My eldest granddaughter tells me that she wants to be a journalist like her granny so I told her that she would have to learn shorthand. I had to buy another theory book after the dictation speed-building disc in mine stopped working so about a year ago I gave the old one to her to play with.
She's obviously been working hard at it and recently made me card to show off her fledgling skills. Shorthand students will notice that some of her outlines are a bit squiffy - particularly her use of the NTH blend for the word one, and not using the R principle for words beginning BR/CR/GR etc, plus the use of vowels in words where they are not needed - but she managed to understand the PL blend, generally got the hang of the system and as we shorthand nerds know, outlines are only "wrong" if the person who wrote them cannot read them back. She clearly managed to do that because, for my benefit in struggling to read her shorthand, she transcribed it and included that transcription on the card.
Considering that she is only 9 years old, she's progressing well and has enough years ahead to become a shorthand expert before her journalism training starts - unless of course in the years between she changes her mind about her future occupation.
Either way, shorthand is a unique skill that, as a shorthand tutor, I would say is useful in all aspects of life.
