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G11 Joe's Boat (Basic strokes)

G12 Latin Authors On Shorthand

G13 Ladies Who Lunch (Basic strokes)

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G11 Joe's Boat (Basic strokes)

https://youtu.be/Am2gyl8J4Nc

Joe and his boat seem to make regular appearances in the first chapter of Pitman’s instruction books, and it has taken some digging to find out what he gets up to outside of those exercises. Fortunately his activities involve only plain strokes, basic vowels/diphthongs, circles and loops - no hooks, halving or doubling, aimed at the early beginner.

Joe had a boat. It was a small sailing boat which he used on his time off. Joe paid a big sum of money for it but he was happy to pay the cost, as he got it in a sale. Last Saturday Joe took his boat on the sea and sailed to the pier and back. On Sunday Joe put his things in the boat - several bags, a picnic box and loads of food for a jolly beach party. He and his family all sailed to Sandy Bay, which is just a small village four miles away. The sun* stayed out all day and they sailed back at six. On Monday Joe took the bus to the bay to get on his boat and check the safety of the ropes because a big storm was going to come soon.

* "snow, sun/snowy, sunny" Helpful to insert the vowels in most instances, unless the difference in context is obvious

But - oh no! - the boat was missing! Joe looked sadly at the empty quayside. The sea was still calm and Joe saw no storm in the sky. He had to sit for a time to think of a reason, so he can get his boat back. On the pier he saw Jay and Julie and they said to him, “We saw Danny move your boat to the boat shed by the jetty, because of the storm forecast. But the storm has missed us and passed far out to sea. So we have had no damage to our stuff.” It was a big relief for Joe and he said, “I will ask Danny by text message to see me in The King’s Head pub for a nice lunch, as a thank-you for saving my boat. We can have a meal of cod, chips and beer, and some slices of delicious vanilla sponge cake*." (295 words)

* "cake, cookie" Always insert the vowel to differentiate these

Fully vocalised:

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G12 Latin Authors On Shorthand

https://youtu.be/QhE7wvTPU-I

Latin Authors On Shorthand "Though the words run, the hand runs swifter than they*; before the tongue has finished, the right hand has completed its work." Martial

"And he shall be the fortunate writer to whom a letter is a word. By his notes he shall surpass the tongue and the quickness of speech. He shall take down long sentences by new contractions." Manilius

"Hasten, youth, skilled in the swift short-hand. Bring hither the two-leaved tablet on which are so many words by single points expressed, as a single sound is uttered. I unroll the well filled books, and like a storm of dense hail I rapidly read. Thou hearest all rightly, and yet thy page is not filled. Thy hand, deftly moved, flies over the waxen surface. Even now, while my speech is most prolix with round-about circumlocution, thou hast fixed on the waxen tablets the thoughts of my breast while they are uttered." Ausonius

"The master of the school presided over the youthful studies and sat enclosed by a great multitude prepared to take down all words by short notes, and swiftly to follow the speech with flying points." Prudentius (192 words)

* “they” must have its vowel, as this is a poetic use, otherwise it reads as “them”. In current usage “they” would need a verb after it, e.g.: “swifter than they do.”

The original Latin can be found in this book: A brief History of the Art of Stenography, William Upham, 187, p8-10 (p26-28 of PDF) https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofar00uphaiala

G13 Ladies Who Lunch (Basic strokes)

https://youtu.be/R4cv9CIE3zU

Using only plain strokes, basic vowels/diphthongs, circles and loops - no hooks, halving or doubling, aimed at the early beginner

Sam, Pam and Tam are “Ladies Who Lunch” - and also shop - each day they can, all day and most days, as long as they have nothing else* unusual taking up the time. The ladies full names are Samantha, Pamela and Tamsin but they like to use the smaller forms. They like the high life and are going to live it as much as they can. They are* used to having loads of cash for all the stuff they buy. For the next six days, they had a big time together at the famous large stores up in the city. On Monday Sam bought many pairs of shoes, both large and small, two pairs of tall stilettos and stockings in loud colours, snazzy socks, *snow boots, also lace party capes and ridiculous looking head gear for a wedding, and showed all these gaudy items to Pam and Tam.

* "nothing else" could be phrased, using downward L

* "they are" would normally be written as a short-form phrase i.e. same outline as "their" but written in first position

* "snow, sun/snowy, sunny" Helpful to insert the vowels in most instances, unless the difference in context is obvious

On Tuesday Pam bought two ruby and sapphire rings, long necklaces, bows and lace in cool demure colours, sleek* sunshades and bendy beach shoes for parties. She showed all these things to Sam and Tam, who said it was all fabulous. On Wednesday Tam bought costly perfume, lipstick in all shades of red and pink, false eyelashes, relaxing togs for the house and business suits in dull colours for the office. As Tam was so happy to have all this stuff, she showed them off to Sam and Pam.

* "sleek" Note that "silky" would have the dot before the L stroke

The next two days they all took bus rides, first to a head stylist. Sam had a stylish mousy colour bob, Pam had a long wavy ponytail and Tam had a tall back-comb effect, which was popular back in the sixties. This was followed by a visit to the nail stylist for a manicure, and lastly* off to the lifestyle coach to discuss the big and tiny things in life, love and happiness, and advice on how to get all the things in life they had a desire for. It took all of those two days to do all this. They became full of fatigue by tea-time and they all fell asleep fairly early.

* "las(t)ly omits the lightly sounded T

On Saturday they sleep on for many long hours. At last* it is time to get up, bathe and wash, and choose the right togs for the day, followed by lengthy makeup time. All of this delays the day at the shops by several hours, maybe right up to lunch time if the ladies are being fussy. They have a taxi pick them up for a ride to the mall. They visit the best shops and see all the things they have in stock, hogging the changing rooms for hours at a time, and making and changing choices on the styles, colours and necessary accessories.

* "at last, at least" Always insert the vowel to prevent misreading
 

On Sunday, Sam, Pam and Tam go out for a costly meal and eat huge piles of special food and cakes* at several of the top cafés. All the best folks go to these cafés to jaw and show off the things they buy and do. They share details of the get-aways in the sun* which they have many times a year - mainly March, May, July and August - and ski and snow* time in the dull months. It makes them all happy to know they all do the same or similar things on the same days and months, and so can share details of the things they enjoy doing.

* "cakes, cookies" Always insert the vowel to differentiate these

* "snow, sun/snowy, sunny" Helpful to insert the vowels in most instances, unless the difference in context is obvious
 

As each of them goes back to the house, they show the stuff they bought to hubbies Sammy, Robbie and Tommy, who say “Our spouses had loads of cash first thing. It never lasts long but at least* it makes them happy, so we are happy to allow them to do all this each time they wish to do so. We are a bit sorry it takes such a big load of money to keep the “Ladies Who Lunch” happy, but we do at least* get some peace to relax and enjoy the matches on Saturdays and have the house to ourselves. It always allows us to watch the big ball game in peace, as they are* off at the shops and never disturb us or stop us drinking our beer, having pies, thick cheese wedges, jam on toast, cookies* and chocs, and making a noise as the team score or miss goals. Maybe we should rename ourselves the “Boys Who Munch”! (730 words)

* "at last, at least" Always insert the vowel to prevent misreading

* "they are" would normally be written as a short-form phrase i.e. same outline as "their" but written in first position

* "cookies, cakes" Always insert the vowel to differentiate these

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All original text, images and downloads on the Lessons, Reading and Theory websites, as below, are copyright © Beryl L Pratt and are provided for personal non-commercial study use only, and may not be republished in any form, or reposted online, either in full or part or screenshots or edited. The sites below are the only download locations for the material permitted by the author and if you wish to share the content, please do so by a link to the appropriate page:

www.long-live-pitmans-shorthand.org.uk

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