Picking Up Speedwriting Again After Decades

Recently, I've been watching a morning drama on NHK. The main character is a woman who taught herself shorthand after the war, using a book left behind by her late husband, and eventually became a newspaper reporter. It reminded me of a time when I was working in trade and dreamed of becoming a secretary at a foreign company. I secretly attended a school that trained secretaries for foreign firms, making sure not to let anyone know I was planning a career change.

There, I learned not only English conversation but also how to write resumes and cover letters in English—and even studied speedwriting. It was a win-win system: the school trained people with no prior secretarial experience and introduced them to foreign companies free of charge. Speedwriting turned out to be very helpful before Windows became widespread, and thanks to that, I was able to land a job as an executive secretary at an Italian company.

Six years ago, during a major cleanup, I cleared out a room that had basically turned into a storage space. For some reason, I had held on to my old shorthand textbook and graded practice sheets. Back then, I would listen to church messages, translate them into English, and take notes in English shorthand as practice.

The other day, I glanced at the textbook and was surprised at how much I still remembered. I considered just throwing it away, but then it occurred to me that, since my listening skills are weak, even jotting down a few notes might help. So, for the first time in decades, I’ve started practicing with that pink textbook again—it's about 360 pages long.

There are 20 lessons in total, and as of today, I’ve reached Lesson 16. Somehow, I’m really starting to enjoy it. 😀

にほんブログ村

にほんブログ村