- 1). Study your system every day. In a language class, you spend every day reviewing vocabulary -- learning new words and examining the grammar rules. The same should be true for your shorthand. Spend half an hour every day reviewing different symbols and leaning new ones.
- 2). Use dictation tools that speak to you at a specified rate. You can find these online for free via a search. Start at the slowest speed possible. Read back what you wrote. Practice that speed until you can shorthand easily. Then move to the next quickest speed.
- 3). Write in shorthand everyday for at least a half hour block of time, in addition to your studies. Don't try to delay practice to one day a week for three hours. This keeps you from establishing the process as a habit. Only daily practice will help you learn better.
- 4). Watch TV or do shorthand to music. While dictation software helps you shorthand progressively faster, television and music accustoms you to the rhythm of every day talk. Incorporate this into your 30 minutes of practice, along with dictation, three to four times a week.
- 5). Read books and other materials in shorthand every day. You can find these online or by asking the librarian at your local library. Many materials were once published in shorthand, and your librarian should be able to help you find them.
- 6). Concentrate on areas of shorthand that you find tough. This should be part of your 30 minute practice a couple times a week. Spend five or ten minutes slowly writing and rewriting difficult symbols, whether numbers or a certain group of words.
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