By Pan Yan

While a video of Premier Wen Jiabao was displayed on a big screen, a woman typed on a recording machine. As she typed, Wen's words appeared on the screen as subtitles.

This was in last Friday's class in a new compulsory course in shorthand for law sophomores at the Hangzhou-based Zhijiang College, Zhejiang University of Technology.

The college hopes that shorthand skills will enable law students to find jobs more easily after graduation.

"Shorthand typing is a necessary skill for a clerk in the court," said Wang Shu, assistant dean of the art school at the college.

"Many law students in our college or at other universities are very good with legal knowledge, but few have command of shorthand typing."

"According to our information, many courts in Hangzhou are struggling to recruit qualified clerks. This new skill will bring them more chances in the fierce job market," Wang said.

The college has equipped the class with over 30 recording machines so that each student in the school can practise. It has also invited professional teachers from the Beijing Shorthand Association. The one-hour class will last for one semester, and run three times a week.

"The word count for an ordinary person when speaking is 160 to 170 per minute, but when people are making a speech, it can reach 240 words per minute," Wang said.

"We have a test at the end of the semester and students who record 80 words per minute will get the credit. But we are very confident that most will be able to record 120 words per minute, which is the lowest requirement for a clerk in court," Wang said.

"We plan to make the course an elective next semester so that students who want to learn more can have the chance," she said.

Students in the school have been taking the class for nearly two months now, and so far have learnt acoustic code and special code, in preparation for using the recording machine.

Although shorthand is boring since students have to recite many codes and practice on the machine for hours after class, most interviewed said they would study it because it would be helpful in getting a job.

According to the Beijing-based Shorthand Committee of the Chinese Information Processing Society, there is a chronic lack of shorthand talent in China. Ordinary shorthand services in major cities like Hangzhou and Beijing charge 200 yuan ($29) per hour.

"Shorthand typing is not only useful in court," said Fang Shanshan, a sophomore at the law school.

"Many companies need shorthand talent to take minutes of meetings. It is difficult now for college graduates to land a job. I don't want to miss the chance to learn any skill to improve my marketability," she said.