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interesting answers :)
i too learned shorthand and typing in the 60s as part of an OND in business studies although i never quite got the hang of shorthand, still remember some outlines though. yep, you can always recognise a trained touch typist, we learned to type to music - william tell if i remember rightly, all 30 of us hammering away in time to the music. we had a male tutor too, and my first boss in a press and public relations firm was a former journalist who also knew and used shorthand, really quick he was too.
being a typist comes in really handy using the computer doesn't it :)