Shorthand tee line - looking for online tutor

[CelieandNettie]

Hi , DS is doing a journalism course and has to do tee line shorthand. He's falling behind a little so I thought about getting him a tutor to catch up.
Any ideas where to start looking ? He's based in Brighton but I guess a tutor might offer online tutoring ?

TIA

I learned t-line many years ago. Once you have the basics and shortforms, its all about using it every day. You can help DS by reading passages slowly to start with as he writes his t-line. Then get him to transcribe it back and check for accuracy. Time yourself as the exams are based on speed. I only got to 110 words per min. I could struggle through 120 wpm, but I lost too much accuracy to pass an exam.

I'm not sure on line tutoring would do anymore than you could do really.

Thanks for this. He's finding it really hard. I'd hoped a tutor might boost his confidence

I agree with this. Assuming he has the outlines, he needs to practise as much as he can.

He could play news podcasts at a slower speed as an alternative to you reading to him.

I used to practice listening to the news and radio interviews etc. It is just all about getting used to the outlines and then transcribing your notes. I passed my 120 wpm fine when I did the NCE just doing it that way.

Lots of practice I suppose

It's not like he'll ever need it now that phones have voice memos on them which is essentially a dictaphone and then his laptop can transcribe it for him

Seems like a nonsense filler module

My court reporting days are long behind me, but I think journalists still need shorthand for courts, inquests etc.

He's on a journalism degree course and shorthand is a module of that degree. He has to get it complete by 2nd year or can't progress to his final year.

You're right though - can't imagine he'll ever have to use it when he can just use his phone .

Thanks for the help

I learnt Teeline shorthand on day release when it was first introduced in the 1970s and I think it has been the single most useful thing I've ever done in my life. I've used it daily in almost every job I've had. A major part of the job that I've done for the last 20 years is taking near verbatim minutes and there's no way I could do that if I didn't do shorthand. My mum held the speed record for Pitman's shorthand at the Manchester Pitman's College, and they had difficulty finding anyone who could talk fast enough for to take her exams at the higher speeds. I remember seeing her 220wpm certificate and I think she got up to 250 wpm with 99% accuracy. Because Teeline is more like a form of speedwriting, you can't get to the sort of speeds that are possible for Pitman's or Greggs, but I got to 100 wpm at college quite easily and am much faster now. It's really worth persevering with, and SO much easier than Pitman's shorthand.

Just to add thst there are many occasions when you can't use a phone to record things. I've never been able to record any of the countless meetings I've sat through over the years.

Not every conversation can be recorded electronically.

An informer may refuse to be recorded for example.

A meeting, especially confidential might not be recorded.

A trial or inquest.

Also, you may well have technical problems, or indeed not enough battery!

This article suggests it's still important

www.nctj.com/news/nctj-survey-finds-82-per-cent-of-journalism-employers-regard-shorthand-as-important/

Agree it's about the symbols and blends and practicing!!

He will absolutely have to use it, so don't listen to those posters who say "oh he can just use his phone." He can't.

And to echo pps, OP, he doesn't need a tutor once he knows the outlines; it really is just a case of practising every day to get speed up. Transcribing the news on the Today prog every morning did it for me (120wpm and still use it almost daily.. though not at 120wpm any more!)

It also takes ages to transcribe from tape. As you have to pause and restart. Transcribing from shorthand is still useful and I wish I knew shorthand as my note taking is dire but essential to my job and I cannot always record as PP state.

Pitman's takes me back, is it still going? Shorthand defeated me totally but up until recently I worked with someone who used it everyday in everything she wrote down. It madw her a very efficient admin assistant

My husband was a court reporter until last year and you cannot use a phone or a dictaphone in court. Got to take it down and shorthand is the quickest which is why journalists are still using it. My husband used it still for taking notes when interviewing. He also uses it for shopping lists/to do lists when he doesn't want me or the kids to know what's on it!

I’m another who learned Pitman shorthand and still use it today… very useful.

OP your son will need shorthand in his career. I’d encourage him to take down news reports and similar. The only way to become proficient is to practice using it very regularly. He doesn’t need a tutor for this.

I did Pitman 2000 in 1976. I think it was meant to sound futuristic. I've used it lots over the years. It was especially handy in meetings with the Local Authority, Social Services etc when negotiating or discussing services for disabled DS. I would take verbatim notes (hardly ever transcribed them) and it kept them on their toes!

I used to be a journalist so did Teeline - it's kind of like piano practice - he just has to start very slowly (eg songs) and then build his speed.

Our tutor used to encourage us to transcribe conversations on tv chat shows as they were a bit slower than usual conversations.

I would get him to speak to his tutor first of all - more practice is definitely the key!