Customer Reviews

EasyScript Express: Learn To Take Fast Notes in a Matter of Hours

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The system itself seems to be a good one, and EasyScript Express an acceptably effective way to learn it.

Here's how the book is broken down:
5pp Introduction
8pp Lesson 1: Simple words
7pp Lesson 2: Prefix words
10pp Lesson 3: Suffix words
11pp Lesson 4: Prefix/Suffix words
6pp Lesson 5: Compound words
2pp Easyscript Overview
2pp Adapting to EasyScript
8pp Answers to the exercises
45pp EasyScript Dictionary

The remaining 60 of the total 164 pages (most of the left-hand pages of all the chapters) are lined "notes" pages presumably for the student to practice in, leaving 104pp total of actual content. Of the content, at least 50% is lists of vocabulary for the learner to transcribe into EasyScript.

This would be a fine basic workbook for a class taught by an instructor that was available to explain things to you. As a self-training book it's rather lean. Ideally I'd want an introductory book like this to have perhaps triple the content (At least fill in those "Notes" pages). I'd want a lot more explanation of the reasoning behind the design, some anecdotes and examples of what people have been using ES for in their lives, examples that show it being used for something other than dictated business letters...something to "humanize" it a bit more.

I'd also like the opportunity to review previously-learned rules, and a lot more opportunity to familiarize myself with it by reading EasyScript text, not just writing isolated words. There are seven brief business-letter transcription exercises, but that's not enough. There's little EasyScript text available on the web (and basically nothing but generic PR stuff available on the official website), so after this brief overview of the basics, my only opportunity to practice is going to be to write something out myself, hope I'm doing it more or less correctly, and practice on that.

Basically the feel of this book was "Okay, we got a couple of hours. Here are the rules, here's a list of words to practice on, now go out and use it, good luck." After going through all the exercises I kind of vaguely know the basics, but I want more. Preferably without paying a hundred dollars...

The Good:

The EasyScript (ES) speedwriting system does NOT require cursive writing--so all of us hand printers out there can easily use it.

It is also a forward-moving speedwriting system, you write and move on--no constantly going backwards to underline letters or place tick marks, as is done with some other speedwriting systems.

You can use it on your computer or PDA.

Fairly easy to learn, and the rules are clear enough that compared to other systems, you can still transcribe your notes after a longer period of time has passed than you can with other speedwriting/shorthand systems.

The Bad:

Almost half of the book consists of empty note-taking pages. Worse, they are on the LEFT side, which, considering that the majority of people are RIGHT-handed, is not conducive to most people actually using the book as a workbook.

There are some typographical errors and omissions in the book--one glaring one is using a symbol that looks like a large backwards "6" to indicate "Paragraph" on page 59--where this key is on the keyboard, I have no idea.

The included dictionary is not of much use, since with their system you truly can figure out how to abbreviate any word--what would have been much more useful is a dictionary of general brief forms (not necessarily business-related either) for you to memorize.

As to the method itself, if this is your first try at speedwriting, you could do a lot worse. If, on the other hand, you have any previous experience with another letter-based speedwriting system you will probably want to tweak the ES system and/or combine it with abbreviations you're already using if some of the ES concepts don't make sense to you.

Bottom line: Decent system. The book is 'way overpriced (even at the Amazon price), considering how little actual content/instruction is in the book, so go in with a friend or buy used.

It's impressive method the way it can be adapted to individual needs. It's so simple that could be learned in 2 hours. It was nice to be able to find something to replace shorthand. After using Gregg shorthand for 20 years I'd rather use EasyScript.

I think that this is a great concept. I have previously taken Gregg shorthand and found it to be more work than it was worth. It's great to use the letters from words to make abbreviations. I'll pass EasyScript along to my peers, friends and relatives. It can be useful to almost anyone in any area.

I was delighted with what I learned. I would definitely recommend this method to everybody. It opened up a whole new aspect to speedwriting - efficient and exciting. The book is short, sweet and to the point. I read a comment by a reader from Bowie, MD that the book has too few pages. I'm more concerned with mastering a good system than a number of book pages and after all, it's only 5 basic rules to study (no gimmick). Why would you ask for more pages if you learn what you need and it's by a wide margin easier than any other system ?

This book has taken the pain out of note taking for me. The book's page layout could be improved, but the technique is so simple and user-friendly that anyone can learn it quickly and begin to apply immediately. I highly recommend this book.

I had a need for a "fast-to-paper" method of verbal communications. I have been using Easy Script for several months now, after having received and read your "EasyScript Express" book and applied the lessons and practice sessions therein. I started putting the concepts to good use immediately, and have found EasyScript to be a benefit to my work.

My notes have become more accurate, I'm able to record more detail, and (most importantly) I'm able to write down more necessary information as opposed to doing it with my own abbreviations or in longhand. Thank you for a unique method of fast note taking. It's been a blessing!

It's impressive method the way it can be adapted to individual needs. It's so simple that could be learned in 2 hours. It was nice to be able to find something to replace shorthand. After using Gregg shorthand for 20 years I'd rather use EasyScript.

Past experience with speedwriting well thought out and clearly described has much to do with my disappointment with this method. I believe the general rules are sound enough but little real guidance and a poor presentation on the pages diminishes the effort.

I felt that the book gave a lot of important information on how to train ones self on the basic learning of speed writing. I wish I had gotten the whole package, with the tape, to really get the process down.