write as fast as you type

#9

I learnt Pittman shorthand (and some Greg), and taught it to my kids as a "secret code". They use it in class to jot notes the teacher cannot read :) Both of these make the writing faster, but reading slower. I once spoke the world's champion shorthand writer - I've forgotten her name. She said the even she cannot read shorthand as fast as regular text. Which made sense before computers, when a stenographer needs to…

Use other languages, perhaps? English is a relatively compact language in terms of visual space, but there are even more compact languages. Typical examples include East Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) and Nordic languages (Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish).

Re: Orthic Shorthand – Write as fast as you type

#10
post #8

I can’t even read my own cursive, so I can’t imagine how illegible my shorthand cursive would be. Does anyone have any experience with this that suggests that maybe it can be clearer than cursive? One can always hope…

I have found my cursive hand getting much better after spending some time with Gregg shorthand.

The emphasis on curve and proportion in Gregg has made my cursive hand much more regular, flowing and pleasing to the eye. I’m sure similar benefits would accrue to learning and practising Orthic where specific curves, angles and joins have meaning.

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