Sunday will probably be my last test group, at least for a while. Assuming that everyone shows up both today and Sunday, I’ll have data from six groups to crunch before I go back to PSU for the fall semester. This is basically one transcription and one mapping a week until then- which is very achievable as long as I don’t fall behind. Now that I’ve finished the first transcript and started on my second, I notice how easy it is to switch from feeling like your getting somewhere, to feeling like you’re playing the same five seconds of your life over and over in a time warp. Then once things start moving again you go back to feeling accomplished. It’s certainly an odd dichotomy to work with, but I’m happy to be settling into a routine.

Another unforseen element of processing data are my German listen skills. This may seem like a no brainer, but the way in which transcripts are helping me improve is interesting. Just like native speakers of any language, Germans don’t speak German perfectly. Instead of ‘um’, they use ‘ahm’, and of course they’re happy to change the course of a sentence mid-speech if needed. Recognizing when someone just misspoke verses when someone used a word that I’m unfamiliar with is a challenge, but definitely a beneficial one. Has anyone else who’s been transcribing noticed any other weird learning opportunities?