You will have noticed that in the examples of note taking you have seen, there have been many abbreviated, or shortened, words and well as symbols and punctuation used to make the note taking process faster. This is crucial when taking notes in a real academic environment when professors will rarely stop and wait for students to catch up. Look at some examples that have already been used in this course.
Abbreviations
- ex. = for example
- lbs = pounds
- ft = feet
- kg = kilograms
- Dr. = doctor
- mill = million
- cm = centimeters
- L = litres
- yr or yrs = years
- S. America = South America
- Cent. = Central
- choc. = chocolate
- perm. = permanent
- cyl. = cylinder
Symbols
- % = percent or percentage
- / = and
- / = per
- - = linking of ideas
- = = equals or similar
- # = number
- CO2 = carbon dioxide
- w/ = with
- > = more than
- & = and
Exercise
Look over this list containing more abbreviations and symbols with your group. Which abbreviations or symbols are you familiar with? Are there any that you think you would be able to use? In Exercise 1 add more to the list that you think would be useful for you.
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| approx. | approximately |
| b/4 | before |
| b/c | because |
| c. | century -21st c. |
| diff. | difficult |
| e.g. or ex. | for example |
| esp. | especially |
| etc. | and so on |
| excl. | excluding |
| incl. | including |
| info. | information |
| max. | maximum |
| min. | minimum |
| prob | problem |
| s/th | something |
| s/o | someone |
| w/ | with |
| w/o | without |
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ✔ | correct |
| x | wrong |
| ? | question |
| / | and - or - per |
| & or + | and/plus |
| # | number |
| % | percent |
| > < | more - less than |
| - | join ideas |
| @ | at |
| " | same as above |
| = | equal to, is |
| 1st | first |
| 2nd | second |
| 3rd | third etc. |
| 1920s | 1920-1929 |
Listening to short passages and take notes in Exercise 2. Try to use as many abbreviations and symbols as you can.
Listening
Number 1
Number 2
Number 3
Number 4
Number 5
