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The seven rows

Seven rows, because the Code counts in sevens. Each row is a handful of lessons; work through them at your own pace.

Progress is counted in sessions, never in days. Miss a night, a week or a year and nothing is lost.

  1. Row 1: Temporary Permit

    The strokes, the marks, and your own name. By the end you can read the line on the back of the book.

    Time: About an hour, in as many sittings as you like.

  2. Row 2: Licensed

    Tom's hook and the struck line: the three words every clause carries. Then the licensing exam, which is free and which you can take as often as you like.

    Time: About three hours.

  3. Row 3: The Contents Page

    Every chapter of the book carries a sign, and every chapter sign is a word. The chapter titles are their glosses: the Contents page is a glossary you already own.

    Time: About five hours.

  4. Row 4: The Ledger

    How a ledger page is laid out, what the rings and the arch mean, and the grammar that holds a sentence together: the verb in second place, the three ledger words, questions and pronouns.

    Time: About eight hours.

  5. Row 5: The Ridge

    The Code counts in sevens. Numbers on the notch, the count words, and a ledger that spells letters in its status column.

    Time: About three hours.

  6. Row 6: The Margins

    Writing by hand with a broad nib, the quick hand of the margins, the dream mood and clauses inside clauses. Then Scribe certification: your handwriting, read by a certified scribe.

    Time: About twelve hours.

  7. Row 7: The Walker

    Composition: writing something new in Somka, proposing a word to the Ledger Desk, and the name a crew gives you. Then Walker certification: your own composition, read by a certified scribe.

    Time: As long as you like.