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  • I want to show you something cool that I can do

  • on my Mac here.

  • So I get a lot of email, and for a lot of these emails,

  • I have to type the exact same responses.

  • But instead of typing the same words

  • over and over and over again,

  • I have this cool little Chrome extension called Gorgias

  • that lets me bind templates to little keywords

  • that I can type.

  • So if somebody emails me and, say, they want me to

  • do something and I just don't have the time to do it,

  • instead of typing out a long apology and an explanation,

  • I can just type the word busy, hit tab,

  • and the entire response will pop out in less than a second.

  • Over the past few months, I've been steadily developing

  • more and more templates as the need arises,

  • and according to the app statistics,

  • it's already saved me over 5 hours of typing,

  • which isn't too shabby.

  • But, what if you're using paper?

  • Well, on paper we have shorthand writing systems.

  • These are systems that vastly cut down on the characters

  • or strokes needed to express ideas.

  • The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography,

  • and it's an art that basically every journalist had to learn

  • before the widespread availability of these little devices.

  • The origins of shorthand date back to the 4th century B.C.

  • in ancient Greece.

  • Though even before that, scribes in ancient Egypt

  • developed two different writing systems,

  • the hieratic and later the demotic,

  • which let them write much more quickly than they could

  • using complicated hieroglyphics.

  • Fast forward to the past couple of centuries

  • and two systems became dominant in the shorthand sphere:

  • the Pitman shorthand method and the Gregg shorthand method.

  • Both these systems are phonetic.

  • That is, their alphabets aren't one-to-one approximations

  • for Latin characters.

  • Rather, they're symbols designed to express how words

  • sound when they're being spoken.

  • Masters of these two systems have been known

  • to be able to write at 200 words per minute or more,

  • which means they can write basically anything

  • word for word as it's said,

  • but the problem here is that both of these systems

  • are incredibly difficult to learn.

  • They take a lot of time and practice,

  • and, as a student, I'm betting you probably don't have

  • that time to dedicate to learning one of them.

  • For example, here is, as best as I can write it

  • with 10 minutes of practice, the statement,

  • "There is a ninja standing right behind you.

  • "I am not joking.

  • "You seriously need to run,"

  • written in Gregg shorthand.

  • Now, I'd wager it'd take you a bit of time to figure out

  • how to read let alone be able to write it professionally.

  • So on one side of the problem, writing in Gregg

  • or Pitman shorthand takes way too long to learn,

  • but on the other side writing in longhand

  • is painful for your wrist and simply takes too long

  • to do while you're in class.

  • What's the solution?

  • Well, actually I've got two solutions in mind.

  • The first one is to use a simpler shorthand writing system.

  • One option is alphabetic shorthand systems

  • like speedwriting or personal shorthand.

  • Now, these are systems that use the standard Latin alphabet

  • you're already familiar with,

  • and while some shorthand purists may turn their noses up

  • at them like snooty aristocratic gentleman

  • and while, indeed, you may not be able to write as fast

  • as you could with Gregg or Pitman, the trade-off here

  • is that they take far, far less time to learn

  • Another option is to use a system with characters

  • that do differ from that standard Latin alphabet,

  • but that are easier to learn than the phonetic alphabets

  • of Gregg or Pitman.

  • The most famous example I can think of is called teeline,

  • which is actually still used by a lot of journalists today.

  • But an even newer example that I came across recently

  • is called Ford Improved Shorthand,

  • which is supposedly designed

  • to be able to be learned within 15 minutes.

  • So here's that same statement from before

  • but now written in Ford,

  • and I have to say that while it took me probably 10 minutes

  • to puzzle out how to write it in Gregg,

  • it was really, really easy to write it in Ford,

  • and I found myself being able to memorize the new characters

  • after writing them just once or twice.

  • The other solution is to create what amounts to

  • your own shorthand system, and this is an idea

  • I've had kicking around in my brain for a long, long time,

  • and it's actually why I made this video in the first place

  • because if you're the only one who's gonna review your notes

  • and no one else is gonna need to look at them,

  • then why not write them in the most efficient way

  • you can for you.

  • With that being said, let's get into one of the experiments

  • that I've been doing in recent weeks with my notes.

  • So let's take three words,

  • allegation, procrastination, and litigation.

  • All these three words end with the suffix tion,

  • which in my made sounds a bit like shin.

  • So we could just draw a picture of a shin with a foot,

  • and I'd circle the shin, and then you could simplify

  • that drawing down and then simplify it once more

  • until we have a two-stroke symbol that resembles a shin.

  • Now I can add that as the suffix instead of writing tion,

  • which is six strokes, and this one is two,

  • so now we have a reduction of four strokes.

  • If you want do another example, let's take the suffix able.

  • When I think of able, I think of somebody who is strong

  • and able to do things, so let's take a big, beefy arm,

  • draw that and then simplify that once again,

  • and now we have yet another two-stroke symbol.

  • Now, going beyond those two examples that I made up,

  • I just want to give you a list of good targets in your notes

  • for developing potential symbols,

  • and one target is prefixes and suffixes,

  • and I'm actually gonna link to a big list of these

  • in the article for this video.

  • Another idea is function words,

  • essentially the words that make sentences coherent

  • like with, and, because, or, greater than, less than,

  • those kind of things.

  • These words don't really carry a whole lot of information

  • about the concepts within them,

  • so they're prime targets for shortening.

  • So that rounds out all the ideas I had

  • about shorthand right now, but I did want to leave you with

  • one final tip before I round out the video,

  • and that is that shorthand isn't the only way

  • to condense the amount of notes you have to take

  • and also to cut down on the amount of carpal tunnel

  • you suffer from.

  • In fact, you can draw diagrams, you can use arrows

  • to connect concepts and ideas, and you can find other ways

  • to jot down the things you're learning in class

  • without having to write them out fully.

  • And, as always, if you've already done your own experiments

  • or have any tips I didn't mention here,

  • I would love to hear about them down in the comments,

  • so let your knowledge flow forth from your brain.

  • And if you enjoyed this video,

  • as always, give it a like to support this channel,

  • and I will see you in next week's video.

  • Thanks for watching.

  • (electronic music)

  • Hey there, guys. Thanks so much for watching this video.

  • Now, if you want to get new tips on being

  • a more effective student every single week,

  • you can click that big, red subscribe button right there.

  • Also, I wrote an entire book on how to earn better grades,

  • and if you want to get a free copy, you can click

  • the picture of the book, and I'll send you one.

  • And if you want to read the article for this video

  • and find all the links to things I mentioned,

  • you can click the orange button right there.

  • Last week's video, we talked about resources

  • for getting cheaper prices on the textbooks you have to buy,

  • so check it out if you missed it.

  • And if you want to connect, I'm TomFrankly on Instagram

  • and Twitter, or you could leave a comment down below.

  • (electronic music)

I want to show you something cool that I can do

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it

B1 shorthand gregg write writing shin suffix

How to Take Faster Notes - College Info Geek

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    葉班班 posted on 2016/03/01
Video vocabulary

Keywords

learn

US /lɚn/

UK /lɜ:n/

  • verb
  • To get knowledge or skills by study or experience
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • other
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • other
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • To find out something.
  • To find out something.
draw

US /drɔ/

UK /drɔ:/

  • noun
  • Something that attracts people to visit a place
  • A lottery or prize
  • Result of a game, contest where the score is equal
  • verb
  • To attract attention to someone or something
  • To get closer to or approach something or someone
  • To influence a person's involvement in something
  • To move an object by pulling
  • To create an image using pen or pencil and paper
  • To take one thing out of a container, etc.
  • (Of 2 teams) to finish a game with the same score
long

US /lɔŋ, lɑŋ/

UK /lɒŋ/

  • noun
  • Person's name
  • other
  • To have a strong desire or yearning.
  • adjective
  • Large distance from one end to the other
  • Having many parts, e.g. a book with many chapters
  • verb
  • To have a strong desire for something or someone
  • adverb
  • For a large amount of time
stroke

US /strok/

UK /strəʊk/

  • noun
  • When blood cannot get to brain, causing damage
  • Mark made by a pen, pencil or brush
  • One movement of oars on a boat
  • verb
  • To rub your hand in a caring way on something
article

US /ˈɑrtɪkəl/

UK /'ɑ:tɪkl/

  • noun
  • Word such as 'a', 'an', or 'the' used before nouns
  • Piece of writing about a particular subject
  • Piece of something, e.g. clothing
  • Section of a business contract or law
lot

US /lɑt/

UK /lɒt/

  • noun
  • What happens to a person in life from chance; fate
  • A group of people seen together
  • Item for sale at an auction
  • Small area of land used for a purpose e.g. parking
click

US /klɪk/

UK /klɪk/

  • verb
  • To work well with someone or something
  • To press a computer mouse
  • To make a short, slight, and sharp sound
  • other
  • To like each other immediately.
  • To suddenly understand something.
  • noun
  • The sound a computer mouse makes when you press it
  • A photograph.
  • A short, slight, and sharp sound
  • A single instance of a clicking sound or action.
  • other
  • To select something on a computer screen by pressing a button on a mouse.
video

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UK /'vɪdɪəʊ/

  • adjective
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  • The medium of moving visual images.
  • A recording of moving visual images made digitally or on videotape.
  • verb
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  • other
  • To make a video call.
  • other
  • To record something using a video camera.
type

US /taɪp/

UK /taɪp/

  • noun
  • Printed letters or blocks used for printing them
  • Group of things or people sharing common features
  • verb
  • To identify something belonging to a group
  • To write by touching keys on a keyboard
music

US /ˈmjuzɪk/

UK /'mju:zɪk/

  • noun
  • Sounds that are sung or played to give pleasure
  • Academic study of rhythms and sounds
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