The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1917-05-03
VIII Have Paper Read
at Teachers Meeting

Mature can develop and mature
squash in a few weeks, to produce an
oak tree is the work of many years.
Their relative values vary correspond
ingIy."
So says Mrs. Annie S. Greenwood,
Instructor in the commercial depart
ment in a paper on Subject Matter in
Dictation Glasses" to be read at Des
Moines, Iowa, next week before the
annual meeting of the Central Com
mercial Teachers Association.
speed and accuracy in stenography
and typewriting," Mrs Greenwood
says, may come easily and quickly to
many a student, and a few months
may seem sufficient for his prepare
ton, but mental growth and RESPONSE
bility do not come so quickly and these
are the qualities which mark the diff
ference between the mediocre and the
superior acknowledgement.
Il maintain that the ordinary stu
dent-yes, and even the exceptional
one-must remain in the business at
Mosphere of good school, for some
considerable length Of time in order
that he shall be able to get himself
into the correct mental attitude with
which to approach high standard Of
usefulness. Manual skill may come to
him readily; it takes time to give him
maturity of business judgment, wide
range of industrial knowledge, and
understanding of commerce in its
nlany;sided aspects and an apprecia-
ton Of the place he may ultimately
m in the commercial activities of his
age.
Now, then. while this longer time is
being spent in the business school, the
shorthand teacher may grasp his op-
portunities to make use of a large
variety of material for dictation pur-
poses-material that will give the stu
dent real vocabulary, not just a.
group of technical or business express
sions at the command of his pencil;
material that will broaden his mental
horizen and give him a better com.
mand of facts as we'll as the words
which express those facts: material
which keeps him in touch with the
current history of the day, which
brushes up his knowledge of the class
les and adds to his ability clearly to
express himself in elegant English.
Above all, let it contain material which
shall get him out of the rut of I am
IN receipt of your favor, Answering
yours of the tenth instant would say,
and other stereotyped expressions
which have lost all personality and re-
quire but the minimum of mentality
Tor their reproduction.
The tools with which the stenogr.
pher-operator has to do his work con
slst largely of words. The study OF
words may be made a fascinating one
approached in the right manner and
carried on with enthusiasm. Effici
ency Is the slogan of the day and how
can the uptodate correspondent be eff
hcient unless equipped with such a
variety of words as to interpret the
exact meaning of any thought he
WISHES to convey and to'make that in
depreciation elegant in form and pre
cise IN meaning. Business letters
alone will not produce this result"
Mrs. Greenwood describes in some
detail the manner in which these sub
Jects are taught in her department ant
concludes: Business English is more
and more coming to be elegant, rein
cd and yet virile and convincing
standards are constantly rising AM
the student can ill afford to 20 ou
with poor equipment of the mothe,
tongue"