THE period of transition from theory to practice in the study of shorthand is usually a trying one for both student and teacher. Many dictation books have been devised and published to meet the demand for something to bridge over this period, but nothing has yet appeared which has given anything like general satisfaction.

Most of the dictation books are without any educational plan, being mere compilations of business correspondence, abounding in faulty construction and violating all the rules of punctuation and "style." They plunge the student headlong into new matter before he has acquired facility or confidence in the application of the principles of word or phrase building - and the result is discouragement for the student and dissatisfaction for the teacher. In some instances these books have a shorthand vocabulary of words and phrases selected without regard to the peculiar requirements of each system, and they are therefore wholly inadequate.

As "quality, not quantity," has been a guiding principle with us in the production of textbooks, we have delayed adding to the numerous dictation books already in existence until we had something with a distinctly educational plan. GREGG SPEED PRACTICE is the outcome of close observation and experience in teaching advanced shorthand work; and we believe that it will greatly facilitate the acquirement of practical efficiency in shorthand writing.