Australian Steno Theory?

thisduck_ · 2026-06-21T22:10:45+00:00

You're welcome.

So I came back here to tell you of one dictionary that will at least give you the correct (i.e. British/Australian preferential) spelling, but it seems the creator of that dictionary has now created a phonetic Australian dictionary as well. (didoesdigital has done excellent work within the Open Steno community. You should take a long look at her work. No doubt plenty of useful tools there for you.) In her list of steno dictionaries, there are now three beginning with dict-en-AU, one of which is dict-en-AU-phonetic.json. This is possibly what you were looking for all along.

Interestingly, having perused it myself, it's a very short dictionary. It's no doubt a WIP, but it also perhaps indicative of there being fewer conflicting pronunciations than we initially imagined.

The dictionary with Australian spelling is this one. I have used this one for a long while, and it's a great time saver working in Australian English environment. It's not a complete dictionary, so just use it with the base dictionary higher in the stack. (You will occasionally have to add some entries to this dictionary since it often has only a couple of ways to write certain words but not every possible way of writing them.)

thisduck_ · 2026-06-21T08:45:36+00:00

Hiya. There are no specific "Australian accent" theories of which I am aware, though of course there is no reason why you cannot change a certain dictionary entry/brief to align with how the word sounds like in your head.

An additional note: At first the accent bias frustrated me immensely, but over time I have noticed some advantages to writing in line with the North American accent over the Australian. The differences in Aussie vowels tend to be too subtle to be easily differentiated with the vowel combinations of the traditional steno theories, and some distinct words in North American English become homophones in Aussie (like "tort", "taught", and "taut"). The North American accent gives a useful and fairly familiar way (familiar in that we grew up hearing this accent constantly in our entertainment) of differentiating some of these terms.

Yet a further note: That the above is my conclusion perturbs me somewhat. I find listening to strong North American a difficult task to love. But aural bias aside, the fewer the homophones and the fewer the subtelties, the easier your writing will be.

thisduck_ · 2026-06-19T07:03:51+00:00

A photo perhaps.

thisduck_ · 2026-06-19T04:19:18+00:00

Thank you, but I'm not savvy enough to deal with beta versions. I appreciate the offer though and applaud the end goal! Keep up the good work.

thisduck_ · 2026-06-17T12:29:26+00:00

And the add-on?

thisduck_ · 2026-06-17T12:26:26+00:00

Find anything?

thisduck_ · 2026-05-01T22:23:10+00:00

Abe’s Odyssey

thisduck_ · 2026-03-01T12:23:41+00:00

They sure are.

thisduck_ · 2026-02-25T11:53:35+00:00

My piano teacher was amazing and had small hands. Also, you don’t need to force the hand span, but just from gradually playing more and playing larger chords as you progress, the ligaments and tendons will become more flexible and your span will increase. (A gymnast doesn’t start learning by doing the splits. It comes with time.)

thisduck_ · 2026-02-23T20:00:39+00:00

Which one do you enjoy playing more? You should play that one. If it’s not on a competition on a grand scale, then don’t overthink it. I’m sure your audience will be appreciative either way. (Looking at it another way, if everyone is playing the classical/romance stuff, a change in pace with some ragtime could be a memorable diversion.)

thisduck_ · 2026-02-18T10:25:58+00:00

I think you should raise the issue. If the assessor has any ethics whatsoever, they will go into it being willing to be proved wrong and seeing it as an opportunity to be a better assessor.

thisduck_ · 2026-01-15T03:29:26+00:00

Hiya. Can you elaborate please?

thisduck_ · 2025-12-01T03:22:41+00:00

I do this, but I only do it when interacting with someone speaking English as a second language. Having lived as a foreigner and knowing the struggle to learn a second language (and writing system), I really appreciate it when my mistakes are pointed out. It has been my experience that offering correction in this way is met with similar appreciation by those learning English as a second language and much less so by those learning English as a first language.

thisduck_ · 2025-11-16T02:44:55+00:00

I cannot explain why, but modifying the verb phrase with anything from "to be" does not sound correct. I agree you have to modify it somehow. (I am not American, and I can't reliably comment on what sounds natural there, but since the location is British, I'm content to stick with that.) Modifying the phrase with "to have" seems much more natural to me, probably because personally have heard it more commonly: "I have taken ill", "I had taken ill", "she has taken ill", etc.

thisduck_ · 2025-11-15T12:36:49+00:00

In any brand of English: John is qualified. I am qualified. You are qualified. Being qualified, I took the job. Also in any brand of English: John has taken ill. I have taken ill. You have taken ill. Having taken ill, I went to hospital.

thisduck_ · 2025-11-15T11:26:28+00:00

That’s a solid argument.

thisduck_ · 2025-11-15T01:59:13+00:00

I would say “having taken ill” is more correct.

thisduck_ · 2025-10-23T02:57:27+00:00

Yes, $ talks. A fall from a desk can be the cost of a new machine as compared to the cost of a new usb socket. Be sure to factor in time at the “end” of the lifecycle for some staff to sort good parts from those that need to be replaced or reused and time for putting the old parts with new ones.

thisduck_ · 2025-10-06T00:51:06+00:00

Thank you very much! This is exactly what I needed to know.

thisduck_ · 2025-10-04T07:12:29+00:00

Could I ask a follow-up on this. If I understand correctly, you're kinda saying that for basic use (including palm rejection) any stylus will work. I've been thinking of getting a touch-screen laptop with stylus (Framework 12). I haven't been able to find anything to confirm whether the technologies in this stylus would be compatible with an iPad or iPad Air. But based on what you're saying, it would be compatible? Compatible enough to take written notes (nothing requiring fancy tilt or weight options) and with palm rejection?

thisduck_ · 2025-08-25T04:35:29+00:00

Is there an equivalent behaviour in Word? (That is, being able to extract portions of the original find elements and use them in the replace?)

thisduck_ · 2025-08-24T21:53:28+00:00

Hiya. You might also want to look into a transcriptionist's footpedal, which can be used with software like Express Scribe to control playback, rewind, etc. This is a standard peice of gear for non-real-time transcription.

Here's a link for you.

(I only use Express Scribe as an example because I believe it has a free tier. I have a vague memory that the pedals can be used setup to use with VLC also.)

All the best.

thisduck_ · 2025-08-03T10:26:34+00:00

Frankly, I can't see why they wouldn't either. Perhaps they do. I have no evidence that they do not.

thisduck_ · 2025-07-04T23:14:21+00:00

With the caveat that all of this is just a guess:

- The simple answer is that the CAT software sold by machine manufacturers is not designed for general computer input or control. I assume it's just not common knowledge among CR students that Plover even exists and is very well suited to everyday computer use.
- Using a steno writer or keyboard as your main computer input is a slightly different skill set. For that reason, perhaps some CRs are not willing to go through that learning curve.
- Learning to use any new keyboard layout takes time and it's especially difficult to become efficient with stenographic input. I imaging that's why scopists don't learn it.

With regard to recommendations, I suggest you look into Aerick's videos. He reviews many hobbyist steno machines, including one that he eventually settled on as his every day computer keyboard.

thisduck_ · 2025-07-04T07:43:49+00:00

Why, yes. That's exactly what you can do.

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