It would be nice if your teachers talked slower so that you could keep up with what they are saying as you write your notes.  This is not realistic though.  It is up to you to write more quickly.  One way to do this is to write abbreviations for words.  An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word used when writing to represent the complete word. You must be able to recognise the complete word from its abbreviation.

Many words have a commonly used abbreviation.   Here are some examples of words that have a common abbreviation:

You can form your own abbreviation for just about any word.  Here are three ways you can do this.

1. Write just the beginning of a long word. Here are some examples of long words that have been abbreviated by writing just the beginning of the word:

2. Leave out the vowels when writing a word. Here are some examples of words that have been abbreviated by leaving out the vowels when writing the word:

3. For words that have just one syllable, write just the first and last letter of the word. Here are some examples of words that have been abbreviated by writing just the first and last letter of the word:

Use common abbreviations of words whenever you recognise them.  For other words, form abbreviations by using one of the three ways you just learned.  Use the way that best fits the word for which you are writing an abbreviation.  Do not try to abbreviate every word you write in your notes. Abbreviate those words that are important and for which you can quickly form an abbreviation.  REMEMBER: YOU MUST BE ABLE TO RECOGNISE THE COMPLETE WORD FROM ITS ABBREVIATION. Knowing the context in which you wrote the word will help you recognise the complete word from its abbreviation.