Inching toward my goal

As many of you know, my goal is to achieve at least 70 words per minute by the end of October and 80 words per minute by the end of November. To be honest, I don't know if these are lofty goals or not. I guess I'll know by the end of November.

To gauge my speed, I took a home test the other day. What I mean by "home test" is that I selected a 5-minute audio take in RealTime Coach at 75 wpm and then transcribed my notes the same as if I were in speed class. I try to make it as realistic as possible. At 75 wpm, I graded myself at 72% accuracy. I guess that's not too bad for 75 wpm. This weekend, I'll be giving myself several 70 wpm home tests to see if I've hit my goal. Cross your fingers and pray for 97% accuracy!

As a side note: I took another 80 wpm test in speed class tonight. I waited for the instructor to grade the test before I went home. She didn't give me an accuracy percentage, just the number of words that I missed. It wasn't very good; but, then again, I didn't expect it to be. What I did learn, however, was that I have a tendency to skip the word "that". I missed it completely seven or eight times throughout the dictation. I also typed the word "the" instead of "that". And I typed the contraction "that's" instead of "that is". It must be one of those words that my ear just doesn't hear. Well, I learned something new tonight.

Don't take your theory for granted

Wednesday night's class was a bit of an eye opener. I was writing with ease and had planned to transcribe the 80 words per minute test given at the end of every class. Knowing that I had given myself tests at home at 75 words per minute and transcribed them with 72% accuracy, 80 words per minute seemed doable. True, I wasn't going to get anywhere near the 97% accuracy needed to pass the test, but I think I could have achieved a decent showing.

So all was well until the instructor started dictating the test. Numbers! She's dictating numbers?!? Crap! When was the last time I worked on numbers? Then I started to confuse the endings -LESS and -NESS. And when was the last time I worked on -OLOGIST? Once again, my brain locked up and I was missing great chunks of dictation. Breathe, girl, breathe ~ you can do this ~ get your rhythm back! Nope, that ain't going to happen tonight. Neither is transcribing this test.

What went wrong? I was doing so well. Obviously, I don't know my theory as well as I should. I grabbed my theory book when I got home and started to mark all of the chapters that I need to review. I've marked eight chapters so far. But this is a good thing. I needed a wake-up call. I'm going to get back to basics, slow down and take some time to review my theory. I need to nip these problems in the bud now. Theory is the foundation that everything else is built upon, right? I'll never have the confidence I need, if I don't have a strong foundation in theory.

Adjusting speeds in Windows Media Player

I may be the last person on earth to discover this, but did you know that you can adjust the speed of your MP3 audio takes in Windows Media Player? It comes in handy for court reporters who want to adjust the speed of their MP3 audio takes.

Here's how you do it:

1. Open your MP3 in Windows Media Player.

2. Click on "Now Playing" to drop down the menu bar.

3. Click on "Enhancements" to drop down another menu Bar.

4. Select "Play Speed Settings".

5. Now you'll be able to see an area at the bottom of your Media Player which will allow you to select the speed you want.

6. Simply grab the little marker on the slide bar and move it to the right or left depending on the speed you're looking for.

I wish I learned this trick months ago. Now I can challenge myself with lists of briefs, phrases, and other audio that has become too slow for me!

More commonly used words

Every steno student has studied, practiced and memorized the 100 most commonly used words in the spoken English language, right? Well, I've found an interesting list of the most commonly used words in printed material through W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center's website. It's slightly different than what you're used to seeing since it's for published material and not the spoken word. It's ranked in order of use and is excellent practice material. I've printed out each page and placed it on my typing stand. That's a total of 1,000 words that I'm going to use for my daily drills. If I can get these words to fall naturally under my fingers without hesitation, my speedbuilding classes will be a helluva lot more fun!

Here are the links if you're interested:

First 100 most commonly used words

Second 100 most commonly used words

Third 100 most commonly used words

Fourth 100 most commonly used words

Fifth 100 most commonly used words

Sixth 100 most commonly used words

Seventh 100 most commonly used words

Eighth 100 most commonly used words

Ninth 100 most commonly used words

Tenth 100 most commonly used words

Getting my groove back

Well, I'm finally starting to relax in speed class. I know this may sound trivial, but simply moving to another desk has helped. During the first few classes, I was sitting front and center. Everyone was staring at the back of my head. I had to careen around whenever another student was talking - or be rude and just stare forward at the whiteboard. So I moved to a desk on the right side of the classroom and rotated sideways so I can see everyone.

Also, I no longer freak out and panic when the instructor reads at 100 words per minute. I simply write what I can and jump ahead when I need to. Thankfully, she doesn't ask us to read back our notes at that speed. That would be torture.

At the end of every class we take an 80 wpm quiz. Those students who want to transcribe their notes do so. Since I'm still writing at 60 wpm, it seems senseless for me to transcribe my notes at this point. My goal is to be at 70 wpm by the end of October, and 80 wpm by the end of November. Sigh . . . I feel like I'm in control again.

Just for Grins

I was browsing through the latest JCR magazine this afternoon and noticed the Just for Grins page where court reporters send in their funny transcript excerpts.

I thought I'd share a couple of them here:

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO BE ONE, TOO?

Q. You still use a calculator with your right hand?
A. Yes, and the computer keyboard, I'm not a full typer,
I'm just a pecker.
Q. Your words, not mine.

WHAT A JOB!

THE COURT: Ma'am, are you employed?
PROSPECTIVE JUROR: Yes, I am.
THE COURT: What type of work do you do?
PROSPECTIVE JUROR: CPA for a plant in Monroe.
THE COURT: Thank you. Are you married?
PROSPECTIVE JUROR: Yes.
THE COURT: What type of work does your spouse do?
PROSPECTIVE JUROR: He passes gas for a living.
(Short period of silence)
THE COURT: I'm just so excited my six-year-old has a future.
(Prospective jurors and spectators roaring with laughter)
PROSPECTIVE JUROR: He markets natural gas.
THE COURT: Again, I'm happy about that.
PROSPECTIVE JUROR: Residentially and commercially.
THE COURT: That has to be a fun one at parties.
PROSPECTIVE JUROR: Yes, it is.