BLOG: Shorthand doesn’t fall short in reducing time

The average person can write 22 words per minute (wpm) if copying down, according to a 1988 study by C. Marlin Brown about human-computer interface design. Another study done in 1999 by Clare-Marie Karat and colleagues showed that the average computer user can transcribe 33 wpm.

However, Martin J. Dupraw at his peak handwrote at 260 wpm with a 99.69 percent accuracy at the National Shorthand Reporters’ Association championships, using Gregg shorthand.

There are many different forms of shorthand, also called stenography. Some of the most propular are Gregg, Teeline and Pitman. Most shorthand is based on phonetics, or sound of the word.

According to Eric Lee, author of “The not complete-idiot’s guide to: Alternative Handwriting and Shorthand Systems for Dummies” webpage,  the English language has approximately 32-50  sounds in speech and only 26 letters to write them out. On top of that, we have multiple ways to write a single sound (such as too, two and to) and sometimes multiple sounds for a single spelling (such as through, dough and slough).

It used to be that shorthand was taught for occupations like secretaries and journalists. However, I’ve never had a class as a journalism student that actually taught a system of shorthand. Some students develop their own version of shorthand, nowhere near as sophisticated or efficient as Gregg shorthand. I collected some samples of some shorthand from my fellow students, as well as their thoughts on it.

The phrase they are all writing is “Haikus are easy. But sometimes they don’t make sense. Refrigerator.”