Yeesh! I'm a week behind with this update! What's the matter with me?
As you can see, I've passed my 160 JC test!
160 JC Passed on 12/2/2013!
This completes my semester goal of finishing two 160-level tests before winter break!
SOOOO happy to have accomplished this. I really had to push for this one, and there were several times where I didn't pass a test by, like, one or two errors! Those are always the most infuriating.
So, the pass came at a good time, because I had also filled my school schedule with maybe one or two more modeling gigs than I should have. ^^; It's really my guilty pleasure.
But I'm already reconsidering just how much modeling I should allow myself to do come next semester. Don't get me wrong, I still love doing it and hey, who can complain about a little extra dough on the side, but I've really been thinking that I should focus 100% on my studies! I mean, check it out! I'm half way to my goal! Why slow down now?
ALSO, huuuge dose of inspiration thanks to a phone conversation with a deposition reporter who reports in Japan. More on that in a separate post.
Oh, yes. Exams. I completed my medical vocabulary component for speedbuilding class. 199/200. Not bad!
And as for Court & Deposition Procedures final, 45/50. So that maintains my A average.
All that's left in terms of exams is the Medical Terminology class tomorrow night! And I'm confident that I've got that one in the bag. ^_~
There is Eric's testathon tonight, and thought I have already requested a 160 QA test, I'm oh-so tempted to head home early... Meh. Oh! But this means plenty of time to look at Total Eclipse tutorial videos! I really want to nail this thing down!
Until next time, I won't have much to report in the way of test passes, but hopefully there will be much to say regarding learning more about my machine/Eclipse/deposition shadowing (fingers crossed!)
Monday, December 9, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
From Manual to Digital
No, no news of a test pass this time!
I thought I'd change things up and talk about a new step forward in terms of my "career" as a court reporting student.
As of yesterday, I've purchased a WAVE writer from Stenograph!
For those of you who don't know, the Wave is the student version of the very popular professional Diamante machine also released by Stenograph. As far as I can tell, and according to Wikipedia, Stenograph owns 90% of the market, so it's no wonder several other classmates of mine are getting their Waves, too! (Plus, we had a representative come by a few months back and that left a very strong impression on me.)
What I'm most looking forward to with this new machine is:
1) No more using paper.
--> Yes, my tree-hugging ways still governs many of my choices.
2) No messy ink.
--> Just recently, I was having significant issues with my paper, which resulted in many messy inky fingers. Yuck. Plus, per my tree-hugging ways, I like to do a lot of practice on the machine without any paper in it at all, and that causes an unfortunate build-up of ink on the roll. Unnecessary, I tell you!
3) Lighter touch!
--> Need I say more? Seriously, I'm pretty sure there's going to be an obvious difference in finger/hand strain with this lighter, digital touch.
4) Familiarization with Eclipse
--> Ah, a goal that I had since summer. Use my CAT program more. Alas, I opted to focus first and foremost on my writing and accuracy, and let messing around on Eclipse fall by the wayside. Despite what appears to be building up to a rather busy December/January, it's my hope that I'll take the time to work on building my dictionary/briefs, and all around getting more familiar with the many intricacies of the program. Besides, I still have that webinar on Eclipse features that I have yet to watch! D'oh!
The reason for my getting the Wave now is that I told myself I'd switch over to paperless as soon as I passed out of 140. With that goal passed, I'm simply fulfilling my promise to myself. Plus, part of me was holding out on the Passport Touch...until I realized that there was no student edition for it available.
I'm very excited about my new machine arriving next Wednesday, but I know better than to think that a new machine will possibly guarantee faster writing. As a wise classmate of mine says, "The bow doesn't make the Indian." Wise words, Peggy. Wise words.
And with that, I eaglery await its arrival in a brand-spanking new jetbag and rolling backpack.
Quick note about that: I absolutely DESPISE rolling cases!! The amount of air pollution they create with their obnoxious wheels droning and roaring across the granite floor makes my skin crawl and sets my nerves on edge! It sounds like a tornado ripping across campus just outside of the classrooms, as anyone will attest to when I'm trying to hold a conversation over the phone outside.
In the hope of avoiding any further hearing damage to my fellow classmates, I vow to avoid using the roller and am already considering adding back straps to it...
I thought I'd change things up and talk about a new step forward in terms of my "career" as a court reporting student.
As of yesterday, I've purchased a WAVE writer from Stenograph!
Available in gray, gray, or gray!
For those of you who don't know, the Wave is the student version of the very popular professional Diamante machine also released by Stenograph. As far as I can tell, and according to Wikipedia, Stenograph owns 90% of the market, so it's no wonder several other classmates of mine are getting their Waves, too! (Plus, we had a representative come by a few months back and that left a very strong impression on me.)
What I'm most looking forward to with this new machine is:
1) No more using paper.
--> Yes, my tree-hugging ways still governs many of my choices.
2) No messy ink.
--> Just recently, I was having significant issues with my paper, which resulted in many messy inky fingers. Yuck. Plus, per my tree-hugging ways, I like to do a lot of practice on the machine without any paper in it at all, and that causes an unfortunate build-up of ink on the roll. Unnecessary, I tell you!
3) Lighter touch!
--> Need I say more? Seriously, I'm pretty sure there's going to be an obvious difference in finger/hand strain with this lighter, digital touch.
4) Familiarization with Eclipse
--> Ah, a goal that I had since summer. Use my CAT program more. Alas, I opted to focus first and foremost on my writing and accuracy, and let messing around on Eclipse fall by the wayside. Despite what appears to be building up to a rather busy December/January, it's my hope that I'll take the time to work on building my dictionary/briefs, and all around getting more familiar with the many intricacies of the program. Besides, I still have that webinar on Eclipse features that I have yet to watch! D'oh!
The reason for my getting the Wave now is that I told myself I'd switch over to paperless as soon as I passed out of 140. With that goal passed, I'm simply fulfilling my promise to myself. Plus, part of me was holding out on the Passport Touch...until I realized that there was no student edition for it available.
I'm very excited about my new machine arriving next Wednesday, but I know better than to think that a new machine will possibly guarantee faster writing. As a wise classmate of mine says, "The bow doesn't make the Indian." Wise words, Peggy. Wise words.
And with that, I eaglery await its arrival in a brand-spanking new jetbag and rolling backpack.
Quick note about that: I absolutely DESPISE rolling cases!! The amount of air pollution they create with their obnoxious wheels droning and roaring across the granite floor makes my skin crawl and sets my nerves on edge! It sounds like a tornado ripping across campus just outside of the classrooms, as anyone will attest to when I'm trying to hold a conversation over the phone outside.
In the hope of avoiding any further hearing damage to my fellow classmates, I vow to avoid using the roller and am already considering adding back straps to it...
Thursday, November 21, 2013
140 Lit Passed!
Phew!
Having had a rip-roaring good time with my sister for the first week of November, it took me until the second week of being back in school to really GET IN THE GROOVE again.
And as you can see, the effort paid off!
140 Lit Test Passed on November 18th, 2013
That's the first of the 160-level tests, albeit it the slowest of them. It felt only okay-ish and I DID only pass by the skin of my teeth. ^^;
Like the 120 Lit test from before, I feel like "Hmph. Not my best work." A lot of luck, easy verbage, and even some guessing got me through this test. But I look forward to future tests where it comes easier.
Today also starts the beginning of what will be two solid weeks of DOUBLE-TESTING! That means two tests given during each class.
While this doesn't completely help my goal of completing 160 JC by the end of the semester because only one test will be given in the 15 minutes before class, every bit counts, right?
My passing 160 JC is really 50/50 at this point. I feel like it'd have to be a really "good" (read: easy) test and read by a consistent speaker. I've also already booked myself a lot of modeling gigs during these last few weeks, so some may cut into my remaining opportunities. But I'm pretty okay with that. I feel honestly that I'm just not THERE yet with160 yet. It's the truth, but I already see 160 not quite on the horizon. He's a little closer to me than before and with every passing day, he'll get even closer.
Hopefully I'll have some exciting news before the end of the semester is out! Otherwise, I'll just say what a great Winter Break it'll be!
Until then!
Having had a rip-roaring good time with my sister for the first week of November, it took me until the second week of being back in school to really GET IN THE GROOVE again.
And as you can see, the effort paid off!
140 Lit Test Passed on November 18th, 2013
That's the first of the 160-level tests, albeit it the slowest of them. It felt only okay-ish and I DID only pass by the skin of my teeth. ^^;
Like the 120 Lit test from before, I feel like "Hmph. Not my best work." A lot of luck, easy verbage, and even some guessing got me through this test. But I look forward to future tests where it comes easier.
Today also starts the beginning of what will be two solid weeks of DOUBLE-TESTING! That means two tests given during each class.
While this doesn't completely help my goal of completing 160 JC by the end of the semester because only one test will be given in the 15 minutes before class, every bit counts, right?
My passing 160 JC is really 50/50 at this point. I feel like it'd have to be a really "good" (read: easy) test and read by a consistent speaker. I've also already booked myself a lot of modeling gigs during these last few weeks, so some may cut into my remaining opportunities. But I'm pretty okay with that. I feel honestly that I'm just not THERE yet with160 yet. It's the truth, but I already see 160 not quite on the horizon. He's a little closer to me than before and with every passing day, he'll get even closer.
Hopefully I'll have some exciting news before the end of the semester is out! Otherwise, I'll just say what a great Winter Break it'll be!
Until then!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Level 140 Passed!
Wow, it feels like a while since I last wrote!
I had originally prepared a draft of this post where I was going to talk about some class structure changes that had come into effect here at WVC, as well as the repercussions thanks to them.
Luckily, however, I suddenly found myself at the brink of passing tests, so I figured, "Meh, I'll just wait!"
And so I am happy to announce that I have passed my remaining 140 wpm tests! That means I reached my goal of passing 140 by the end of October.
140 4-V passed on October 28, 2013
140 QA passed on October 30, 2013
That's right, folks, I actually passed a 4-voice before a QA!! What is the world coming to??
(Honestly, it's all thinks to this deliciously slow-ish 4-V that Maggie gave on Monday night. Bless my lucky stars.)
Now, you're probably thinking, "Okay, so she passed her 140s. Guess that means it's onto 160 class!"
Wellll...not quite. You see, that brings me to the topic I meant to bring up before.
As of the end of September, students enrolled in 80-140 class CANNOT attend the high-speed classes (160-220). Why, you ask? Because the new administration at school doesn't understand the importance of push/trail classes for CTR students, and see it only as follows: "A student enrolled in one class but attending a different class FOR FREE?? Not on MY watch!"
They don't see it that a student at the 140 level would essentially be taking advantage of just enough hours in both the lower and higher speed classes to equate to the regular amount of hours that they are entitled to by unit payment.
The best that our sympathetic instructors have been able to do is come in 15 minutes before class and push us at 160, topped with a 160 test (except for 160 4-V).
This is likely the biggest reason for my "delayed" passing of tests. Remember, I've maintained a pretty strict 2-week pass average for every test, but lo, it took me a full month before I passed a test!
...Then again, I did pass two in one week, so in a way it does still even out. Does'nt it?
Without the ability to routinely sit in at 160 class in order to a) improve 160 wpm processing ability, b) feeling like 140 is "pssht, slow!" c) more exposure overall, I think this contributed mainly to my pass rate in the month of October.
I admit, though, there may be a few more reasons to consider:
1) No more push classes.
2) Picking up more modeling gigs.
3) One week was totally stressed due to bad interaction with sister-in-law.
I have no regrets regarding the second reason, but I won't even get into that last one! However, it did teach me a valuable lesson in dealing with depressed/neurotic types. Just stay away and don't feel like you can fix them (or that you HAVE to). All the mental anguish I spent mulling over that horrible interaction really left me drained and unfocused for the following week of class. A week where I could have been making some serious progress!
On the bright side, these test passes come at an excellent time because my wonderful twin sister will be coming down to visit all of next week! This means I won't have to have any pressure or guilt about not being in class. In a way, I feel like I've earned this little one-week vacation. And to top it all off, I get the good news on Halloween! When I'm dressed up as Nicki Minaj (yet again) and look forward to the days' festivities!
Lastly, you might be asking yourself, "Okay, what's next then"? Well, I still have a solid month of school left to hopefully do the following:
1) Further perfect my 140 speed and accuracy
2) Begin working more through CAT software
3) Possibly purchase a digital writer to aid in transition to 160+
4) Pass 160 JC and 140 Lit before the end of the semester
As I mentioned above, with so little practice time in class at the 160-level, that last goal may be a hard one to achieve, but I'm going to think positively!
Until then! Happy Halloween!
I had originally prepared a draft of this post where I was going to talk about some class structure changes that had come into effect here at WVC, as well as the repercussions thanks to them.
Luckily, however, I suddenly found myself at the brink of passing tests, so I figured, "Meh, I'll just wait!"
And so I am happy to announce that I have passed my remaining 140 wpm tests! That means I reached my goal of passing 140 by the end of October.
140 4-V passed on October 28, 2013
140 QA passed on October 30, 2013
That's right, folks, I actually passed a 4-voice before a QA!! What is the world coming to??
(Honestly, it's all thinks to this deliciously slow-ish 4-V that Maggie gave on Monday night. Bless my lucky stars.)
Now, you're probably thinking, "Okay, so she passed her 140s. Guess that means it's onto 160 class!"
Wellll...not quite. You see, that brings me to the topic I meant to bring up before.
As of the end of September, students enrolled in 80-140 class CANNOT attend the high-speed classes (160-220). Why, you ask? Because the new administration at school doesn't understand the importance of push/trail classes for CTR students, and see it only as follows: "A student enrolled in one class but attending a different class FOR FREE?? Not on MY watch!"
They don't see it that a student at the 140 level would essentially be taking advantage of just enough hours in both the lower and higher speed classes to equate to the regular amount of hours that they are entitled to by unit payment.
The best that our sympathetic instructors have been able to do is come in 15 minutes before class and push us at 160, topped with a 160 test (except for 160 4-V).
This is likely the biggest reason for my "delayed" passing of tests. Remember, I've maintained a pretty strict 2-week pass average for every test, but lo, it took me a full month before I passed a test!
...Then again, I did pass two in one week, so in a way it does still even out. Does'nt it?
Without the ability to routinely sit in at 160 class in order to a) improve 160 wpm processing ability, b) feeling like 140 is "pssht, slow!" c) more exposure overall, I think this contributed mainly to my pass rate in the month of October.
I admit, though, there may be a few more reasons to consider:
1) No more push classes.
2) Picking up more modeling gigs.
3) One week was totally stressed due to bad interaction with sister-in-law.
I have no regrets regarding the second reason, but I won't even get into that last one! However, it did teach me a valuable lesson in dealing with depressed/neurotic types. Just stay away and don't feel like you can fix them (or that you HAVE to). All the mental anguish I spent mulling over that horrible interaction really left me drained and unfocused for the following week of class. A week where I could have been making some serious progress!
On the bright side, these test passes come at an excellent time because my wonderful twin sister will be coming down to visit all of next week! This means I won't have to have any pressure or guilt about not being in class. In a way, I feel like I've earned this little one-week vacation. And to top it all off, I get the good news on Halloween! When I'm dressed up as Nicki Minaj (yet again) and look forward to the days' festivities!
Lastly, you might be asking yourself, "Okay, what's next then"? Well, I still have a solid month of school left to hopefully do the following:
1) Further perfect my 140 speed and accuracy
2) Begin working more through CAT software
3) Possibly purchase a digital writer to aid in transition to 160+
4) Pass 160 JC and 140 Lit before the end of the semester
As I mentioned above, with so little practice time in class at the 160-level, that last goal may be a hard one to achieve, but I'm going to think positively!
Until then! Happy Halloween!
Monday, September 23, 2013
JC 140 Passed!
What a great way to start the week!
In fact, this entire weekend has just been grand, but alas, this is a steno-centric blog, so I won't bore you with the details.
However, something very steno-related that occurred this weekend was that I could feel myself being able to type faster...in my brain! I especially felt it as I was able to keep up pretty well brain-steno-ing along to a speaker's speech at a wedding. Before, it'd have been more jilted or hesitant. It flowed much better, likely faster than what my fingers can actually do right now.
I think that this is something that should be emphasized more often in school. Physically sitting at the machine is important, but just as important is mental practice! I've said this since the very start, even back in Theory, you take in new information, whether it's briefs or speed,m and then you let is ferment...incubate in your head so that the next time you get to sit down in front of the machine, it's already had time to settle into your brain and find a home to roost in. Yes, a lot of BIRD imagery, eh?
This can be achieved by simply daydreaming about steno briefs, brain-steno-ing along with any audio you're listening to, repeating sets of brief families you're trying to work on, etc... That actually may be one of the reason I slept so poorly last night. I was steno-ing quite frantically in my head while trying to sleep.
Anyhoo, I'm so happy to see that I have passed a Jury Charge at 140 on September 23, 2013, as it keeps with my general pace of test-passing. I consciously feel that QA at 140 is also just around the corner, and save for a slight interruption with my schedule due to a funeral this coming weekend, I hope to complete it within the next few weeks.
Until then, cheerio!
In fact, this entire weekend has just been grand, but alas, this is a steno-centric blog, so I won't bore you with the details.
However, something very steno-related that occurred this weekend was that I could feel myself being able to type faster...in my brain! I especially felt it as I was able to keep up pretty well brain-steno-ing along to a speaker's speech at a wedding. Before, it'd have been more jilted or hesitant. It flowed much better, likely faster than what my fingers can actually do right now.
I think that this is something that should be emphasized more often in school. Physically sitting at the machine is important, but just as important is mental practice! I've said this since the very start, even back in Theory, you take in new information, whether it's briefs or speed,m and then you let is ferment...incubate in your head so that the next time you get to sit down in front of the machine, it's already had time to settle into your brain and find a home to roost in. Yes, a lot of BIRD imagery, eh?
This can be achieved by simply daydreaming about steno briefs, brain-steno-ing along with any audio you're listening to, repeating sets of brief families you're trying to work on, etc... That actually may be one of the reason I slept so poorly last night. I was steno-ing quite frantically in my head while trying to sleep.
Anyhoo, I'm so happy to see that I have passed a Jury Charge at 140 on September 23, 2013, as it keeps with my general pace of test-passing. I consciously feel that QA at 140 is also just around the corner, and save for a slight interruption with my schedule due to a funeral this coming weekend, I hope to complete it within the next few weeks.
Until then, cheerio!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Goal Adjustment
I passed another Lit 120 test just yesterday and it was strikingly better than the one from last week.
As you'll recall, I didn't feel like last week's was my "best work," but this go around I felt much better for it.
For that reason, I want to push my finish-140-level-by-Mid-October goal to now the END of October.
That's still tight considering how every next speed level requires more time to complete.
This was a nice start to the week, whereas last week's I just felt out of it. A bit tired, a bit groggy. I really chalk it up to having learned about my new brother-in-law passing on Tuesday. I think that was it, just left me feeling a bit emptier and distracted.
I'm happy to know that these "less-than-stellar" times happen because I am reminded that they are temporary and I can get past it.
Every single person in this program has experienced this and I like that sort of quiet camaraderie we have.
I'll also want to write a little post about GRAMMAR because I had such a wonderful learning experience the other week about it. Until then!
As you'll recall, I didn't feel like last week's was my "best work," but this go around I felt much better for it.
For that reason, I want to push my finish-140-level-by-Mid-October goal to now the END of October.
That's still tight considering how every next speed level requires more time to complete.
This was a nice start to the week, whereas last week's I just felt out of it. A bit tired, a bit groggy. I really chalk it up to having learned about my new brother-in-law passing on Tuesday. I think that was it, just left me feeling a bit emptier and distracted.
I'm happy to know that these "less-than-stellar" times happen because I am reminded that they are temporary and I can get past it.
Every single person in this program has experienced this and I like that sort of quiet camaraderie we have.
I'll also want to write a little post about GRAMMAR because I had such a wonderful learning experience the other week about it. Until then!
Thursday, September 5, 2013
120 Lit Passed!
I passed the 120 Lit test yesterday on 9/4/2013! Yaay~~...
I know I should be happier about it, but to be honest, I felt that it wasn't the best work I could have done. A lot of luck was involved and common phrases. It was very much like a jury charge, which made it easier for me, but when it comes to some truly DENSE literary...well, I still feel like I have a while to go before I really feel like I'm out of 120.
This is sort of how every pass out of a speed level feels. Like...as though you don't quite belong there. Yet.
Yesterday, I also felt VERRRY good about one JC test, which I got only 58 errors on! Hey, that's pretty good considering they're been closer to 100+ lately. It just goes to show that every day and week here at school makes a huge difference!
Not to sound too petty, but I actually feel that I could've done even BETTER on that JC test last night had it not been for a student's coughing that distracted me!!! >_< It was so very...noisy and bothersome and the whole distraction/anger mix certainly did not help!
Anyhoo, considering that there are 6 weeks until mid-October, my "get out of 140 level" goal will be a bit tight. That amount of time is passed on the fact that I've managed to pass a test every two weeks on average since the start, but perhaps I should be more optimistic this semester! After all, I have both a day AND night chance to pass a test!
I know several people who have gotten stuck on the 140 MV tests, so we'll have to see how long that holds me up, too. Thankfully, however, I am able to attend school nearly every day without interruption, so that does put me in a good spot.
Either way, I'm happy to report on this recent test pass and just look forward to wrapping up 140 JC. I predict that it'll be my next pass. ^_~
Until then!
I know I should be happier about it, but to be honest, I felt that it wasn't the best work I could have done. A lot of luck was involved and common phrases. It was very much like a jury charge, which made it easier for me, but when it comes to some truly DENSE literary...well, I still feel like I have a while to go before I really feel like I'm out of 120.
This is sort of how every pass out of a speed level feels. Like...as though you don't quite belong there. Yet.
Yesterday, I also felt VERRRY good about one JC test, which I got only 58 errors on! Hey, that's pretty good considering they're been closer to 100+ lately. It just goes to show that every day and week here at school makes a huge difference!
Not to sound too petty, but I actually feel that I could've done even BETTER on that JC test last night had it not been for a student's coughing that distracted me!!! >_< It was so very...noisy and bothersome and the whole distraction/anger mix certainly did not help!
Anyhoo, considering that there are 6 weeks until mid-October, my "get out of 140 level" goal will be a bit tight. That amount of time is passed on the fact that I've managed to pass a test every two weeks on average since the start, but perhaps I should be more optimistic this semester! After all, I have both a day AND night chance to pass a test!
I know several people who have gotten stuck on the 140 MV tests, so we'll have to see how long that holds me up, too. Thankfully, however, I am able to attend school nearly every day without interruption, so that does put me in a good spot.
Either way, I'm happy to report on this recent test pass and just look forward to wrapping up 140 JC. I predict that it'll be my next pass. ^_~
Until then!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Fall Session Begins
So I'm just about rounding out my first week of the Fall Semester.
I didn't even post about how the full 3 weeks of "summer break" went, but boy am I glad I had them. I think I was honestly starting to get pretty antsy and eager to leave by the end of fall. But as my last post showed, that final day was well worth it! I passed all of my classes with flying colors, so now it's on to Fall Semester!
This semester will be pretty busy, if I do say so myself. The breakdown is as follows:
MONDAY:
- get in by 10am when the lab opens; do transcriptions or other homework
- 140 speed building class from 12:30-1:15
- possibly live read for the high-speeds
- 160 speed building class from 3:05:3:05
- 140 NIGHT speed building class from 6:00-7:45
TUESDAY:
- same
- same
- same
- Basic Medical Terminology from 5:45-10:00pm!!!!!
WEDNESDAY (see Monday)
THURSDAY:
- same
- same
- same
- Court and Depositions Procedures class from 4:15-7:45pm!
FRIDAY:
- no class (phew!)
As you can see...pretty garsh darn busy, I'd like to say. But I'm really excited! I've already tended the first Medical Terminology class, but I think it's going to be a blast! (an easy blast, heh heh heh) But honestly, I'm eager to learn about the human body and all the pathological and structural terms that come with it. Ironically enough, I'm also doing the extra medical terminology for my speedbuilding class anyhow, so it's a two birds with one stone situation.
So far as I've just begun venturing into the 140 level, I've had so-so results from my tests. It honestly reminds me of how it was when I first started the 120s. Sorta like, "Nooo way I'm gonna pass this test, but oh hey look, only double-digit number of errors."
I sense and I WANT to get through the 140 level a little faster than with 120. With the night classes and more dedicated time, I really think I'll be able to do that. My goal right now is to be done with 140 by mid-October. I feel like the 120 Lit and 140 JC will be the first to go, hopefully knocked out in just the next few weeks. The remaining two might take longer, but it'll be SOOO worth it for the following reasons:
(1) Scheduling. With 140 class at 12:30 and 160 down at 3:00, there is an incredibly awkward amount of time between them. Other students have echoed my thoughts that the gap in time is pretty annoying.
(2) Art modeling. That's right, I've just picked up art modeling to make a little extra cash, and boy do I love it!! However, many morning art classes finishing at 12:00pm which makes it tough to rush to school in time for 140. Once I'm out of there earlier class times, I'll be able to take on more gigs and further away ones, and still make it to campus on time.
I thoroughly enjoy my art modeling so far. The praise, the opportunity to be naked, and just the overall participation in art is such a good feeling!! I hope to continue it and do very well at it.
So yeah, let's see how my mid-October goal turns out!! Until later!
I didn't even post about how the full 3 weeks of "summer break" went, but boy am I glad I had them. I think I was honestly starting to get pretty antsy and eager to leave by the end of fall. But as my last post showed, that final day was well worth it! I passed all of my classes with flying colors, so now it's on to Fall Semester!
This semester will be pretty busy, if I do say so myself. The breakdown is as follows:
MONDAY:
- get in by 10am when the lab opens; do transcriptions or other homework
- 140 speed building class from 12:30-1:15
- possibly live read for the high-speeds
- 160 speed building class from 3:05:3:05
- 140 NIGHT speed building class from 6:00-7:45
TUESDAY:
- same
- same
- same
- Basic Medical Terminology from 5:45-10:00pm!!!!!
WEDNESDAY (see Monday)
THURSDAY:
- same
- same
- same
- Court and Depositions Procedures class from 4:15-7:45pm!
FRIDAY:
- no class (phew!)
As you can see...pretty garsh darn busy, I'd like to say. But I'm really excited! I've already tended the first Medical Terminology class, but I think it's going to be a blast! (an easy blast, heh heh heh) But honestly, I'm eager to learn about the human body and all the pathological and structural terms that come with it. Ironically enough, I'm also doing the extra medical terminology for my speedbuilding class anyhow, so it's a two birds with one stone situation.
So far as I've just begun venturing into the 140 level, I've had so-so results from my tests. It honestly reminds me of how it was when I first started the 120s. Sorta like, "Nooo way I'm gonna pass this test, but oh hey look, only double-digit number of errors."
I sense and I WANT to get through the 140 level a little faster than with 120. With the night classes and more dedicated time, I really think I'll be able to do that. My goal right now is to be done with 140 by mid-October. I feel like the 120 Lit and 140 JC will be the first to go, hopefully knocked out in just the next few weeks. The remaining two might take longer, but it'll be SOOO worth it for the following reasons:
(1) Scheduling. With 140 class at 12:30 and 160 down at 3:00, there is an incredibly awkward amount of time between them. Other students have echoed my thoughts that the gap in time is pretty annoying.
(2) Art modeling. That's right, I've just picked up art modeling to make a little extra cash, and boy do I love it!! However, many morning art classes finishing at 12:00pm which makes it tough to rush to school in time for 140. Once I'm out of there earlier class times, I'll be able to take on more gigs and further away ones, and still make it to campus on time.
I thoroughly enjoy my art modeling so far. The praise, the opportunity to be naked, and just the overall participation in art is such a good feeling!! I hope to continue it and do very well at it.
So yeah, let's see how my mid-October goal turns out!! Until later!
Saturday, August 3, 2013
120 Level Passed!
Wow, I last wrote about mid-July, but it took until August 1st to complete the final 120 test. 3-Voice!!
I have to explain a few things about how momentous I feel this accomplishment has been.
First of all, I was feeling very down just a week ago, because I was frustrated about not passing this final test. I believe I'd mentioned in my last post that I had the goal of completing the 120 level by the end of the semester, but I was starting to feel convinced that I was not going to accomplish it.
There is only one chance a week to do each category, so 3-V were few and far in between. The only additional opportunity was on Thursday nights starting at 6pm. To be honest, I'd started feeling a little burned out over summer semester and was really starting to look forward to the 3-week break in August.
Would you believe it? I was REALLY close to not even staying late on Thursday for that last-of-all-last chances, but boy am I glad I did! I passed the 3-V test with 12 errors (15 being the max)! I was so elated, I immediately called up Martin and said, "We're going out for sushi!"
I think that this experience has reminded me that I shouldn't let myself get so down and frustrated. I mean, if you look at it, it was still a solid two weeks between tests which has been the pattern since I started speed building. Next time I start to get frustrated, I should remind myself that (1) this isn't a race, (2) it'll come when it comes, and (3) 2-3 weeks is the normal timeframe.
I should also mention that Thursday August 1 was also the semester's vocab final exam, of which I apparently scored 198 out of 200. I have reason to believe that the Scantron machine misread two of my entries because I had to erase a previous answer and fill in the correct one. Call me stubborn, but I KNOW that I got a perfect score. I should be happy either way, but I probably won't be satisfied until I have it looked into a little bit.
Anyhoo! I'm already in the second day of my vacation, and will write next about what my daily studying routine should be. No goals set for the break except to study, study, study! I wanna stay sharp for when I start up Fall semester again!
I have to explain a few things about how momentous I feel this accomplishment has been.
First of all, I was feeling very down just a week ago, because I was frustrated about not passing this final test. I believe I'd mentioned in my last post that I had the goal of completing the 120 level by the end of the semester, but I was starting to feel convinced that I was not going to accomplish it.
There is only one chance a week to do each category, so 3-V were few and far in between. The only additional opportunity was on Thursday nights starting at 6pm. To be honest, I'd started feeling a little burned out over summer semester and was really starting to look forward to the 3-week break in August.
Would you believe it? I was REALLY close to not even staying late on Thursday for that last-of-all-last chances, but boy am I glad I did! I passed the 3-V test with 12 errors (15 being the max)! I was so elated, I immediately called up Martin and said, "We're going out for sushi!"
I think that this experience has reminded me that I shouldn't let myself get so down and frustrated. I mean, if you look at it, it was still a solid two weeks between tests which has been the pattern since I started speed building. Next time I start to get frustrated, I should remind myself that (1) this isn't a race, (2) it'll come when it comes, and (3) 2-3 weeks is the normal timeframe.
I should also mention that Thursday August 1 was also the semester's vocab final exam, of which I apparently scored 198 out of 200. I have reason to believe that the Scantron machine misread two of my entries because I had to erase a previous answer and fill in the correct one. Call me stubborn, but I KNOW that I got a perfect score. I should be happy either way, but I probably won't be satisfied until I have it looked into a little bit.
Anyhoo! I'm already in the second day of my vacation, and will write next about what my daily studying routine should be. No goals set for the break except to study, study, study! I wanna stay sharp for when I start up Fall semester again!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
120s: 3 down 1 to go
Wow, I haven't updated in nearly a month solid!
Well, good news since last time. That's right, more tests~!
As usual, the breakdown:
100 Lit -- June 19
120 QA -- July 8
120 JC -- July 17
That leaves only the 3-V (three-voice) test left to pass. I had attempted one last Thursday with "only" 28 errors, and then another one tonight. It definitely wasn't a test-pass, and I doubt it was necessarily better than last week's. But either way, there are 2 weeks left in the session and it is my goal to pass it before the August break.
Compared to the 100-speed tests, 120 has felt like a slower rate of progress. But aside from that 4th of July weekend interruption, I've generally stuck to my pass-a-test-once-every-two-weeks pattern. I would chalk it up to the two law classes that I was taking, and the summer weather. Ha ha! Oh, a quick note about those law classes. Concepts of Criminal Law have already ended and I finished with a grade of 96.5%. Business Law is still going on, but I've got an A in it, with overall "grade" of 100%. Not exactly sure how that works, because I obviously didn't get 100 on every quiz or test, but I guess the extra credit points helped to fill the gap.
Back to the test passes, however, did you know that at the bottom of each "Congratulations! You've Passed ___ Test!" coversheet, there's a short note that reads simply:
Well, good news since last time. That's right, more tests~!
As usual, the breakdown:
100 Lit -- June 19
120 QA -- July 8
120 JC -- July 17
That leaves only the 3-V (three-voice) test left to pass. I had attempted one last Thursday with "only" 28 errors, and then another one tonight. It definitely wasn't a test-pass, and I doubt it was necessarily better than last week's. But either way, there are 2 weeks left in the session and it is my goal to pass it before the August break.
Compared to the 100-speed tests, 120 has felt like a slower rate of progress. But aside from that 4th of July weekend interruption, I've generally stuck to my pass-a-test-once-every-two-weeks pattern. I would chalk it up to the two law classes that I was taking, and the summer weather. Ha ha! Oh, a quick note about those law classes. Concepts of Criminal Law have already ended and I finished with a grade of 96.5%. Business Law is still going on, but I've got an A in it, with overall "grade" of 100%. Not exactly sure how that works, because I obviously didn't get 100 on every quiz or test, but I guess the extra credit points helped to fill the gap.
Back to the test passes, however, did you know that at the bottom of each "Congratulations! You've Passed ___ Test!" coversheet, there's a short note that reads simply:
This is an acknowledgement of a giant step forward in reaching your final goal.
Be proud and celebrate your progress!!
It may seem simple and trite, but I think there is a lot of power in those words. It's been said before that court reporters are generally perfectionists, and that they don't allow themselves to enjoy their victories. Instead, they're always looking towards the next goal. While this might sound like an admirable trait to a degree, I think that I should follow the wisdom of these words and allow myself to enjoy this victory, taking in stride when I do pass the final 120 3-V.
As with nearly every post I end with, my current goal is now: Complete 120 3-V before end of Summer!!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
100 Speed Level Passed!
I finally found out today (Sunday) that my 100 QA test from last Thursday was a pass.
I knew it, knew it, knew it, but needed to wait until the professor was back from vacation to get the offiicial news.
And what wonderful news to receive! That means that I am officially out of the 100 level tests and on to 120!
I was absolutely convinced that I had passed an earlier 100 QA test on Monday, but ended up failing 4 errors over the limit. That was a lesson in not getting too cocky, indeed!
As with the previous level, I'll do a handy-dandy breakdown again of the pass dates, just for old time's sake:
80 Lit -- May 15, 2013
100 JC -- June 6, 2013
100 QA -- June 13, 2013
And mind you, there were nearly two solid weeks of vacation in between, so one can only imagine if I hadn't had that time off to "slack." As a reminder, imagine how those three weeks in August will be!! Thanks to Stenograph U, though, I have a feeling that I'll be able to stay sharp.
My goal for the end of month was to pass all of my 100 tests, and so I still have two more weeks left in the month to set a new goal. Let see...I should try passing the 100 Lit test. Yes, that's right.
Surprisingly enough, it is interesting to note that two of my 100 level tests were passed through Stenograph U! I hope that this does not mean I am lulled into the belief that only Stenograph U is the way to go!
And while we're on the subject of goals, I should also aim to pass a few more 100-level tests with a decent return grade.
Crazy, I'll now be sitting in at the 140-level class in order to focus more intensively on the 120 tests. I should also mention that last week, I did an optional three-voice 120 test just for kicks, and completed it with only--gasp!--80 errors! That may seem like a doozy, but hey, it's only in the double-digits.
Tomorrow, June 17 is also the first day of my academic classes (Business Law and Concepts of Criminal Law) so that should be interesting. Just reading the syllabus for one makes it seem overwhelming, but you know how that first day of class always makes you think, "How on earth am I going to manage it?!?!" but I'm confident that I simply will.
Now, hopefully I can just get that one textbook off of Craigslist for $25... That'd be real nice.
I really should write up a blog about my new laptop that I got! Perhaps next week.
I knew it, knew it, knew it, but needed to wait until the professor was back from vacation to get the offiicial news.
And what wonderful news to receive! That means that I am officially out of the 100 level tests and on to 120!
I was absolutely convinced that I had passed an earlier 100 QA test on Monday, but ended up failing 4 errors over the limit. That was a lesson in not getting too cocky, indeed!
As with the previous level, I'll do a handy-dandy breakdown again of the pass dates, just for old time's sake:
80 Lit -- May 15, 2013
100 JC -- June 6, 2013
100 QA -- June 13, 2013
And mind you, there were nearly two solid weeks of vacation in between, so one can only imagine if I hadn't had that time off to "slack." As a reminder, imagine how those three weeks in August will be!! Thanks to Stenograph U, though, I have a feeling that I'll be able to stay sharp.
My goal for the end of month was to pass all of my 100 tests, and so I still have two more weeks left in the month to set a new goal. Let see...I should try passing the 100 Lit test. Yes, that's right.
Surprisingly enough, it is interesting to note that two of my 100 level tests were passed through Stenograph U! I hope that this does not mean I am lulled into the belief that only Stenograph U is the way to go!
And while we're on the subject of goals, I should also aim to pass a few more 100-level tests with a decent return grade.
Crazy, I'll now be sitting in at the 140-level class in order to focus more intensively on the 120 tests. I should also mention that last week, I did an optional three-voice 120 test just for kicks, and completed it with only--gasp!--80 errors! That may seem like a doozy, but hey, it's only in the double-digits.
Tomorrow, June 17 is also the first day of my academic classes (Business Law and Concepts of Criminal Law) so that should be interesting. Just reading the syllabus for one makes it seem overwhelming, but you know how that first day of class always makes you think, "How on earth am I going to manage it?!?!" but I'm confident that I simply will.
Now, hopefully I can just get that one textbook off of Craigslist for $25... That'd be real nice.
I really should write up a blog about my new laptop that I got! Perhaps next week.
Friday, June 7, 2013
JC 100 Pass + Summer Session
Okay, so maybe hearing about whenever I pass a test one at a time isn't so interesting, but I'm still pretty darned proud!
As the subject header reads, I passed my first Jury Charge 100 test on May 6th 2013! AND it was a test done through Stenograph University with just 5 errors!
Before I get into it, let me explain a little about how the Summer semester is shaping up to be pretty different from Spring:
■No Night Classes■
That's right, they were not able to get enough students enrolled to fill up the minimum requirement for night classes, sooooo there are only daytime speedbuilding classes.
What this means for me are a few things:
- 9am-5pm routine! Mind you Spring semester's schedule was typically 9am-9pm, so this is a pretty significant difference in amount of time on campus. For better (getting home early to translate) or for worse...
- One test opportunity a day! Before, I had two opportunities a day, but now there is only one.
- On Thursday nights only, one of the instructors has been kind enough to volunteer to stay later to provide more dictation practice and even a test opportunity! I took the QA 100 last night, and I think it may have been a "good fail." I'll see when I transcribe it on Monday.
■Assigned/Academic Homework■
Seeing as I had just started Theory I last semester, I was technically exempt from having to do the "academic" portion of class. All I had to do was focus on Bridge lessons and speedbuilding.
But do you think I settled for that? Of course not! I went ahead and learned the 300 English vocabulary words, completed the sample sentence assignment for it, and and then passed the final exam with a score of 198/200!
That means that this semester requires Legal Vocabulary which involves NOT ONLY learning the vocabulary and passing the final exam, but also steno-writing out the vocab lists as well as transcribing/submitting short Legal-centric dictations on tape.
"Assigned Homework" are random practice dictation, worksheets, etc that the teacher comes up with. There are going to be 9 total, to be distributed along the 9 weeks of summer session. I think that they're designed to ensure that people are dedicating some time OUTSIDE the classroom to think/do/care about steno. These are quite easy and I aim to get them done by June 17, becaaaaause...
■Additional Classes■
Seeing as I don't have night classes, I've decided to take two (!) online classes: 1) Business Law and 2) Concepts of Criminal Law
Both classes begin June 17, which is why I'm aiming to get as much of the speedbuilding class homework out of the way before then. I've never taken a 100% online class like this before, so I'm curious what it will entail.
These credits will go towards my qualifications to take the CSR exam, so I'm stoked.
As I mentioned above, I dished out $165 for the 7 months of this online service. It provides not only multiple practice dictation, optionals, but also DAILY TEST OPPORTUNITIES (Monday-Thursday).
THUS, I will actually get to have two test opportunities a day, just like the good old days!
I know it may sound like I'm obsessive about passing tests, and I understand that there is much more than just tests, but I like to know when I pass tests because they show that not only do have I have SOME comfort with that speed, but I can also do it under "pressure"!
I'm still at the stage with 100 tests where my heart starts to pound really hard and my fingers get sweaty. It's something that I have to get through because that is the kind of pressure one will experience of the job. Plus, passing tests really gets my confidence up, which helps me to learn and practice, which helps me to pass tests, which helps me to... Well, you get the idea.
Surprisingly enough, I didn't get the shakes at all with the online JC 100 test--maybe because I didn't really believe I had a chance in hell...but surprise!
Wow, what a doozy of an entry. And no pictures! Me so dull! Anyhoo, this just goes to show that even with these changes in the class schedule, I think I still have a pretty good chance of completing my goal of passing 100 level tests. I mean, I now only have one left to go and there are still 8 weeks left in the semester!
Thanks for reading! Hopefully these entries will help those new or interested in court reporting see a little of the process one goes through in school.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Stenography & Japanese
 |
| Ooh, so mysterious and so...samurai. (pfft) |
For those of you who don't know, aside from stenography, Japanese language is one of the biggest THINGS in my life. What I mean by that is that it always had a place throughout my young adult life--whether it was studying it formally in high school and college, to spending a year abroad in the Tokyo area, to incorporating it into my professional career(s).
- editor of Japanese manga (@ TOKYOPOP)
- associate localization producer of Japanese video games (@ NAMCO BANDAI)
- freelance translation of Japanese entertainment (ex: manga, video games, novels, etc...)
Yeah, it's been a pretty big thing, so court reporting is my first break from it in the past, oh let's see, 10 years or so! That's a pretty big shift!
...Or is it?
See, since starting stenography, I learned pretty quickly that it is essentially a language. You're translating the steno language/code into English. Fascinating! And taking it a step further, time and time again I've found myself comparing the use of steno stroking, briefs, and phrases to the Japanese writing system.
Here is a quick breakdown of the Japanese writing system to give you some background:
① Hiragana ひらがな -- the phonetic alphabet of the language. You can write anything in this simple system of 48 characters. Such nice and soft symbols, compared to its counterpart...
- Katakana カタカナ -- the mirror opposite of the phonetic language, reserved specifically for foreign loan words (like "computer" and "Will Smith") or for slang. Okay, this one doesn't really have much to add to my steno + Japanese theory (thus it doesn't get it own number,) but I thought I should be thorough and lay it out there.
② Kanji 漢字 -- a vast system of characters adopted from the Chinese writing system. I mean, that's literally what "kanji" means. "Chinese letters." Anyway, these handy-dandy kanji characters can encompass entire words, phrases, meanings, and ideas.
Okay, I bet some of you are already starting to catch on with the whole hiragana versus kanji bit and how it relates to steno.
You know how when you don't know how to brief a word on your machine, you just "spell it out" or "write it out"?
You can essentially do the same with hiragana. Observe the silly sample sentence below:
なぜそのねこはつねにまどのちかくにすわっていますか。
Nice. It works. But, man, is it long.
Plus, thanks to the many homonyms of the Japanese language it can be hard to appropriately break up the symbols together to form the various words and grammatical parts of the sentence. It just started to run together like: "Nazesononekohatsunenimadonochikakunisuwatteimasuka?"
Here is that same sentence using kanji:
何故その猫は常に窓の近くに座っていますか。
Can you see how much shorter that is?!
And for those of you who know the language, it makes it that much easier to find the grammatical "pit stops" that signify the noun, verb, tense of the sentence. So now it reads more like this: "Naze sono neko wa tsune ni mado no chikaku ni suwatteimasu ka?
It's exactly the same with briefs, I find. They help you compress words or phrases into a more succinct lines of code as you read them off your notes or program. They can help to break up long and convoluted written-out words with little "pit stops" as I like to think of them.
Huh, somehow I thought this entry would be more impressive as I was thinking it up, but now it seems sort of dull. Either way, hopefully someone out there has raised their eyebrows a bit at this entry and I've added a little food for thought to the universe!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Passed First 100-Level Test!
Wow, these posts are getting pretty sparse, and I'm only thinking to post when I've achieved a "great goal."
As the title says, my most recent "great goal" is that I just passed my Lit 80 test!
I'm quite pleased with myself because as you'll remember, my goal was to pass a 100-level test before the end of the semester, and--boom!--I managed it on the last day of classes!
Next Monday is not only the 200-word English vocabulary quiz (breezeville, I'm sure), but also a "Test-A-Thon" from 6pm-9pm.
This is our last chance to cram in additional tests that we request of the teacher to prepare in the hopes of passing one before the summer session.
It takes a while for me to "warm up" on Mondays, but my recent 100 JC was surprisingly good (only 31 errors!) so I think I may-may-may-may-may have a shot at this on Monday night.
This recent development has also inspired to update my Reach-120-Speed-Before-End-of-Summer goal. I now believe that I may be able to not only reach 120 but also... (drum roll, please)
Pass at least one 120-level test by the end of Summer Session. @_@
Can it be done? I think so.
Current Bridge Lesson -- Lesson 21
As the title says, my most recent "great goal" is that I just passed my Lit 80 test!
I'm quite pleased with myself because as you'll remember, my goal was to pass a 100-level test before the end of the semester, and--boom!--I managed it on the last day of classes!
Next Monday is not only the 200-word English vocabulary quiz (breezeville, I'm sure), but also a "Test-A-Thon" from 6pm-9pm.
This is our last chance to cram in additional tests that we request of the teacher to prepare in the hopes of passing one before the summer session.
It takes a while for me to "warm up" on Mondays, but my recent 100 JC was surprisingly good (only 31 errors!) so I think I may-may-may-may-may have a shot at this on Monday night.
This recent development has also inspired to update my Reach-120-Speed-Before-End-of-Summer goal. I now believe that I may be able to not only reach 120 but also... (drum roll, please)
Pass at least one 120-level test by the end of Summer Session. @_@
Can it be done? I think so.
Current Bridge Lesson -- Lesson 21
Thursday, May 2, 2013
80 Speed Tests Passed!
Not a very imaginative title for this entry, I know.
I just wanted to quickly record some recent progress I've made in my speed building classes.
As of this week, I've passed all of my 80 speed tests!
Literary at 60 words per minute was passed on Thursday April 24.
Jury Charge at 80 words per minute was passed on Monday April 29.
QA at 80 words per minute was passed on Wednesday May 2.
Literary (which was held a good 20 wpm less than the other tests) had only 6 mistakes, but the two others were passed with the maximum of 10 errors (97.5%) -- Yeesh! -- so of course I can't say that I'm easy-peasy comfortable with 80 wpm just yet. However, it's incredible how in just a few weeks, 80 feels more like a real possibility. In a few weeks, I hope to be even more comfortable with it and tackling 100!
I'm pretty gosh-darned proud of all this so far, and it makes my original goal of reaching 120 speed building by the end of summer even more plausible!
Fortunately for me, I have only to register for the Theory II class for the Summer session, while still attending speed building classes during both day and night.
I should also add that this recent development has inspired me to set the following goal:
Complete at least one 100 wpm test by the end of May (end of Spring semester).
A little ambitious, I know, but we'll see how it goes... Wish me luck!
Current Bridge Lesson - Lesson #16
I just wanted to quickly record some recent progress I've made in my speed building classes.
As of this week, I've passed all of my 80 speed tests!
Literary at 60 words per minute was passed on Thursday April 24.
Jury Charge at 80 words per minute was passed on Monday April 29.
QA at 80 words per minute was passed on Wednesday May 2.
Literary (which was held a good 20 wpm less than the other tests) had only 6 mistakes, but the two others were passed with the maximum of 10 errors (97.5%) -- Yeesh! -- so of course I can't say that I'm easy-peasy comfortable with 80 wpm just yet. However, it's incredible how in just a few weeks, 80 feels more like a real possibility. In a few weeks, I hope to be even more comfortable with it and tackling 100!
I'm pretty gosh-darned proud of all this so far, and it makes my original goal of reaching 120 speed building by the end of summer even more plausible!
Fortunately for me, I have only to register for the Theory II class for the Summer session, while still attending speed building classes during both day and night.
I should also add that this recent development has inspired me to set the following goal:
Complete at least one 100 wpm test by the end of May (end of Spring semester).
A little ambitious, I know, but we'll see how it goes... Wish me luck!
Current Bridge Lesson - Lesson #16
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Theory Completed!
And yes, I AM still alive!
I apologize for the absolute stillness on this blog as of late. It wasn't that I'd lost any interest to write--far from it!
In face, after the days (and lessons) began ticking by, I thought to myself, "Hell, I'll just hold off until I hit the next big milestone!"
And that milestone is that I have just completed all 40 lessons of StenEd theory! Woot! I feel quite accomplished!
Remember way back with my earlier post Setting a Goal? Well, I'm so pleased that I was able to fulfill it!
Seeing as I've been attending class/lab four days a week, from opening to closing time, it should come as no surprise, and just because I've finished theory doesn't mean I'll be stopping my routine. Quit the contrary, things are really ramping up!
Let me talk about how interested the past week or two has been.
While steadily progressing through the last six-or-so lessons, I'd actually begun dabbling a bit in Bridge lessons, as well as attending some 80 Speedbuilding classes.
There is a certain luxury about "just auditing" that really takes the pressure off of performing during those classes. But they were still quite a learning experience! Getting used to the 80-100 wpm speed, the demand of flying fingers, and the realization of how darn useful briefs will be!
Truth be told, I haven't actually formally completed a single Bridge lesson yet, so I'm okay with cutting myself some slack. Let me explain first what "Bridge" refers to.
It's a special set of lessons designed to help "bridge" students over from the typical 40-60 wpm dictation during lessons into 80+ wpm speed-building classes. Apparently, way back when, a lot of students were getting really discouraged at the early speed-building classes, and were dropping out.
Bridge consists of 32 lessons with about 10 new briefs for incredibly common and useful phrases. The first lessons includes briefs for "as soon as", "as a matter of fact", "as a result of", etc...
See? You can see how common these phrases just spit out of someone's mouth.
One other interesting thing that happened to me was that I tried a 80 Literature test...and I believe that I passed! I had to mark up my mistakes myself, and if my calculations are correct, then I passed it! That's somethin'! Although I chalk it up to the content of the dictation being pretty easy. And in fact, most of my mistakes were silly typos made during transcription! In a way, I felt as though my notes were better than the final paper! Such silly, silly mistakes. If I let my mind sit on it too long, I find myself getting irked by it again.
The important thing is that I can foresee entering speed-building as being very doable!
And like my first goal of completing lesson, I would like to go out on a limb here and strive to reach the 120 speed-building classes by the end of the summer session (8/2/2013)!
Stick around and see how it goes!
Current Lesson -- Bridge Lesson 1
I apologize for the absolute stillness on this blog as of late. It wasn't that I'd lost any interest to write--far from it!
In face, after the days (and lessons) began ticking by, I thought to myself, "Hell, I'll just hold off until I hit the next big milestone!"
And that milestone is that I have just completed all 40 lessons of StenEd theory! Woot! I feel quite accomplished!
Remember way back with my earlier post Setting a Goal? Well, I'm so pleased that I was able to fulfill it!
Seeing as I've been attending class/lab four days a week, from opening to closing time, it should come as no surprise, and just because I've finished theory doesn't mean I'll be stopping my routine. Quit the contrary, things are really ramping up!
Let me talk about how interested the past week or two has been.
While steadily progressing through the last six-or-so lessons, I'd actually begun dabbling a bit in Bridge lessons, as well as attending some 80 Speedbuilding classes.
There is a certain luxury about "just auditing" that really takes the pressure off of performing during those classes. But they were still quite a learning experience! Getting used to the 80-100 wpm speed, the demand of flying fingers, and the realization of how darn useful briefs will be!
Truth be told, I haven't actually formally completed a single Bridge lesson yet, so I'm okay with cutting myself some slack. Let me explain first what "Bridge" refers to.
It's a special set of lessons designed to help "bridge" students over from the typical 40-60 wpm dictation during lessons into 80+ wpm speed-building classes. Apparently, way back when, a lot of students were getting really discouraged at the early speed-building classes, and were dropping out.
Bridge consists of 32 lessons with about 10 new briefs for incredibly common and useful phrases. The first lessons includes briefs for "as soon as", "as a matter of fact", "as a result of", etc...
See? You can see how common these phrases just spit out of someone's mouth.
One other interesting thing that happened to me was that I tried a 80 Literature test...and I believe that I passed! I had to mark up my mistakes myself, and if my calculations are correct, then I passed it! That's somethin'! Although I chalk it up to the content of the dictation being pretty easy. And in fact, most of my mistakes were silly typos made during transcription! In a way, I felt as though my notes were better than the final paper! Such silly, silly mistakes. If I let my mind sit on it too long, I find myself getting irked by it again.
The important thing is that I can foresee entering speed-building as being very doable!
And like my first goal of completing lesson, I would like to go out on a limb here and strive to reach the 120 speed-building classes by the end of the summer session (8/2/2013)!
Stick around and see how it goes!
Current Lesson -- Bridge Lesson 1
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Importance of Humility
(another steno entry, so pardon the funky formatting at times)
Here I am, sitting in the court reporting classroom, near the end of a rather long day. You see, the lab room is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays up until 9 o'clock p.m . . That's pretty late, don't you think?
Only 2 other students are in here with me, and they're all quiet.
Today was a good day. The lab opened early, so I snuck in closer to 9 :30 a.m . , working on my theory drills until 1 of the instructors came in to explain more about future class options that are part of the certification requirements. It looks like a lot, but all I keep thinking is," how can I pass this program even faster than the 4 years? "
I bet that's what everyone tells themselves when they start the program.
The short session did remind me that I should contact my college to request a transcript -- depending on what classes I already took, I may be able to waive some of the courses here. One can dream, right?
I finished and submitted my quiz for lesson 27 and had started reviewing the ones in lesson 28. The usual instructor wasn't available, so I was taught by a male teacher named "Eric." Boy, was he tough. Let me just say that the experience was very humbling to say the least. So far, I have done very well on each and every lesson, but I was reminded today that I still have a long way to go, and shouldn't let my small successes get to my head.
Not to mention that my relatively perfect track record when it came to quizzes has also been obliterated! I want to blame it on the machine, which started to roll up its own paper in the middle of the quiz, but I know better than to place the blame on other things.
Going forward, I'll double check to make sure that my paper isn't acting up, and that I'm much more gracious object my current position.
In other news, all of next week is Spring Break, so the school will be closed. I plan on settling down at home to continue making progress through the lessons so that I can complete them all far before the end of the semester. I can then devote the rest of the time to polishing up my notes, writing, and everything.
Maybe by then, the weather will be a little nicer, too...
Current Lesson -- Lesson 29
Here I am, sitting in the court reporting classroom, near the end of a rather long day. You see, the lab room is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays up until 9 o'clock p.m . . That's pretty late, don't you think?
Only 2 other students are in here with me, and they're all quiet.
Today was a good day. The lab opened early, so I snuck in closer to 9 :30 a.m . , working on my theory drills until 1 of the instructors came in to explain more about future class options that are part of the certification requirements. It looks like a lot, but all I keep thinking is," how can I pass this program even faster than the 4 years? "
I bet that's what everyone tells themselves when they start the program.
The short session did remind me that I should contact my college to request a transcript -- depending on what classes I already took, I may be able to waive some of the courses here. One can dream, right?
I finished and submitted my quiz for lesson 27 and had started reviewing the ones in lesson 28. The usual instructor wasn't available, so I was taught by a male teacher named "Eric." Boy, was he tough. Let me just say that the experience was very humbling to say the least. So far, I have done very well on each and every lesson, but I was reminded today that I still have a long way to go, and shouldn't let my small successes get to my head.
Not to mention that my relatively perfect track record when it came to quizzes has also been obliterated! I want to blame it on the machine, which started to roll up its own paper in the middle of the quiz, but I know better than to place the blame on other things.
Going forward, I'll double check to make sure that my paper isn't acting up, and that I'm much more gracious object my current position.
In other news, all of next week is Spring Break, so the school will be closed. I plan on settling down at home to continue making progress through the lessons so that I can complete them all far before the end of the semester. I can then devote the rest of the time to polishing up my notes, writing, and everything.
Maybe by then, the weather will be a little nicer, too...
Current Lesson -- Lesson 29
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Commuting to School
What a beauty!
As I mentioned previously, I am finally free of a job, and can now dedicate much more time to my theory lessons. Part of that involves attending the "live" classes at West Valley College, rather than online.
Don't get me wrong, the online classes were great, and I do plan on referring to them often from now on, but it is beneficial to be where I can easily ask an instructor to clarify a point, etc, etc...
Yesterday was my first day attending class, and it was quite a new experience. Being surrounded by people--and their many sounds--was a bit distracting at first, but I consider it good practice for the actual job. After all, the world is full of many noises that one can't avoid.
One of the best things about attending class, however, would have to be the COMMUTING! I get to bike down 8.4 miles down (just double-checked on Google Maps) each way, which takes roughly 40 minutes. That's a good 1 hr 20 minutes worth of exercise a day!
Plus, the route there is just wonderful, as the majority of it is via a very peaceful and quiet trail. Even the road portion doesn't seem to be very car-active, and I don't have to worry about many confusing turns.
There's also the added bonus of the school's locker room facilities--complete with warm showers and...blow dryers! What a real luxury!
It's a great season to be starting this commuting route, and once it really warms up, I may even incorporate some rollerblading! So far, I've been fortunate enough to avoid having to lug around my own writer or laptop, so that may put a bit of a wrench in the works later on, but I plan on adapting when it comes up.
Until next time... happy riding!
Current Lesson -- Lesson 27
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Free From Work
(yet another attempt at steno-ing my blog)
At long last, I'm able to talk openly about what has just happened to me. To be clear, this was really some thing that had been building since last fall.
Today was my last day at my job.
As I said before, I had been thinking and planning on leaving since around late November of 2013. It was a mix of politics at the workplace, a newfound love for all things steno, and a need to do something new and different with my life.
If you couldn't tell by looking at the top image, I used to work at the videogame company NAMCO BANDAI. I worked there for four years, and did learn a lot. For such a long time, I was convinced that I would always work at a place that had to do with Japanese -- in one way or another.
Now, though, I'm looking forward to the chance to do something so different, so new, so... far from Japanese. Perhaps, in the future, I'll use Japanese once again, maybe even having to do with court reporting!
Still, I will miss all the amazing people I met on the job, and hope that they do well there or beyond.
with this change in my life, I will have much from time to dedicate to my education, and will hopefully complete the program even sooner.
Current lesson: 25
Monday, March 18, 2013
Office Space
No, I'm not talking about one of the best films of all time.
It's just like seeing the world from my lap...
Yeah, you WISH this is what this blog was about.
I'm talking about the importance of having a designated work space to do your steno practice.
The same day I purchased my used writer off of Craigslist, I immediately started setting up my "home office." It didn't consist of much; just an armless chair and the writer in front of me. A stack of binders to one side provided a surface for my books--though at the time, I didn't actually have any books.
I was still only experimenting, but I quickly figured out that I needed a space that was completely without interruption.
Lucky for me, my boyfriend never steps into the bedroom until it is time to sleep. (He's the type that understands the importance of compartmentalizing spaces.)
So, I kept the same basic minimalist set-up, but changed rooms from the guest-bedroom/computer-room to the bedroom! I know some people can't stand the thought of working in such close proximity to their bed, but it's not really a "temptation" for me.
Not much in the way of glamour, but gets the job done.
It's actually good timing that I post this now, because once I start attending class in-person this/next week, I may not have much reason to study from home as much.
I've heard of garages, kitchen tables, living room couches, and other locations serving as people's personal work spaces, so I'd be pretty curious to know how it's working out for some people!
Current Lesson - Lesson 24
I've heard of garages, kitchen tables, living room couches, and other locations serving as people's personal work spaces, so I'd be pretty curious to know how it's working out for some people!
Current Lesson - Lesson 24
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Married!
This post is actually not entirely about steno-ing, because I wanted to take the opportunity to record a little something that happened in my life. (Plus this blog has been pretty photo-dry lately...)
I just got married to my beautiful and wonderful boyfriend of three years!
In the interest of changing careers in the near future, and our general lack of interest in big events, we held the marriage ceremony at the county clerk's office, complete with random witness provided by the city.
I just got married to my beautiful and wonderful boyfriend of three years!
Surprise bouquet and matching boutonniere, from my mother.
Thank you, mom!!
In the interest of changing careers in the near future, and our general lack of interest in big events, we held the marriage ceremony at the county clerk's office, complete with random witness provided by the city.
Our "random witness" captured some excellent shots!
Some impromptu photo shoots, errands/steno practice, and a romantic dinner rounded out our special day.
In due time, we'll hold a "proper" wedding ceremony, where friends and family can come and share our happiness. But until then, I'm just happy to be sharing my life with this man. He was even sweet enough to say that he will continue to support me in and my interests as part of our life together.
The official marriage date is 3-13-2013, and we were toying around with the idea of having the wedding on 4-14-2014. That gives us a year to plan. Let's see if we fulfill the prophecy!!
And in steno-related news, I managed to finish the Lesson 22! It was a doozy of a chapter. I'll definitely to review and brush up on my "-sion" endings, because I know that my notes were pretty sloppy. Lesson 23 should be much easier, as there are far fewer concepts to grasp. For fun, I flipped through the rest of the chapters to see what's in store! Very exciting to be nearly halfway through the 20's.
Current Lesson -- Lesson 23
Monday, March 11, 2013
Steno Blog Entry - 1st Attempt
for a long time now, I've been wanting to write my PWHROG using my skills from class. Right now, I am at part 21 -- just did it this morning. We learned how to do words that start with "EX."
I'm quite excited because I've reached this far in the class, but of course there are still many words that I don't know. Once I get to the office, I'll trans late the quiz into good writing and hand it in to the teacher. I hope I've done well.
as for what I've been up to... Let's see, last night I watched a show called "TK*EBGS TER" with my boy friend. Yesterday I spent a lot of time working on my bikes. I had to change the tires, and also cleaned up a new bike which I'll be giving to my niece for her birthday. It's coming up in two weeks!
going forward, I hope to keep up writing this way for practice, so please excuse the slow times in between writings. Later then!
current less on -- less on 22.
-------------
Wow, that was fun practice! Still some errors and words that I don't quite know how to "trans late" correctly into steno, but it's a first try! In other news, the weather is warming up into a beautiful spring (almost like summer!) so here's hoping that it keeps up!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
When Life Happens
Last I'd checked in here, I was on lesson 17.
Well, it turns out that lesson 17 and 18 were grouped together for the quiz, which I finished up last Friday.
The content wasn't too difficult, and was a great starter into heavy brief-centric memorization.
Alas, it was only until this morning that I was able to go through and complete more exercises!
And lesson 19 appears to be so easy! I'm a bit ashamed at myself for taking so much time with this, but in my defense, I recently happened upon some examples of "life happens."
See below for the breakdown:
Friday:
10:00-10:30: Submitted Lesson 17-18 quiz
10:30-20:30: Spend the work day translating
21:00-06:00: Coworker's birthday party
VERDICT: No study time
Saturday:
07:30-21:30: Terrible hangover all day
07:30-20:30: Hang out with 10-year-old niece all day (race, video games, park, cooking dinner...)
20:30-21:30: Drive her half-hour home and back
VERDICT: No study time
Sunday:
08:00-08:30: Clean up
09:45-18:00: All-day voiceover acting workshop
19:00~: Return home for dinner
VERDICT: No study time
Monday:
09:30-18.00: Forget to bring lesson book to work
10:00-18:00: Spend work day translating
18:30-19:30: Get home, put away laundry, cook dinner
19:30-Finally begin watching Lesson 19 video
Tuesday:
- Finish Lesson 19 video
- Finish 2 out of 3 Lesson 19 exercises
That's where I'm currently at in my schedule, and you can bet I'll be making up for my tardiness with more steadfast studying today and tomorrow. In fact, I already plan on taking a sickday tomorrow so that I can wrap up a plethora of health appointments and study-study-study!
Lesson 19 covers many types of inflected endings of words.
-en
-er
-fer/ver, etc...
Like I said, not too hard. So I should have the lesson wrapped up by EOD tonight.
The anticipation of being so close to lesson 20 must be getting to me!
Current Lesson - Lesson 19
Well, it turns out that lesson 17 and 18 were grouped together for the quiz, which I finished up last Friday.
The content wasn't too difficult, and was a great starter into heavy brief-centric memorization.
Alas, it was only until this morning that I was able to go through and complete more exercises!
And lesson 19 appears to be so easy! I'm a bit ashamed at myself for taking so much time with this, but in my defense, I recently happened upon some examples of "life happens."
See below for the breakdown:
Friday:
10:00-10:30: Submitted Lesson 17-18 quiz
10:30-20:30: Spend the work day translating
21:00-06:00: Coworker's birthday party
VERDICT: No study time
Saturday:
07:30-21:30: Terrible hangover all day
07:30-20:30: Hang out with 10-year-old niece all day (race, video games, park, cooking dinner...)
20:30-21:30: Drive her half-hour home and back
VERDICT: No study time
Sunday:
08:00-08:30: Clean up
09:45-18:00: All-day voiceover acting workshop
19:00~: Return home for dinner
VERDICT: No study time
Monday:
09:30-18.00: Forget to bring lesson book to work
10:00-18:00: Spend work day translating
18:30-19:30: Get home, put away laundry, cook dinner
19:30-Finally begin watching Lesson 19 video
Tuesday:
- Finish Lesson 19 video
- Finish 2 out of 3 Lesson 19 exercises
That's where I'm currently at in my schedule, and you can bet I'll be making up for my tardiness with more steadfast studying today and tomorrow. In fact, I already plan on taking a sickday tomorrow so that I can wrap up a plethora of health appointments and study-study-study!
Lesson 19 covers many types of inflected endings of words.
-en
-er
-fer/ver, etc...
Like I said, not too hard. So I should have the lesson wrapped up by EOD tonight.
The anticipation of being so close to lesson 20 must be getting to me!
Current Lesson - Lesson 19
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Setting a Goal
StenEd Theory consists of 40 lessons total--each focusing on a particular aspect of learning this new "language." That includes the alphabet, common letter combinations, numbers, high frequency words, "ch"/"sh" sounds, differentiating homonyms, etc... (and that is only what I have encountered so far).
Ideally, by the end of all 40 lessons, you will have a stronghold on StenEd, and can progress into the speed-building classes, where you do what you've learned so far...just much faster. And faster, and faster, and faster (x100)...
Now, 40 lessons is quite a lot, so my college has divided up the lessons into 2 classes:
Theory I : Lessons 1-20
Theory II: Lessons 21-40
Each theory class is expected to last a full semester (4 months).
I am currently enrolled in Theory I class, which ends at the end of May, but am already at Lesson 17.
At my current pace, completing all 40 lessons by then should be very doable. Especially when you consider the fact that during the duration of studying Lessons 1-17, I have also been working a 9-6 Monday-Friday (+1-hour daily bicycle commuting) job. So once I am free from said job, I will be able to dedicate myself fully to my studies.
The anticipation makes me drool!
NOTE: I actually plan on making some income in the form of freelance translation, but that hardly even qualifies as even a "part-time job."
Now, I hesitate even as I write this, because while I want to ambitious, I know the importance of setting realistic goals.
Still, I have 3 solid months from now until the end of May in order to complete 23 more lessons.
It took 1 month to reach 17 lessons, so I can calculate (even with my weak grasp of basic math) that 3 months should be more than enough time to reach this goal.
This post is to make me stay true to my word.
Let's do this.
Current Lesson - Lesson 17
Ideally, by the end of all 40 lessons, you will have a stronghold on StenEd, and can progress into the speed-building classes, where you do what you've learned so far...just much faster. And faster, and faster, and faster (x100)...
Now, 40 lessons is quite a lot, so my college has divided up the lessons into 2 classes:
Theory I : Lessons 1-20
Theory II: Lessons 21-40
Each theory class is expected to last a full semester (4 months).
I am currently enrolled in Theory I class, which ends at the end of May, but am already at Lesson 17.
At my current pace, completing all 40 lessons by then should be very doable. Especially when you consider the fact that during the duration of studying Lessons 1-17, I have also been working a 9-6 Monday-Friday (+1-hour daily bicycle commuting) job. So once I am free from said job, I will be able to dedicate myself fully to my studies.
The anticipation makes me drool!
NOTE: I actually plan on making some income in the form of freelance translation, but that hardly even qualifies as even a "part-time job."
Now, I hesitate even as I write this, because while I want to ambitious, I know the importance of setting realistic goals.
Still, I have 3 solid months from now until the end of May in order to complete 23 more lessons.
It took 1 month to reach 17 lessons, so I can calculate (even with my weak grasp of basic math) that 3 months should be more than enough time to reach this goal.
This post is to make me stay true to my word.
Let's do this.
Current Lesson - Lesson 17
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Campus Visit
As I mentioned in my last post, I actually motorcycled down to campus to not only speak with the "IT specialist" but also my class instructor.
Now, seeing as I work full-time, it is exceedingly difficult to find the time to "just zip on down" to campus, so yesterday was a rare treat.
But don't think that this post is about complaints. Yesterday's visit was actually wonderful, and very invigorating! I actually always feel chipper and excited after speaking with my instructors. They're so kind and willing to explain everything in great detail.
My first order of business was to speak with the IT specialist about getting some forms of punctuation properly entered into my Total Eclipse dictionary so that it would display properly. I find it very useful to have all my keystrokes enter correctly through the Total Eclipse's realtime program, so that I can easily glance up and see if something wasn't stroked the right way.
Even though I got to clean up a few things, Aaron (the IT guy) eventually informed me that it's actually not worth my time to groom my dictionary too meticulously this early in my studies. This was quite eyeopening for me, and I felt a little thwarted that I'd come all the way down for this, only to be told that my efforts were in vain. And by "vain," I mean there was little real substance to justify wanting to clean up my dictionary too much.
The worse bit was when he bluntly stated, "If you obsess about your dictionary at this point, you'll soon become frustrated and drop out."
That really stung, and I bristled at the words "drop out."
Hearing that just makes me want to prove them wrong so badly.
The visit wasn't a total loss, however. I did get to have my quizzes graded in front of me, while I chatted with a fellow student. This student's name is Lauren and she shared some useful tips for studying and motivation! It was a pleasure to talk with her, as it reminded me that there are others clambering through the same lessons as myself, with similar frustrations and exaltations.
Turns out that I have received 99%-100% on all of my quizzes thus far (although lesson 5 seems to have gone missing for some reason...)!
And the instructor noted that she appreciated my thoroughly written-up quizzes where I note my own mistakes and methods for fixing them. She said she liked being able to see my "thought processes," and also noted that I ask insightful questions. (squeal!)
In fact, being able to have an instructor right there in front of me made it that much easier to ask questions and get answers nearly instantaneously! I'll be spoiled!
The visit also sparked the topic of my commuting down to class at the start of April.
I'll get more into this later on...
As for my lesson progress... Just this morning, I watched through the lesson 16 video, and am pumped and primed to tackle the exercises and quiz later tonight!
Current Lesson - Lesson 16
Now, seeing as I work full-time, it is exceedingly difficult to find the time to "just zip on down" to campus, so yesterday was a rare treat.
But don't think that this post is about complaints. Yesterday's visit was actually wonderful, and very invigorating! I actually always feel chipper and excited after speaking with my instructors. They're so kind and willing to explain everything in great detail.
My first order of business was to speak with the IT specialist about getting some forms of punctuation properly entered into my Total Eclipse dictionary so that it would display properly. I find it very useful to have all my keystrokes enter correctly through the Total Eclipse's realtime program, so that I can easily glance up and see if something wasn't stroked the right way.
Even though I got to clean up a few things, Aaron (the IT guy) eventually informed me that it's actually not worth my time to groom my dictionary too meticulously this early in my studies. This was quite eyeopening for me, and I felt a little thwarted that I'd come all the way down for this, only to be told that my efforts were in vain. And by "vain," I mean there was little real substance to justify wanting to clean up my dictionary too much.
The worse bit was when he bluntly stated, "If you obsess about your dictionary at this point, you'll soon become frustrated and drop out."
That really stung, and I bristled at the words "drop out."
Hearing that just makes me want to prove them wrong so badly.
The visit wasn't a total loss, however. I did get to have my quizzes graded in front of me, while I chatted with a fellow student. This student's name is Lauren and she shared some useful tips for studying and motivation! It was a pleasure to talk with her, as it reminded me that there are others clambering through the same lessons as myself, with similar frustrations and exaltations.
Turns out that I have received 99%-100% on all of my quizzes thus far (although lesson 5 seems to have gone missing for some reason...)!
And the instructor noted that she appreciated my thoroughly written-up quizzes where I note my own mistakes and methods for fixing them. She said she liked being able to see my "thought processes," and also noted that I ask insightful questions. (squeal!)
In fact, being able to have an instructor right there in front of me made it that much easier to ask questions and get answers nearly instantaneously! I'll be spoiled!
The visit also sparked the topic of my commuting down to class at the start of April.
I'll get more into this later on...
As for my lesson progress... Just this morning, I watched through the lesson 16 video, and am pumped and primed to tackle the exercises and quiz later tonight!
Current Lesson - Lesson 16
Monday, February 25, 2013
Practicing for Numbers
Since my last post on Lesson 15's numbers, I have since passed the quiz and moved on to Lesson 16!
I was pretty nervous about Lesson 15 at first, because it seemed like there was a lot to cover, and plus there were some parts of the theory in the book that differed from what the instructors in the video were saying.
Additionally, the fact that my Total Eclipse program wasn't registering quite a few of the keystroke briefs was getting a bit annoying.
I'll actually be head down later today to speak with the college's CTR IT specialist about adapting my Total Eclipse dictionary. Should be fun!
Regarding Lesson 15 and numbers, I owe a lot of my quick practice to the following websites:
RANDOM Clock Times
RANDOM Calendar Dates
This handy-dandy sight generators a number of random clock times, calendar dates, and all sorts of things I imagine. This was particularly useful for drill practicing, just doing date after date, or clock time after clock time.
Highly recommend! I hope it helps out fellow students who just need some good grinding material.
Next up is Lesson 16, where it's a whole lot about soundalike words! Yikes!
Current Lesson - Lesson 16
I was pretty nervous about Lesson 15 at first, because it seemed like there was a lot to cover, and plus there were some parts of the theory in the book that differed from what the instructors in the video were saying.
Additionally, the fact that my Total Eclipse program wasn't registering quite a few of the keystroke briefs was getting a bit annoying.
I'll actually be head down later today to speak with the college's CTR IT specialist about adapting my Total Eclipse dictionary. Should be fun!
Regarding Lesson 15 and numbers, I owe a lot of my quick practice to the following websites:
RANDOM Clock Times
RANDOM Calendar Dates
This handy-dandy sight generators a number of random clock times, calendar dates, and all sorts of things I imagine. This was particularly useful for drill practicing, just doing date after date, or clock time after clock time.
Highly recommend! I hope it helps out fellow students who just need some good grinding material.
Next up is Lesson 16, where it's a whole lot about soundalike words! Yikes!
Current Lesson - Lesson 16
Friday, February 22, 2013
Typical Practice Routine
As the post header insinuates, I wanted to take the time to explain my typical practice routine for steno class.
Now, last night, I actually did not practice, because I was all out of sorts, but aside from this exception, I'm pretty good about practicing every day.
(And even if I didn't get on the writer, I did still practice the strokes at my desk with an imaginary one.)
Because I'm still in the midst of learning StenEd Theory, practice sessions are pretty regulated thanks greatly to the REALTIME THEORY: Lesson 1 in the StenEd Realtime, Conflict-Free Machine Shorthand Series.
That is a doozy of a name, but let me break it down for you.
Realtime: This is the practice of doing stenography where the end result is already translated into English. Thus, enabling you to read back your transcript in...realtime! Back in the day, court reporters would have to dictate from their steno notes, but with realtime, now pretty much anyone can read it--so long as your writing was clean to start with!
Conflict-Free: Also back in the day (stenography has gone through so many changes and evolutionary steps, hasn't it?), because the court reporter would be the only one reading from her notes, it was totally fine if she chose to have a chord of keystrokes mean more than one thing!
For example, if she knew for herself that "SKWR" meant "justice" and also meant "skewer," that was completely fine! She could just sort it out later based on the context. However, now that realtime is such a desirable trait (again, so that anyone can read the dictation immediately), it is vital for every single chord to have it's ONE, SINGLE meaning. Additionally, the prevalent use of CAT (computer-aided transcription) programs means that it's easier to program a single chorded keystroke to translate into anything--and often the program can even warn you if the new definition you're inputting conflicts with a preexisting entry!
Machine: This is the writer.
Shorthand: I'm surprised to find this word used rather than "stenography," which is a more academic (aka smarty-pants) term.
Anyway, this is how I typically get through each lesson:
① Read the lesson ahead of time. I usually do this at my desk during lunch, or a bit throughout the day. I'll use my imaginary writer as I practice everything.
② Watch the online video for that lesson. This helps to clear up any finger positioning that I may have wrongfully assumed, plus it's chock-full of useful steno and study tips.
③ Use the Realtime portion of the Total Eclipse program for the practice dictations, practice words, etc that are brought up during the video lesson. I also like to futz around in Realtime, experimenting with more word combinations and try piecing together what I know to actually make full sentences.
④ Listen to the audio recordings of the exercises, and practice in Realtime still.
⑤ Listen to the audio recordings of the exercises, this time in the Lesson player portion of the program. There are times where I feel more at ease just listening to the audio as I type out the lesson's exercises, rather than reading it straight from the book's copy. I think that looking at the letters is actually a bit confusing--and after all, it's more in line with the job to focus on listening.
⑥ Repeat step 5 until I've earned 98% of higher on each exercise.
⑦ Mark the date of completion in my handy-dandy time keeper binder thingy.
⑧ Practice some of the video lesson dictation again in Realtime.
⑨ Get pumped for the lesson quiz at the end of the video. This is when I set up the paper feed into my writer, because the quizzes need to be recorded and graded.
⑩ Do the quiz!!
⑪ Scan and transcribe my notes (and mark up any mistakes) and submit them to the instructors. I typically do this the next day, because I've finished the quiz at night. If I do it mid-day (like on a weekend), I'll do this step almost immediately afterwards. I don't like to do this actually, because I appreciate the challenge of having to read my notes without relying on my immediate memory.
⑫ Rinse and repeat!
The whole process sums up to about 3+ hours worth of practice per lesson.
I haven't even gotten into reviewing past lessons, but that is something that I do quite sporadically.
This weekend, however, I plan on focusing a bit more on practicing reading my steno notes (after completing lesson 15).
Current Lesson - Lesson 15
Now, last night, I actually did not practice, because I was all out of sorts, but aside from this exception, I'm pretty good about practicing every day.
(And even if I didn't get on the writer, I did still practice the strokes at my desk with an imaginary one.)
Because I'm still in the midst of learning StenEd Theory, practice sessions are pretty regulated thanks greatly to the REALTIME THEORY: Lesson 1 in the StenEd Realtime, Conflict-Free Machine Shorthand Series.
There are even more variations within the series.
All of them sport a different colored oval. Interesting choice of design...
All of them sport a different colored oval. Interesting choice of design...
Realtime: This is the practice of doing stenography where the end result is already translated into English. Thus, enabling you to read back your transcript in...realtime! Back in the day, court reporters would have to dictate from their steno notes, but with realtime, now pretty much anyone can read it--so long as your writing was clean to start with!
Conflict-Free: Also back in the day (stenography has gone through so many changes and evolutionary steps, hasn't it?), because the court reporter would be the only one reading from her notes, it was totally fine if she chose to have a chord of keystrokes mean more than one thing!
For example, if she knew for herself that "SKWR" meant "justice" and also meant "skewer," that was completely fine! She could just sort it out later based on the context. However, now that realtime is such a desirable trait (again, so that anyone can read the dictation immediately), it is vital for every single chord to have it's ONE, SINGLE meaning. Additionally, the prevalent use of CAT (computer-aided transcription) programs means that it's easier to program a single chorded keystroke to translate into anything--and often the program can even warn you if the new definition you're inputting conflicts with a preexisting entry!
Machine: This is the writer.
Shorthand: I'm surprised to find this word used rather than "stenography," which is a more academic (aka smarty-pants) term.
Anyway, this is how I typically get through each lesson:
① Read the lesson ahead of time. I usually do this at my desk during lunch, or a bit throughout the day. I'll use my imaginary writer as I practice everything.
② Watch the online video for that lesson. This helps to clear up any finger positioning that I may have wrongfully assumed, plus it's chock-full of useful steno and study tips.
③ Use the Realtime portion of the Total Eclipse program for the practice dictations, practice words, etc that are brought up during the video lesson. I also like to futz around in Realtime, experimenting with more word combinations and try piecing together what I know to actually make full sentences.
④ Listen to the audio recordings of the exercises, and practice in Realtime still.
⑤ Listen to the audio recordings of the exercises, this time in the Lesson player portion of the program. There are times where I feel more at ease just listening to the audio as I type out the lesson's exercises, rather than reading it straight from the book's copy. I think that looking at the letters is actually a bit confusing--and after all, it's more in line with the job to focus on listening.
⑥ Repeat step 5 until I've earned 98% of higher on each exercise.
⑦ Mark the date of completion in my handy-dandy time keeper binder thingy.
⑧ Practice some of the video lesson dictation again in Realtime.
⑨ Get pumped for the lesson quiz at the end of the video. This is when I set up the paper feed into my writer, because the quizzes need to be recorded and graded.
⑩ Do the quiz!!
⑪ Scan and transcribe my notes (and mark up any mistakes) and submit them to the instructors. I typically do this the next day, because I've finished the quiz at night. If I do it mid-day (like on a weekend), I'll do this step almost immediately afterwards. I don't like to do this actually, because I appreciate the challenge of having to read my notes without relying on my immediate memory.
⑫ Rinse and repeat!
The whole process sums up to about 3+ hours worth of practice per lesson.
I haven't even gotten into reviewing past lessons, but that is something that I do quite sporadically.
This weekend, however, I plan on focusing a bit more on practicing reading my steno notes (after completing lesson 15).
Current Lesson - Lesson 15
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Grades...and Numbers
I completed my lesson 14 quiz last night. Did just fine, but dropped the "EU" in one word.
Should have been "baked." Ended up as "backed."
Thankfully, my instructors have told me that so long as I catch my own mistakes, it's not really detracted from my score (?). I'm actually curious to see what this really means.
I'm so used to taking community college classes just for fun (Adv. Japanese, American Sign Language, Vietnamese...notice a pattern?), that I've never really had to worry about having good grades. Not that getting good grades has been an issue (I am the obsessive-student type), but this time around, it's a bit more "for real." If the grades were bad enough, surely I would be held back, but how is that determined? And that reminds me, how does this semester's class end? A final exam? I don't recall!
Anyhoo, I've just started number-centric lesson 15 today, and while there appears to be a lot of new material, it doesn't seem particularly hard.
(At least, not as hard as Lesson 12-13 were! Phew-boy! Those are definitely some lessons that I will have to go back to and review often!)
Lesson 15 has me learning how to input numbers, the proper order of keystrokes for three-digit numbers, time & dates, days of the week & months of the year, and plurals of numbers.
Seems like a lot, doesn't it?
Well, I'm feeling mighty confident, so I'm guessing that I'll get through it by EOD Saturday.
Current Lesson - Lesson 15
Should have been "baked." Ended up as "backed."
Thankfully, my instructors have told me that so long as I catch my own mistakes, it's not really detracted from my score (?). I'm actually curious to see what this really means.
I'm so used to taking community college classes just for fun (Adv. Japanese, American Sign Language, Vietnamese...notice a pattern?), that I've never really had to worry about having good grades. Not that getting good grades has been an issue (I am the obsessive-student type), but this time around, it's a bit more "for real." If the grades were bad enough, surely I would be held back, but how is that determined? And that reminds me, how does this semester's class end? A final exam? I don't recall!
Someone's spidey-senses are tingling with those numbers.
Anyhoo, I've just started number-centric lesson 15 today, and while there appears to be a lot of new material, it doesn't seem particularly hard.
(At least, not as hard as Lesson 12-13 were! Phew-boy! Those are definitely some lessons that I will have to go back to and review often!)
Lesson 15 has me learning how to input numbers, the proper order of keystrokes for three-digit numbers, time & dates, days of the week & months of the year, and plurals of numbers.
Seems like a lot, doesn't it?
Well, I'm feeling mighty confident, so I'm guessing that I'll get through it by EOD Saturday.
Current Lesson - Lesson 15
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Inspirational Quotes (part 1)
Imgur has got to be the best and worst thing I've come across in the past year.
It's both a blackhole for passive (sometimes stupid) entertainment, but also a treasure-trove of inspirations.
As embarrassed as I am to admit it, it's even how I sometimes keep up with the news!
My typical routine starts off at the WTF section for my daily gross-out fix, before drifting into the main page.
There are more /___ sections than you can shake a stick at, and I'm sure that I'll add them to my repertoire eventually. But for now, WTF does the trick.
Some of my favorite posts, however, are the inspirational quotes.
I've decided to share a few with you, starting with this one:
This one is really hitting home with me lately.
Namely, because it's what I've come against with deciding to pursue court reporting.
I'll get more into this in a few weeks...
For now, what kinds of things have you put on hold, insisting that you'll have the time/energy/freedom to do it later?
Current Lesson -- Lesson 14
It's both a blackhole for passive (sometimes stupid) entertainment, but also a treasure-trove of inspirations.
As embarrassed as I am to admit it, it's even how I sometimes keep up with the news!
My typical routine starts off at the WTF section for my daily gross-out fix, before drifting into the main page.
There are more /___ sections than you can shake a stick at, and I'm sure that I'll add them to my repertoire eventually. But for now, WTF does the trick.
Some of my favorite posts, however, are the inspirational quotes.
I've decided to share a few with you, starting with this one:
The most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending
your life not doing what you want on the bet that you
can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.
This one is really hitting home with me lately.
Namely, because it's what I've come against with deciding to pursue court reporting.
I'll get more into this in a few weeks...
For now, what kinds of things have you put on hold, insisting that you'll have the time/energy/freedom to do it later?
Current Lesson -- Lesson 14
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Funny Lines
So, for anyone who has gone through StenEd theory, you'll know that there are quite a few times when funny practice lines or phrases come up.
There are only so many words we know at this point (up through Lesson 12-13), so they have to get a bit creative!
So far, here are just a few that made me chuckle out loud:
All of them have the look of doom.
Jill felt the yapping dog nip her leg.
And here are some short words/phrases that always get my mind in the gutter:
hot stuff
shaft
jerk
What other hilarious little gems have you found in your theory books?
There are only so many words we know at this point (up through Lesson 12-13), so they have to get a bit creative!
So far, here are just a few that made me chuckle out loud:
All of them have the look of doom.
Jill felt the yapping dog nip her leg.
And here are some short words/phrases that always get my mind in the gutter:
hot stuff
shaft
jerk
What other hilarious little gems have you found in your theory books?
Monday, February 18, 2013
Funny Lines a la Me (or What Practice Looks Like)
So, I was futzing around while watching the Lesson 12 online video, and wound up with a few pages full of some pretty goofy stuff.
WARNING: Some cuss words ahead.
head built tough heart guard dead learn tough touch tush SHEURly she is odd
and U and I. Awe awe awe awe taut walk talk cock suck my cock. Caulk the chalk. I was taught call me.
I saw it. The bird said KAU! I H-F you.
I saw it coming all the time. OU OU I am going downtown.
AaOEU OEU. The boy is dead. Boy toy toys are gone. He is so loud! The moon is large. Zoo zoom, zoom! Spoon lick the spoon. Fuck the moon. I am going to zoom to the moon. Quit zooming in the room. So... Much blood. I ear mite might tune tune tune tune eat eat eat eat all bout boy cool all bout boy cool
chalk cloud choice door gloom AOE eat glean gleam bus as I was squatting, the cat licked me. Cause I joined the cause. Have the clause in the thing is dead? Loose the noose. TPHOZ. Town void sound soil fraud. Crowd. School. Booze. Ploy. Loose. Mood. Cause. Loud. Coil. Coiling door. Dooring took. Doubt. Pawn. Chow. Sauce. Hot sauce. Scouted. Voice. Ouch join. Down loot the pan. Spoiled kid. Room. Brow. Claw. Off. Noise. Cook. Cook in the pan.
Sun her son is smart. The sun is shining. My son will be glad. That the is not a knot. The KAU is in bred. I eat bread. I breed many dogs. I love you, not! The bread is in the fridge. Eat it! ED is bed I TPRAOER. TPAOR far fare fare fear fear fear fear fear the reap -R.
Sent cent scent scent SKR-PBT scent scent scent scent SKREBT scent scent scent scent scent
the dogs picked up the scent. The boy kicked the ball and then started bawling. I kids are singing. And the bells are ringing. All the bells are ringing in my head. Scent. Her scent has some odd stuff in it. The sum of the parts is hard to have. Not me. I am not a knot. Knot the tie. I went to the mall and was mauled by the mad dogs. I will be dead in a day. Mate with the dog!
I want to go on a date with him. Date day time tie tide. Boot boot tool tool tune tune hate hate mate name name. Need need need immediate immediate meet meet feed feed. Tie AOEU Hal the in the hall all the time give Hal a gift. Mark mark the board. Mark is a tool. The mall is full of tool tools. Tell your dog not to maul my cat. Ball bawling kids are so bad. Bad a thing thin thin I pulled the wire taut, butt then I taught the kids. I want to teach tee tee tea tea AOE AOE AOE tee tee tee tee tee AOE tee PHAOE meet meet meet mate mate mate mate mate mate mate me. P-PLDZ P-LZ P-LZ. PHR-Z PHR-Z PHR-Z I call foul with the fowl. Our house is in the hour. The hour is nigh. The course is quite coarse. My house is large, you bitch. The course has a lot of dumb stuff. The quartz is coarse. Of course, my dear. Dear me O my! Wood, would you? Eat my hot, large wood. Yum!
Blouse. Couch. Blood. Good. Caught. Frau. Choice. Oil. Brook. Choose. Small. Talk. Spoil. Joint. Sprawl. Hound. Booze. Ground. Voice.
As you can see, it's a lot of practice with the dipthong volumes, and some long vowels.
I'm tackling Lesson 13 today, and I want to ace it!
WARNING: Some cuss words ahead.
head built tough heart guard dead learn tough touch tush SHEURly she is odd
and U and I. Awe awe awe awe taut walk talk cock suck my cock. Caulk the chalk. I was taught call me.
I saw it. The bird said KAU! I H-F you.
I saw it coming all the time. OU OU I am going downtown.
AaOEU OEU. The boy is dead. Boy toy toys are gone. He is so loud! The moon is large. Zoo zoom, zoom! Spoon lick the spoon. Fuck the moon. I am going to zoom to the moon. Quit zooming in the room. So... Much blood. I ear mite might tune tune tune tune eat eat eat eat all bout boy cool all bout boy cool
chalk cloud choice door gloom AOE eat glean gleam bus as I was squatting, the cat licked me. Cause I joined the cause. Have the clause in the thing is dead? Loose the noose. TPHOZ. Town void sound soil fraud. Crowd. School. Booze. Ploy. Loose. Mood. Cause. Loud. Coil. Coiling door. Dooring took. Doubt. Pawn. Chow. Sauce. Hot sauce. Scouted. Voice. Ouch join. Down loot the pan. Spoiled kid. Room. Brow. Claw. Off. Noise. Cook. Cook in the pan.
Sun her son is smart. The sun is shining. My son will be glad. That the is not a knot. The KAU is in bred. I eat bread. I breed many dogs. I love you, not! The bread is in the fridge. Eat it! ED is bed I TPRAOER. TPAOR far fare fare fear fear fear fear fear the reap -R.
Sent cent scent scent SKR-PBT scent scent scent scent SKREBT scent scent scent scent scent
the dogs picked up the scent. The boy kicked the ball and then started bawling. I kids are singing. And the bells are ringing. All the bells are ringing in my head. Scent. Her scent has some odd stuff in it. The sum of the parts is hard to have. Not me. I am not a knot. Knot the tie. I went to the mall and was mauled by the mad dogs. I will be dead in a day. Mate with the dog!
I want to go on a date with him. Date day time tie tide. Boot boot tool tool tune tune hate hate mate name name. Need need need immediate immediate meet meet feed feed. Tie AOEU Hal the in the hall all the time give Hal a gift. Mark mark the board. Mark is a tool. The mall is full of tool tools. Tell your dog not to maul my cat. Ball bawling kids are so bad. Bad a thing thin thin I pulled the wire taut, butt then I taught the kids. I want to teach tee tee tea tea AOE AOE AOE tee tee tee tee tee AOE tee PHAOE meet meet meet mate mate mate mate mate mate mate me. P-PLDZ P-LZ P-LZ. PHR-Z PHR-Z PHR-Z I call foul with the fowl. Our house is in the hour. The hour is nigh. The course is quite coarse. My house is large, you bitch. The course has a lot of dumb stuff. The quartz is coarse. Of course, my dear. Dear me O my! Wood, would you? Eat my hot, large wood. Yum!
Blouse. Couch. Blood. Good. Caught. Frau. Choice. Oil. Brook. Choose. Small. Talk. Spoil. Joint. Sprawl. Hound. Booze. Ground. Voice.
As you can see, it's a lot of practice with the dipthong volumes, and some long vowels.
I'm tackling Lesson 13 today, and I want to ace it!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Good Advice for Practice
In an earlier post, I talked about how I enjoyed mixing up the old and new words together, rather than mulling through the same set of random words again and again and again...
Well, you can imagine how surprised and relieved I was to find that I'm not the only one who agrees!
Well, you can imagine how surprised and relieved I was to find that I'm not the only one who agrees!
Jenni of Court Reporting Bound and Determined wrote up a wonderful blog post about this very thing.
I've only written up the section that really out to me:
Most of this repetition practice should be on the forms as they occur naturally in connected matter. The repetition of isolate forms for more than five times consecutively is not in accord with modern pedagogy. Scientifically graded connected matter has supplanted the isolated form.
So by golly, if something written in 1916 agrees, it must be a tried-and-true method!
Here's to steady practice.
I've only written up the section that really out to me:
Most of this repetition practice should be on the forms as they occur naturally in connected matter. The repetition of isolate forms for more than five times consecutively is not in accord with modern pedagogy. Scientifically graded connected matter has supplanted the isolated form.
So by golly, if something written in 1916 agrees, it must be a tried-and-true method!
Here's to steady practice.
Friday, February 15, 2013
My Machine, My Baby
On more than one occasion, I've heard court reporters referring to their machines as their babies. Or that it's very important to look at their write LIKE IT IS a baby. Devotion, familiarity, and care are all key to "becoming one" with your machine--and eventually, enabling you to work your CTR magic on it.
When I first realized that I'd have to get my own steno equipment, I immediately jumped onto Craigslist.
Why? Because first and foremost, I'm pretty gosh darn cheap. And second, ex-steno students appear to be quite common. (I heard elsewhere that the drop-out rate for steno students is around 92%!!)
To test this theory, I just popped on Craiglist right now and BEHOLD--I found a handful of posts for students selling their old equipment. Rarely has anyone ever sold only part of a set, they're usually trying to get rid of the entire thing--writer, cables, books, etc...
I actually still have the original post where I found my current machine:
Aaw, memories.
I am selling a used Stentura 200 SRT steno machine, Real time court reporting dictionary, and real time court reporting student CAT software. I have never used the CAT software has everything you need to get started for real time. The Stentura 200 SRT was used for a year. I changed my major, there is nothing wrong with this machine.
Asking $300
Please call XXXXXXXXXXXXXX ask for XXX
Goo-goo, motherf***ers.
When I first realized that I'd have to get my own steno equipment, I immediately jumped onto Craigslist.
Why? Because first and foremost, I'm pretty gosh darn cheap. And second, ex-steno students appear to be quite common. (I heard elsewhere that the drop-out rate for steno students is around 92%!!)
To test this theory, I just popped on Craiglist right now and BEHOLD--I found a handful of posts for students selling their old equipment. Rarely has anyone ever sold only part of a set, they're usually trying to get rid of the entire thing--writer, cables, books, etc...
I actually still have the original post where I found my current machine:
Aaw, memories.
Court reporting Steno Machine - $300 (stockton)
Date: 2012-12-05, 7:45PM PST
Reply to: see belowI am selling a used Stentura 200 SRT steno machine, Real time court reporting dictionary, and real time court reporting student CAT software. I have never used the CAT software has everything you need to get started for real time. The Stentura 200 SRT was used for a year. I changed my major, there is nothing wrong with this machine.
Asking $300
Please call XXXXXXXXXXXXXX ask for XXX
- Location: stockton
- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID:3458619059
It was thanks to this very generous seller that I was able to procure nearly all my beginning-student materials.
All of the equipment has gone along quite swimmingly, save for the matter of the cables. But I'm sure you already remember my earlier post about that.
So far, things are going well, although I am still trying to figure out how to make the keystrokes shallower. They feel quite deep right now, and I think it would be beneficial to have less pounding, more swift striking.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
So far, things are going well, although I am still trying to figure out how to make the keystrokes shallower. They feel quite deep right now, and I think it would be beneficial to have less pounding, more swift striking.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Equipment: Cables
(con't from "Equipment: Writer")
This section will focus on the cables, which I found to give me the biggest headache.
I am a self-proclaimed neanderthal when it comes to technology, so I shouldn't be surprised.
First, a brief summary:
② cables
You might be thinking, "Cables? What kind of cables? Does it have ESPN?"
Well, by "cables," people typically mean the cables/cords that will connect your writer to a computer. They allow a computer program to relay the writer keystrokes into a program, and can even translate it into a readable English form!
Because writers are so often dependent on ancient serial ports...
...you need some newfangled USB-serial adapters to make the connection.
This really does feel counter-intuitive to have so many writers still rely on this format if serial ports are being phased out. However, I have noticed a very new writer called the LightSpeed, which does not rely on serial ports in order to connect to the computer.
Just check out the link and prepare to be amazed.
Super-shallow keys?
USB connection?
This is the future, people! Just gazing it makes me sour a bit over my current machine. But I understand that like all things, baby-steps are vital, so there is good reason for having started with my current writer. (Plus, the $3K+ price tag on the LightSpeed would make any person hesitate.)
Still, this post is about the cables, not writers.
I'd like to explain a little bit about the trials and tribulations I had when it came to getting "hooked up"...
When you are purchasing your writer + cables + program + computer, you must make sure that they are all compatible. (Why, it's a regular rainbow of parts!)
Don't worry, this doesn't mean random trial-and-error. There are plenty of people in the steno community who are very much willing to help you figure it out. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Unfortunately, I hadn't yet discovered the treasure-trove of information online, so I had to find salvation with West Valley's instructors and IT professionals.
All of the aforementioned parts (except for the computer) were obtained through Craigslist by the same seller, so I was certain that it was all a done deal. Of course the writer would work the cables, and of course they would all hook onto my laptop without a hitch, and of course the wonderful free drill program the school provided would work perfectly.
Alas, it was not to be.
The first problem was that the USB-serial port adapter cable did not come with a correct driver for my laptop. And no, I'm not talking about this kind of driver (although I did feel like it for a time):
I mean this innocent-looking thing:
This section will focus on the cables, which I found to give me the biggest headache.
I am a self-proclaimed neanderthal when it comes to technology, so I shouldn't be surprised.
First, a brief summary:
② cables
You might be thinking, "Cables? What kind of cables? Does it have ESPN?"
Well, by "cables," people typically mean the cables/cords that will connect your writer to a computer. They allow a computer program to relay the writer keystrokes into a program, and can even translate it into a readable English form!
Because writers are so often dependent on ancient serial ports...
You shall not...CONNECT
...you need some newfangled USB-serial adapters to make the connection.
This really does feel counter-intuitive to have so many writers still rely on this format if serial ports are being phased out. However, I have noticed a very new writer called the LightSpeed, which does not rely on serial ports in order to connect to the computer.
Just check out the link and prepare to be amazed.
Yes, this is what it does in its spare time.
Super-shallow keys?
USB connection?
This is the future, people! Just gazing it makes me sour a bit over my current machine. But I understand that like all things, baby-steps are vital, so there is good reason for having started with my current writer. (Plus, the $3K+ price tag on the LightSpeed would make any person hesitate.)
Still, this post is about the cables, not writers.
I'd like to explain a little bit about the trials and tribulations I had when it came to getting "hooked up"...
When you are purchasing your writer + cables + program + computer, you must make sure that they are all compatible. (Why, it's a regular rainbow of parts!)
Don't worry, this doesn't mean random trial-and-error. There are plenty of people in the steno community who are very much willing to help you figure it out. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Unfortunately, I hadn't yet discovered the treasure-trove of information online, so I had to find salvation with West Valley's instructors and IT professionals.
All of the aforementioned parts (except for the computer) were obtained through Craigslist by the same seller, so I was certain that it was all a done deal. Of course the writer would work the cables, and of course they would all hook onto my laptop without a hitch, and of course the wonderful free drill program the school provided would work perfectly.
Alas, it was not to be.
I mean this innocent-looking thing:
Yeah, I'm looking at you, blue disc of death!
Wipe off that goofy grin!
The above image makes it look like the driver and cable go hand-in-hand, are attached at the hip, like two peas in a pod! More witty idioms!
Well, for whatever reason, that driver CD refused to properly spin to life on my laptop, and the USB-serial port adapter cable ended up useless.
That was a fresh $20 out of pocket to purchase a new adapter cable, complete with handy-dandy driver CD.
But I wasn't out of the woods yet...
Next on my list of things to tackle was getting a theory program installed onto my laptop that my writer could actually connect to. The school was kind enough to hook me up with a retro-rrific theory drill program, but once everything was hooked up...it didn't work.
Thus, out came the wallet. This time, I put down a fat $100 for the Total Eclipse program. There were toll-free numbers to call, key codes to write down, and some more time spent with the steno IT guru, but it did eventually work.
I was just -$120 than when I originally started.
I know this post probably sounds like I was peeved out of my mind, but now that I'm past that point, and onto actually using the writer + cables + program + computer as intended, so I'm very happy with it!
So before you allow yourself to get all hooked up getting...hooked up, take a moment to consult with the myriad of other students and professionals in the field who have gone through the exact same thing.
Hopefully, this information can help save a student a little bit o' headache and a whole lotta cash.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Equipment: Writer
Equipment is always a very popular topic when it comes to steno students (and professionals alike), and there's pretty good reason for it!
There are a LOT of options to consider out there.
In fact, it's pretty damn overwhelming at first.
This isn't a line of work where there are conveniently only one or two options out there--just are there isn't only one kind of theory! ...But that's for another time.
It seems crazy to me now, but I try to think of it as like a scuba diver who may be trying to purchase her equipment. There are several brands for wetsuits, BCs, tanks, flippers... the list goes on and on!
The scuba diver will recognize that all brands have value, so it's all about finding the set of equipment that best fits you! Or in some cases, best fits the class that you are attending.
WARNING: I am still very new to the field, so my knowledge is quite limited. Just imagine me saying "In my limited experience, I've found that..." or "From what I gather..." before pretty much every opinionated statement.
The average steno student will require the following:
① steno writer
This is the machine designed with a special keyboard layout to allow one to learn a stenography theory.
Steno writers can come in two forms--Manual and Electronic.
Manual means that you can only write onto paper, while electronic means that you can hook into a computer, through the use of cables, and write in steno programs.
In the professional world, paperless writers appear to have taken over the landscape--no ifs, ands, or buts.
But for us students, it's still key to be able to read the steno notes "raw"--and that can be more effectively done (?) through the use of paper.
It's like art students looking back at the classics. It's not outdated. It's the past that allowed the present to be.
There are a LOT of options to consider out there.
In fact, it's pretty damn overwhelming at first.
This isn't a line of work where there are conveniently only one or two options out there--just are there isn't only one kind of theory! ...But that's for another time.
It seems crazy to me now, but I try to think of it as like a scuba diver who may be trying to purchase her equipment. There are several brands for wetsuits, BCs, tanks, flippers... the list goes on and on!
The scuba diver will recognize that all brands have value, so it's all about finding the set of equipment that best fits you! Or in some cases, best fits the class that you are attending.
WARNING: I am still very new to the field, so my knowledge is quite limited. Just imagine me saying "In my limited experience, I've found that..." or "From what I gather..." before pretty much every opinionated statement.
The average steno student will require the following:
① steno writer
This is the machine designed with a special keyboard layout to allow one to learn a stenography theory.
Steno writers can come in two forms--Manual and Electronic.
Manual means that you can only write onto paper, while electronic means that you can hook into a computer, through the use of cables, and write in steno programs.
In the professional world, paperless writers appear to have taken over the landscape--no ifs, ands, or buts.
But for us students, it's still key to be able to read the steno notes "raw"--and that can be more effectively done (?) through the use of paper.
It's like art students looking back at the classics. It's not outdated. It's the past that allowed the present to be.
Here's a nice sample of what your writing will look like on good old ink and paper.
This was my Lesson 7 quiz.
Personally, I have a Stentura 200SRT, which allows for both paper and computer usage.
I'll talk more about my machine later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)