I am converting to Anniversary from Simplified because my hand rather than my head often slows me down. I write longhand very slowly and laboriously, and a number of the longer Simplified outlines take me a long time to write, even though I recall them very clearly. Writing E-S-R for instead of E-Left S-E-R-S-I-S "exercise" and E-S-L instead of E-Left S-E-L-E-NT for "excellent" is a joy.
Sometimes the reversing principle makes Anniversary outlines easy to write. I find its use at the END of words to be a nuisance, however. Writing R after a straight stroke at the end of a word takes no longer than writing Reverse-E, and writing the Reverse loop is considerably harder than writing RS. I think I'm going to follow Simplified in the way I represent R and RS at the ends of words.
I am also puzzled by the WAY the circles are reversed after K and G. Normally a reversed circle is written as it would be written if an R were to follow. When we write "garden" in Simplified (G-A-RD-N), we place the circle ABOVE the G. Why is the reversed circle not placed this way in Anniversary (G-Reversed A-Den)? Instead, it is written where an ordinary circle would be written but simply traced in the opposite direction so that the upstroke will appear to its right. I find it easy to write a circle above a K of G but awkward to remember to trace in the opposite direction a circle placed in the normal position. Doing so requires thinking that under the pressure of dictation would waste a lot of time.
I find a few Simplified outlines preferable to their Anniversary counterparts. R-P-R-V for "representative" is much easier to write than R-P-Tive. Using R-P-R for "report" strikes me as stupid. Simplified's R-P-O-T makes more sense. The use of R-P-R for "report" precludes use of the facile R-P-R-V for "representative."
Some of the phrases shown in the Anniversary books are extremely hard to write. "In other words" and "on the other hand" are truly a handful. I would lose a lot of time executing either one and definitely will not use them.
Certain simple phrases used in both Simplified and Anniversary are very hard to write. "So that" is nigh unto impossible. I can write something that vaguely resembles the correct outline and transcribe it easily enough; but anyone looking at what I write in isolation would be hard-pressed to decipher it. The O hook turns into an angle when I write the combination with any speed at all.
(by Bruce
E. for group greggshorthand)
Labels: anniversary, general, phrasing, simplified