1.

1 INTRODUCTION

You have learnt to read and write English language. You must have learnt an Indian language as
well. So, you are quite familiar with their scripts or alphabets. But, do you know that these
scripts are not fast enough to write the language as quickly as you might require ? Look at Fig.
1.1 and Fig. 1.2 below wherein a word and a sentence have been written both in English script
as well as in shorthand. Compare the movements of pen and time taken in writing the word and
the sentence in English and shorthand. You will definitely find the difference.

English Shorthand

Fig. Know ........................................................

1.1.
Fig.1.2 I do not ........................................................
know
Don't you see that the word 'know' and the sentence 'I do not know' have very small and short
outlines in shorthand ? Since the language scripts are not fast enough, there arose a need for a
'speedy script' to write a language as quickly as you might require. This is exactly what
shorthand is. The shorthand has as such all the qualities to record the human voice speedily.
Ordinarily, is six times quicker than the language writing.

In order to record the human voice into neat and clean shorthand script, and to
transcribe the same accurately, you require thorough knowledge of the
principles of the system of shorthand, aided by a good background of the
language.

With the invention of the typewriter the transcription of notes written in shorthand
is now done on a typewriter/computer, so that the documents could be typed
speedily, accurately and neatly. Thus, the term 'Stenography' has now come to be
used in a wider sense, to represent the combination of three skills - Shorthand,
Transcription and Typewriting. While the Shorthand and Transcription shall form
the contents of these lessons, you will also have to acquire a fairly good speed -
say 30-40 words per minute - in typewriting, unless you possess it already.

Wherever you start learning any subject or skill, it is necessary for you to
know its background, importance and the methodology used in learning this
subject or attaining that skill. You will, therefore, study in the first lesson,
importance of shorthand, qualities required for a successful Stenographer,
techniques for writing shorthand and the material used in writing shorthand.

1.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson, you will be able to -

l recall the meaning of Stenography and definition of shorthand;

l explain the importance and scope of shorthand and other related

subjects or skills.

l enumerate the essential qualities of a Stenographer;

l adopt correct sitting posture when taking dictation;

l list the equipment (including dictation equipment) and the materials

required for writing shorthand.

l list the points to be kept in mind while transcribing.

1.3 WHAT IS STENOGRAPHY ?

The term 'Stenography' is composed of two words 'steno' and 'graphy'. 'Steno'
means narrow, 'graphy' means to write. So, Stenography means the art or any
method of writing very quickly.
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Stenography was later known as Shorthand. Shorthand has been described by

Sir Isaac Pitman as 'the art of representing spoken sounds in shorthand
characters (written signs)'. Shorthand provides a way of representing every
sound heard in English words.

Originally the transcription of shorthand notes was done in longhand or the

language script, which involved a longer time to transcribe. The transcription
of shorthand notes speedily and neatly be done on either the typewriter or
computer.

Pitman's system of Shorthand

The system of shorthand invented by Sir Isaac Pitman in 1837 in England, has
been found to be scientific and complete. In this system all minute sounds of
English words can be written in shorthand, and the shorthand outlines can be
read back accurately without any difficulty. Since this system is widely
practised all over the world and each and every town of India, it has been
adopted by the NIOS for imparting instructions to the students.

DEFINITION

Shorthand may be briefly and accurately defined as "the art of

representing spoken sounds by geometrical characters. It is also
called 'Phonography' or 'Sound Writing.' It is a system to write
words as they are pronounced. Since shorthand is written as
briefly as possible, it is called Stenography.

Pitman’s system is phonetic

It is a philosophical system of writing - a method based on phonetics (sounds).
Ordinary longhand is seldom phonetic. But Pitman's shorthand is phonetic, that
means, words are generally written as they are pronounced, and not according to
ordinary longhand spellings. With a few exceptions, only such sounds, as are
heard in pronouncing English words, are written in shorthand. Unspoken or
unheard sounds are not to be written. A few illustrations are given below :-
Words Sounds to be written
palm p-ah-m
tomb t-oo-m
ache a-k
coal k-oh-l
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1.5 IMPORTANCE OF SHORTHAND

When shorthand was invented in the 4th Century B.C. it was used only for
verbatim reporting of speeches. Its use was later extended to write
communications. It shows that the usefulness of shorthand has been
recognised by all in every part of the world. Shorthand has received greater
importance because of the following factors:-

(i) is faster than longhand writing

(ii) It provides jobs to a number of persons

(iii) It saves time and energy

1.5 STENOGRAPHER, HIS TECHNIQUES

AND EQUIPMENT

QUALITIES OF A SUCCESSFUL STENOGRAPHER

During the course of his official duties, a Stenographer may have to take
dictation, receive telephone calls and visitors, fix appointments for his officer,
maintain diary of engagements, meetings and reminders to be sent, keep a note
of movement of files, and generally assist his officer in such matters as the
latter may direct. He may also dispose of such work which he is authorised to
do, during the absence of his officer. In order to take dictation accurately and
neatly, speed, legibility, sharp grasp, hard work and good knowledge of the
language are essential pre-requisites. But to perform the general duties, as
listed above, he should possess the following qualities :-

(i) Punctuality

(ii) Patience and personal qualities

(iii) Sincerity

(iv) Personality
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SITTING POSTURE AND TECHNIQUES FOR WRITING SHORTHAND

In writing shorthand three things have to be kept in mind, viz. speed, accuracy
and freedom from fatigue. This depends on correct position of the shorthand
notebook, size of notes, body, hand and fingers outline, rapid leaf-turning,
besides table and chair of proper sizes. When sitting for dictation you should
feel at ease and there should be no tension in mind.

(i) Position of body : Sit erect at table, body close to the table. Hold
your head high at a distance of about 40 cms . from the notebook. Keep
your feet on the floor.

(ii) Position of Shorthand Notebook: Keep your note book at right

angle or slightly turned inside. Number pages and turn a few left hand
page-ends for rapid turning of leaves.

(iii) Position of arms, hands and fingers : Keep your left elbow on
the table and throw your entire weight on the left arm. Rest your right
elbow firmly so that it does not move forward or backward, or from
side to side.

Keep your right wrist on the note book to ensure easy writing on the
writing line. Hold the pen/pencil low between the thumb and the first
and second fingers. Grip the pen lightly. The third and fourth fingers
shall simply touch the paper.

(iv) Size of outlines : Writing very small or very large characters should
be avoided. You are advised to write shorthand stroke of the size of
1/6" (5 mm approx.).

(v) Rapid leaf-turning : While writing on the upper half of the leaf or
page, introduce the second finger of the left hand between it and the
next leaf. When convenient (not necessarily at the fag end of the last
line) turn the leaf.

(vi) Time Management : You should keep the dictation material ready in a
certain place on the desk, so that no time is wasted in searching for them
when called for dictation. The pen should be filled with ink, and the pencil
sharpened even before receiving the call from the officer. The date should
be written at the top left hand corner of the first page to be started for the
day’s notes. If you have to attend to many officers in the office, the
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name of the dictating officer should also be written near the date. The
rubber band should be used to mark the end of a finished page of your
notebook so that you can start writing on the next blank page without
waste of time. If these details are attended to beforehand, the buzzer
(bell from the officer) can be responded to at once.

(vii) Knowledge of Language : Sound knowledge of language is very

important. Use dictionary wherever required.

(viii) Concentration : requires good amount of concentration. Give your

full concentration on what you are writing.

(ix) Proper lighting : The room should have proper ventilation and light
should be adequate in the room.

(x) Believe in yourself : Always have a positive approach towards your

duties & never avoid responsibility.

1.6 MATERIAL REQUIRED

FOR WRITING SHORTHAND

For a skilled subject like shorthand, proper choice of material is essential. The
list of material and equipment can vary from situation to situation.

(a) Pen or Pencil : Any good quality pen with a nib, not too stiff, can be
used for writing shorthand. Such a pen should be used exclusively for
writing shorthand. In no case a ball point pen should be used for
writing shorthand. You can use either pen or pencil, especially
available for writing shorthand.

(b) Shorthand Notebook : Only ruled paper is used for writing Pitmans
system of shorthand. Standard size ruled shorthand notebooks of the
size 12 cms. x 19 cms. are commonly available in the market, which
should be used for writing shorthand. When writing shorthand, only the
front side of the leaf should be used, leaving the back side. When the
whole notebook has been used, it should be reversed, to enable you to
write on the other side of the various leaves of the notebook.

(c) Printed Lessons containing Exercises or Textbooks : As you

have to practice from the exercises given in these lessons and also from
other text material at a later stage, these should be readily available
when writing shorthand.
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(d) Furniture and layout: You should use an armless chair, approximately
40-45 cms. high depending on your height. For writing shorthand you
should prefer an office table (approximately of the height of 70-75 cms.)

You should also make sure that the room in which you write shorthand,
particularly when you are transcribing from dictation, should be free
from noise. There should be sufficient lighting in the room, so that the
thin shorthand outlines can be read easily.

(e) Dictation Equipment : Dictation Machines, Dictaphones are used by

some officers when the services of Stenographers are not available,
such as, beyond office hours, at homes or holidays, for the purpose of
dictating correspondence or any other matter. These machines record
human voices (dictated matter) on suitable media, such as, plastic tape,
plastic disc, plastic belt, coated paper, wire etc. Shown below is the
photo of dictaphone.

1.1 Dictaphone

The Stenographer or audio-typist plays back the recording on any desired speed,
listens to it (usually through headphones) and types what he/she hears. Some
modern transcribing units incorporate foot or hand controls for starting and
stopping the machine, voice control adjustments (to regulate speed, volume
8 ::

and tone), a backspacer for repeating dictation, and a signalling device to

indicate the length of dictation and places where corrections have been made.

You should be conversant with the operation of the recording machines such
as dictaphones, computers etc. the situation can arise when you may have to
use one in any office.

Transcription techniques

(i) The notebook and reference papers should be placed adjacent to each
other. Omission of words made from dots and dashes in shorthand is
often the cause of many failures in examinations.

(ii) The notes should not be read too fast. It is advisable to read the whole
dictated passage before transcription.

(iii) Once the transcription is over, in order to ensure accuracy, the whole
transcription should be read back.

(iv) The transcript, should be read back for accuracy before it is removed
from the machine. In this way errors can be corrected without the
necessity of re-inserting the papers into the typewriter/computer.

(v) To avoid repetition, the whole page should be crossed through, once the
transcription is over.

(vi) Unless you have a good background information of the work you are
called upon to do daily, you will not be in a position to follow the sense
of the dictation, to take it down efficiently. You should therefore do
spare-time reading of the subject relating to your work and should
make a list of special terms and phrases which occur frequently in
dictation in your office and for which you should prepare brief outlines,
phraseograms and intersections. This will increase your speed of
writing in shorthand.

(vii) Used shorthand note books should be stored for future reference, as the
need may arise sometimes to refer back to them. The notebooks may be
stored in order of dates/months of use.

(viii) When you are transcribing shorthand notes from the dictating machine,
you should be well conversant with the operating methods.
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SOME BRIEF HINTS TO SPEED WRITING

1. Buy a good fountain pen with a fine and flexible nib.

2. Use good clean ink, preferably blue-black.

3. Buy a good notebook with smooth lined paper.

4. Prepare the page for rapid turning over before beginning to take dictation.

5. Cultivate a small and neat style of .

6. Write lightly, with no digging into the paper.

7. Hold the pen lightly, not tightly.

8. Take the cap off from the pen in order to avoid weight.

9. Keep a spare pen/pencil handy.

10. Let the little finger of the writing hand rest lightly on the paper.

11. Concentrate when taking dictation.

12. Follow the sense of the matter dictated.

13. Practice drill exercises every day.

14. Memorize the Short Forms and Contractions.

15. Understand and apply the Principles of Phrasing.

16. Learn to spell correctly, whenever in doubt, consult dictionary.

17. Acquire a good knowledge of the rules of English Grammar.

18. Do plenty of transcriptions from your own shorthand notes.

19. Read plenty of printed shorthand matter.

20. Keep your general reading wide.

21. Write legible outlines when the speed is comfortably low. When the speed
is high try to write the shorthand outlines for all the words dictated.

22. Read through the shorthand notes before transcribing.

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23. Aim always at a higher speed.

24. Through persistence, achieve your aim.

1.7 WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

The material required for note-taking in shorthand is (1) Shorthand Notebook
(2) Shorthand Pen/Pencil (3) Rubber Band.

Before taking dictation, be ready with the used pages of your notebook duly
marked (enclosed) with a rubber band. Fill in the ink in the pen or sharpen
your pencil beforehand.

When taking dictation, you should sit facing the officer, across the table. The
room should be well-lighted to improve the writing and reading of notes. The
notebook should be kept at right angle and the lower left-ends of the blank
pages of your notebook be turned for quick leaf-turning. When a page has
been completed, turn it with the left hand fingers.

Your shorthand outlines should be neither too large nor too small. Write
approximately 12 outlines in one line. Always follow the sense of the matter
being dictated and insert full stop during the course of dictation. Hold your pen
with a proper grip and write lightly. Outlines not properly written should be
vocalised. Unfamiliar words, names and addresses may be written in English
to ensure correct transcription.

You should write outlines of all the words. Never leave any word. Write
something for every word. In case you have not heard any word, it is better to
ask the officer than to leave some gap. Corrections should be inserted either
above the line in the margin or at the end of the page.

All errors should be erased and corrected there and then. If the transcript is a
draft, type it in double line space. You are expected to remove all grammatical
mistakes cropping up in the dictation, type correct spellings and insert proper
punctuation marks in the transcript. Use of dictionary be made in case of any
doubt. While transcribing, read a group of 3-4 words at a time and then type
the same. After you finish a page of transcript, it is better to compare and read
back the same and make corrections while the paper is still on the typewriter/
computer. Every page of the notebook transcribed should be cancelled by
drawing a line over it.
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Prepare brief outlines, phraseograms and intersections of all common words

and phrases frequently occurring in the dictation in your office. Before using
dictation machine, be familiar with all the working parts you are required to
handle. Listen to the entire dictation of a letter or document before you start
transcribing. Make sure that you type the necessary number of copies of the
letter/document.