Challenges of Learning Sign Language
Thursday August 28, 2008
A few weeks ago, I blogged the question, "Is Learning Sign Language Too Hard?" Many people responded, and selected comments have been included in the new article, "Challenges of Learning Sign Language." Just because a person is deaf doesn't mean that they will take to American Sign Language like a duck takes to water...
Comments
My biggest challenges with learning ASL is fingerspelling and numbers. My fingerspelling is okay ,but I have a hard time reading it and also reading numbers from other ASL users. I am currently enrolled in CCBC Catonsville for the Interpreter Preparation Program an dthis is my second time taking the fingerspelling and number use class. Does anyone have any pointers.
One of my teachers told me to help with finger spelling fluidity don’t spell letter by letter, Spell by syllable. The reason for this is that your mind has already broken a word up into syllables to be able to pronounce it so it is not extra work.
E.g. try – salutation
letter by letter :s-a-l-u-t-a-t-i-o-n
syllable: sal-u-tat-ion
Try both ways. It is not going to make you perfect but it helps build your fingerspelling ability.
Keep on signing. One day that pah! moment will hit you.
Nota
My stepson and his wife are both deaf. Over the last 13 years I have discovered a few trends:
I can hold a conversation with their friends better than with them. I think that their friends view me as a non-native speaker, converse at a slower pace and use more signs than finger spelling. My kids are more relaxed with me, so they sign faster than I can absorb, especially if emotions are involved.
I am not visually based; I work as an engineer in abstracts rather than tangibles. Finger spelling is a 3 part process for me: I have to recognize the letter, assemble the word and then recognize the word. Signs are much easier for me to recognize, yet I have notice a trend of more finger spelling than signs. In particular I am rarely “taught” new signs, they just fingerspell instead.
Even as I speak, I pause to consider what I am going to say rather than blurt out words. This pause is an invitation for a deaf person to continue their part of the conversation. In a crowd, where everyone if “fighting for attention” I am quickly on the outside of the conversation.
I am really not interested in social niceties and “empty speak.” In the hearing world people just think that I am quiet, reserved. In the deaf world, people think that I am not interested or ignorant.
In closing, it does not matter if ASL is easy or hard to learn. The motivation to communicate supersedes the frustration or effort required to learn. For the important conversations I prefer instant messengers. I much prefer written communication to spoken or signed.
I found that learning ASL has been very easy for me. I have difficulty with finding a College that has an Interpreter Preparation Program near me. I live in Pennsvlvania, and don’t want to go away to college. Can anyone help me? It would be much appreciated.
I have just spent 14 months doing both level 1 and level 2 BSL. After completing level 1 in just 6 months my tutor was impressed and asked if i would like to do level 2. I said i would give it a go and have really enjoyed doing it. I seem to have picked it up quickly and have made quite a few deaf friends from doing this. Eventually i would like to become an interpreter but lets see what the future holds…
Where to start…I’m not deaf or at least…For now I am deaf in one ear because of an inflamed eardrum which may leave me hearing impaired. At the beginning of last year, I did a Co-op at an old school of mine. It’s a school for the deaf, blind and for people with learning disabilities.
When I first started out I had to work with the deaf but couldn’t really understand them. We came up with a solution which helped me a lot.
I am visually impaired so things are a little more complicated for me, so I have to use two-hands manual whenever once speaks very fats or I cannot see their signing.
Try it with your kids. Have them hold your hands and do the signs on your body and when they fingerspell, have them do the tactile alphabet (hold your palm up flat and have them do a letter against it)this helped me a lot and I’m going back again this year to wish them all a Merry Christmas.
What, if any, are your experiences with teaching a hearing child ASL? I have a grandson who needs it and school will not provide it.
in response to Donna’s post. — It’s not as simple as just asking the school to provide it. It could be a lengthy process. But be persistint. I would assume that there is a valid reason you feel your grandson needs to learn ASL, you need to prove that to the school.You also need evaluations,a case manager on the child study team, doctors & a speech therapist who will back you up.
If you would like to share more details. I wouldn’t mind sharing my experiences with you.
All the best–
LD
Im a freshmen in college and im taking asl classes. Its really fun. Weve been doing the basics right now fingerspelling, weather, numbers(only to 10) and some colors. Im HOH, and my sister rachel is 90% hearing loss.
Try using PIDT to text with one hand. PIDT is an alternative to fingerspelling. PIDT is used for texting with one hand. PIDT only has six gestures and they are comprised of bending one or all fingers.