Opinion

Why you should learn shorthand and how to do it quickly

In this economy, with nearly 8,000 journalism graduates flooding the job market every year (numbers from 08/09), all journalism students should be looking for special skills to add to the CV that might impress prospective employers. Having a blog to link to on your CV might come in handy, but let’s be honest, every journalism student who is worth anything has a blog. It is not going to make you stand out in the crowd.

What employers want is proven skills, and a skill that will stand out on your CV is the ability to write shorthand. These days, when everyone has a smartphone and the possibility of recording anyone anywhere, shorthand is a skill that you no longer have to have if you want to interview someone. I suspect that is the reason why so few people on my journalism course chose Shorthand as a module this year, only six out of forty people.

With fewer students learning shorthand, it becomes more impressive for those who actually manage to learn it. It is a vital skill if you have any interest in court reporting, where no recording equipment is allowed, and it will also save you precious time in transcribing interviews or rescue you if your phone or voice-recorder runs out of battery or dies.

However I am afraid I have to disappoint those who were hoping for an easy way of learning shorthand. Although you can learn it quite quickly if you set aside the time, it requires hard work. I started learning Teeline in October, with five hours of taught lessons every week, and I am now able to write 80 words per minute. By the end of March I should be able to write a 100, which is what is considered to be the Gold Standard, although real professionals might manage as much as a 120.

I have spent at least one hour every day, sometimes two, bent over my copy of Teeline Gold Standard for Journalists for five months now, and I am the first to admit that it is hard, tedious work. In the beginning it felt like learning a new language, cramming new outlines like when I was learning new vocabulary in Spanish.

However as you learn the logic behind the alphabet and how the words are constructed, it begins to make sense, and reading shorthand becomes easier. It really is all about practice, when you are writing a 100 words per minute you have no time to think about the spelling of a word, it needs to be instinctive.

As hard and tedious as it has been, and still is, to learn shorthand, I would recommend it to anyone who has any ambition of becoming a professional journalist. With hard work and determination you should be able to learn it in six months, and then it is something you will benefit from the rest of your working life. And it will also give you valuable practice in being disciplined and determined.

If your university offers shorthand courses I would recommend signing up, as it is easier to learn when you have a teacher to guide you through the steps. It also requires less self-discipline when you know you are working towards an exam, and not just for yourself. If you want to learn it on your own, I would recommend buying a Teeline workbook on Amazon, and dedicate one hour every day to practice. At least now you have something to do this summer!

 

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