personal data logging
Paper, pen, color pencil
Right away, we had an assignment. For 24 hours we had to log a personal data upon our choice in an analog way. Then analyze the dataset and find a way to perform it in front of the class.
So, as a start, I made a mindmap about obvious personal data types. I listed vital signs, movements and emotions/expressions. I found the elements on the list a little bit obvious, and too scientifical. I thought of them, came up with examples, but for almost all cases I found reference projects or apps that already log these data. Also, I think these are quite universal personal data.
I wanted to be personal at a higher level and thought of an issue that has been on my mind. That is the variety of languages that I communicate in. Charles IV. of Hungary (Charles I. of Austria) used to say “the many languages you speak, the many personalities you have”. This is something I experience a lot these days, using simultaneously three -three and a half if we separate German and Swiss German- languages on a daily basis. I started to reflect a couple of weeks ago already how my feelings change when I switch from one to another in speech. As we only had 24 hours a, I focused on the chat apps and platforms I use to communicate. I didn’t force myself to write when it is not needed, I tried to stick to my daily routine in terms of texting.
At the end of the 24 hours I collected the texts that I sent and saved them by language in separate google docs. What I observed, is that in written communication it is easier for me to change as I don’t have such pressure to reply at once. In Hungarian, as it is my mother tongue, I am really spontaneous, if I read back my conversations it sounds like a normal, spoken conversation. As I am quick, I tend to make more mistakes in spelling. I use a lot of abbreviation, some of them are used in general, some of them I made up and they are understood by people I chat a lot with. I don’t feel any pressure when writing in Hungarian, I know I can express myself and I understand any context. By playing with words, I can make the chat partner be aware of my current state of mind. In English, the situation is similar, still, I put more thinking before tapping on the send button. I also write longer lines, full sentences and however I react fast, I keep my thoughts organized. I feel comfortable communicating in English as I have trust in my knowledge, also in the autocorrect algorithms ;) German gives me hard time though. However, I understand a lot, expressing myself is sort of a pain. My German personality aims for the precision that comes from the cultural stereotype of Germans. I put a lot of thinking into each sentence, and I often double check the correctness with google translate. In my German chats, I write almost like mini e-mails. I feel humble and insecure often when I tap on the first letters of my message.
These reflections are quite hard to perform so I wanted to find a catchy but easier way to show my data. Apart from feelings, the question or more like a problematics that I think of quite often is that I live in a country where people speak Swissgerman around me, I mostly use English here and of course, my “family&friends” language is still Hungarian. Does my usage of languages suggest affiliation? Am I integrated into my new home, am I still stuck in my home country or have I grown into a cosmopolitan? I could think about it for long hours, no time for that. In this case, numbers could be helpful.
What I simply did is that I counted how many words I’ve written in the 3 languages and calculated the proportions in which I use them. Then I looked for a short piece of structured text that I can map the proportions on. I wanted to keep the context of texts/speaking/languages. I couldn’t think of ways to represent my data with abstractions. I didn’t want to do diagrams or so. I thought of poems that are translated into all three languages. A friend of mine suggested Shakespeare, as translators never get bored with his work. I picked a random sonnet and I applied the percentages to lines.
My performance ended up being short, as what I did is read out loud in front of class Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare- 9 lines in Hungarian, 4 lines in German and 1 line English.
