Get a Dictionary!

I just got my anniversary dictionary in the mail. It's pretty beat up, but it will work. And I imagine I will beat it up some more before long.

For any of you out there who are hesitating, perhaps thinking that the manual is enough to learn shorthand, I cannot emphasize enough the value of having a hardcopy dictionary on hand! I see at least three major advantages to having it around:

1) It's my key to branching off into writing the way I speak and the words I hear around me in meetings. (As opposed to the period language of your system).

2) It's a great way to keep in touch with your system. Think of it like a "reverse lookup" of the rules of shorthand. The manual states the rule and gives the word example. The dictionary lets you pick your own word example and see the rule in action.

3) The spelling order of a dictionary is really powerful in shorthand because it groups so many words by their similarities. It shows me the themes of words and their variations. Browsing the dictionary is a powerful way to internalize what an outline "is supposed to look like".

What do you think? Agree/Disagree? What am I missing?

(by Derek for everyone)

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