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Free Trial Teeline Shorthand Lesson
(Please note this is a free trial lesson and is not a FULL lesson - it includes extracts from the full lesson 1 which gives you an idea of how the lessons are structured. The graphics in the paid for lessons do not have the copyright logos across them. Materials contained in this site are copyrighted and may not be used except as provided in these terms and conditions or in the copyright notice or other proprietary notice provided with the relevant materials.)
LESSON ONE - THE TEELINE ALPHABET
This lesson covers the Teeline alphabet and how to join letters together. You will learn some short forms called Special Outlines. These are easier ways of writing outlines that occur regularly in the English language. There are a lot of these to learn throughout the course and the more you learn the quicker you will be able to write.
AIM
By the end of Lesson One you should be able to write the letters of the alphabet, including additional 'combination characters', and the special outlines, quickly and easily from memory.
WRITING IN TEELINE - UNNECESSARY LETTERS Written words can still be read after leaving out silent consonants, 'double' consonants and most of the vowels. However, a vowel at the beginning of a word must be written, as must a vowel at the end of a word if it is pronounced. Therefore, GHOST becomes GST, LAMB becomes LM, LETTERS becomes LTRS, COMMA becomes CMA, ABOUT becomes ABT, LIGHT becomes LT.
Omitting unnecessary letters reduces the amount of writing by about 30 per cent giving an immediate increase in writing speed.
Now try Exercise 1.
EXERCISE 1
The following passage includes only the essential vowels. See how quickly you can read it:
U shld b abl t rd ths wth a lt o vwls tkn out. Ths is hw Tln is frmd by usng a qkr wa o rting th alfbt. U cn us a pn or pncl to rt Tln, tho a pn is btr as it flws acrs th pg esly n wnt brk. Hwvr, u ma us wtvr u fl mst cmfrtabl wth.
ANSWER
(you will need to highlight the box below by holding down your mouse button and dragging downwards)
You should be able to read this with a lot of vowels taken out. This is how Teeline is formed but using a quicker way of writing the alphabet. You can use a pen or pencil to write Teeline, though a pen is better as it flows across the page easily and won't break. However, you must use whatever you feel most comfortable with.
Teeline letters are adapted from the longhand letters either capital or small versions. They keep the same positions as in longhand at the beginning of a word i.e. G, J, P and Q go through the line and T is written on or just above the line representing the cross stroke of a capital T. Note that D is the same outline as T but is written on or just above the line to start a word. In speech, D is sometimes pronounced T (walked, based) and is a voiced version of T, therefore T and D are the same outline in Teeline. Other letters are placed on the line. Teeline letters are the same sizes as in longhand. Vowels are smaller than the consonants. There are two versions of each vowel called the full vowel and the indicator. Vowels will be covered in more detail later and are used in this lesson only for Special outlines.
The arrow next to the letters shows the direction they should be written. Sometimes, two versions of the same letter are shown. The first version is more common and the second is used to make it easier to join to other letters. Here they are introduced and used for special outlines only.
Now have a look at the first half of the alphabet.
The Teeline letters are adapted from the longhand letters - either the capital or the small versions. They keep the same positions as in longhand - i.e. G, J, P and Q go through the line and T is written above the line representing the cross stroke of a capital T. Other letters are placed on the line. Teeline letters are the same sizes as in longhand. Vowels are smaller than the consonants. There are two versions known as the full vowel and the indicator.
Have a look at the first half of the alphabet:
Here they are written in order:
THE WORKSHEETS
The worksheets are designed to enable you to practise writing Teeline and learn the new letters. You need to copy the printed Teeline directly onto the worksheet as fluently and quickly as you can, saying the letter or letters over in your mind as you do so. In this way you will learn the new theory and begin to write Teeline with ease.
Before you begin Worksheet One, familiarise yourself with the alphabet. Complete the worksheet and then test yourself again to see if you know the alphabet thoroughly.
To print the worksheet: Click on the image you would like print. The image will open in a new window. The file sizes may be large: please be patient while they download. When the image has fully loaded onto the screen, click on the browser's PRINT button, or select File > Print from the menu bar. After the image has finished printing, you can return to this page by clicking the browser's BACK button.
WORKSHEET 1
JOINING CONSONANTS
Whenever possible, letters are written in one stroke without lifting the pen. The first letter is usually in the correct position and the following letters must not change size Insert worksheet more about letters
Most vowels are omitted so the following combinations could represent different words:
(note - we have not covered all of the words or letter combinations that are in this extract - they are however, covered in the full online paid version)
SPECIAL OUTLINESHere are the first of the Special Outlines. These are commonly used words that are represented by a short cut in Teeline. You must learn them thoroughly (by drilling as you do with the worksheets). Keep revising them as you go through the course and learn new ones. The more you know, the faster you will be able to write.
EXERCISE 2
Now see if you can read the following sentences:
(note - we will not have covered all of these words in this trial lesson so you may not be able to read them all - but they will be covered in the full on line paid lesson) 
ANSWER
You can check your answers by dragging your mouse over the following box which contains hidden text with the answers.
1. The man saw the girl and stopped to talk to her
2. I will come and collect you and take you to the park
3. Please show me how to type this letter
4. When you go home, take the letter to the letter box
5. Wash your clothes and put them where I will find them
6. Will you please to the shops and get me some fish
EXERCISE 3
Try writing these sentences in Teeline:
(note - we will not have covered all of these words in this trial lesson so you may not be able to read them all - but they will be covered in the full on line paid lesson)
1. Take the letter and make the change
2. I got a black eye from a fall
3. The man at the club left his phone there
4. The bad fog made him get lost
ANSWER
Click here to check the answerDICTATION EXERCISE
There now follows a simple, slow dictation. In order to listen to the sound files and undertake the dictation you will need an MP3 player on your computer - such as Real Player - Windows Media Player - Winamp. We cannot suggest which one is best for your computer, or indeed if any of these would suit your own machine, however there are plenty of free ones available on the internet.
If you can write the letters of the alphabet and some of the common words from this trial lesson, you should be able to take this down quite comfortably, and read it back. The transcription follows but as long as you were able to read it back and take it down with not too much hesitation, that’s the main thing so don’t be too hard on yourself if your some of your outlines were slightly different to those in the transcription!
Now you can practise writing some words in to Teeline as dictation. Click on the 'play' button below. The more you practise the faster you will become - don't expect to get every word first time! Make sure you have your speakers turned on and the volume up!
This dictation is at 30 WPM (words per minute)
(note - we will not have covered all of the words in the dictation in this trial lesson but they will be covered in the full on line paid lesson)
Alternatively you will need to find somebody to dictate this for you
- Take the letter to the box
- Go and find the dog the lady bought today
- Tell the manager to stop and go home
- The chairman told me to call him today
- Tell the lady to sit there till I get her help
Once you have finished writing, press play again to check your work. Keep writing the Teeline to increase your speed and confidence.
ANSWER
This has been just a sample of a lesson to show you how we use the exercises, sound files etc., If you would like to learn the rest of the alphabet and lots more - how to join multiple words together to make phrases, shortened versions of words, lots more exercises and sound files with timed dictations you will need to register, so read on.
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