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.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)