Free Teeline shorthand lesson

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 your first lesson, you will have covered the alphabet and you can start to write simple words and sentences. In fact, we encourage and help you to start using it straight away with hints and advice on how to include it in your day to day writing. You should find that within a very short time you are writing confidently and accurately and building your speed.

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% 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:

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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.

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 outlines 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.

Here they are written in order:

Video - The alphabet part 1

Here is a demonstration of writing the alphabet - part 1

If you can not get the video to load or play in the above component, you can view it on YouTube by using this link: Writing the alphabet - part 1

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 - The Alphabet

You should now be ready for the second half of the alphabet:

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Here they are written in order:

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Video - Writing the alphabet - part 2

Here is a demonstration of writing the second half of the alphabet

This part of the lesson is only available in the paid version - you will need to register to view it.

Worksheet 2 - The Alphabet part 2

When you have familiarised yourself with the second half of the alphabet complete WORKSHEET TWO, filling in the three lines. As with Worksheet One, once you have completed it test yourself 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.

This part of the lesson is only available in the paid version - you will need to register to view it.

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.

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* sometimes, if the first letter is small or horizontal and followed by 't' it can be placed above the line so 't' is in the correct position

This part of the lesson is only available in the paid version - you will need to register to view it.

More about letters

More combinations:

Forming Words - letters that are not sounded are omitted:

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When a double letter occurs, only one is represented:

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Sizes: To demonstrate the correct sizes of U, O indicator and W, imagine a cup, saucer and plate:

Exercise 2 - Letters in Teeline

See how quickly you can recognise the following letters:

Joined Letters

Common letter combinations are represented by the following Teeline characters:

CM It would be difficult to join C and M so a Teeline C is written as wide as M to represent CM:

CN - Another difficult joining would be C and N. In Teeline, the N is reversed to represent C-vowel-N

This part of the lesson is only available in the paid version - you will need to register to view it.

SH - This is a special sign joined to other letters and used to represent the word 'shall':

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PL - when L follows P with no vowels in between, a Teeline L is written  through the line to represent P followed immediately by L:

Video - Combining characters

Here is a demonstration of combining characters

If you can not get the video to load or play in the above component, you can view it on YouTube by using this link: Combining characters

Forming Words

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Exercise 3 - Words in Teeline

Read the following words. Write them in longhand and then without looking, write them again in Teeline.

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Hint

The letter 'L' can be written upwards, but never at the beginning of a word. It is usually used after a stroke that is written downwards so that it doesn't reach the line below. It is easier to write L upwards after M, N, H and P.

After writing L upwards, the letters T and D are disjoined see the illustration below for examples:

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Special Outlines

Here are the first of the Special Outlines. These are commonly used words that are represented by a shortcut 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.

This part of the lesson is only available in the paid version - you will need to register to view it.

Once you have learnt the Special Outlines, try exercises four and five.

Exercise 4 - Sentences in Teeline

See how easily you can read the following sentences:

Exercise 5 - Special Outlines

See how quickly you can recognise the following 'Special Outlines':

Punctuation

A long diagonal line is used for a full stop - it can be written either upwards or downwards.

Capital Letters

Capital letters are shown by two dashes below the word:

Progress Check

By the end of LESSON ONE you should be able to:

• Write the letters of the alphabet
• Recognise and write the joined letters
• Write the first set of Special Outlines fluently and quickly from memory

Remember

Teeline is very personal and flexible. You may decide that you do not want to use the outlines exactly as shown. For example, you may wish to include vowels for clarity or make up your own shortcuts. We will use a mixture of outlines with and without the vowels throughout the lessons. Remember of course that the special outlines are optional - (it's better to learn a few very well, rather than lots that take the time to remember when you are taking a dictation at speed.)

Assignments

You are now ready to undertake the assignments. There are no answers available for these, however, if you are a Gold Member you can send these in for marking by email. You will need to scan your work, or take a picture with a camera/phone then attach these to your emails. If you need further help please use the 'Contact Us' tab at the top of the page.

Assignment A

Transcribe the following sentences into longhand.

Gold/Platinum members - submit just your longhand transcription of this assignment

Assignment B

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Assignment C

Dictation at 30 words per minute. You will need a media player to hear this dictation. If you do not have a media player you can ask someone to dictate this for you - the text is below.

Press the play button to hear the sound file

If the player does not work click here instead to hear the file - please be patient while you wait for the file to load. - 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

Gold/Platinum members - For this assignment, you should listen to the sound file and take your dictation in Teeline. When you have finished the exercise, transcribe your Teeline into longhand without looking at the text on this page. You should then submit both the longhand and Teeline, please. It doesn't matter for the dictations if the Teeline outlines were not taken down perfectly, as long as you can read them back. Therefore we will mark your longhand and correct the Teeline only if an outline can be written more fluently or quickly.

Well done!

You have completed this trial free lesson. This lesson is just a sample of a lesson to show you how we use the exercises, sound files etc., If you would like to learn lots more - how to join multiple words together to make phrases, shortened versions of words, lots more exercises and sound files with timed dictations, and get your speeds up to about 100wpm or more you will need to register, so read on.

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