Originally Posted by truesign

I'm sorry. This is my first time posting here but everything I have read so far is an ongoing issue. My wife is deaf and I have been with her for 3 years. I taught myself sign at first online at asl.com. I then followed up with a few courses. However, everyone is getting this big misconception of sign. I was taught by the only Sign Language certified teacher in New Jersey. I see all these talks about ASL vs. English and a lot of people don't realize that ASL is English. If you take a look at old videos from Gallaudet University or even watch "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter", they show word for word signing. Not these "signs" we see today. A lot of deaf say that that is their way of communicating and to leave it alone. These radical deaf people are the kind that are screwing everything up for the others. Using todays form of ASL between deaf people is fully understandable. But "terps" begin using that in formal settings and that screws everthing up. That's why the education level of deaf kids these days are very low. The whole structure of signing is falling apart and its sad because that is the only means of communication for a lot of people. Its going to get to the point where deaf people won't be able to understand each other. "Terps" use their actions to keep the interests of deaf people. Those are gestures, not signs. True sign language has a sign for practically every word in the English language. That's how sign language was originally developed. There are 4 ways of English communication. You have oral, written, sign, and braille. People saying that sign is a completely different language are ridiculous. That's like saying braille is a different language. And ASL is not deaf culture so please don't bring that up. Deaf culture originated with word for word signing. I am not speaking of SEE signs. As a matter of fact, Stokoe signed word for word before he made up SEE signs. I have no problem with deaf people contracting ASL to make it easier to communicate between themselves, its when it goes into a formal environment and being handed off as sign that it bothers me. Deaf kids have a problem writing English because they don't get English in an English class. My wife was in a college with a deaf program and the "terp" had the nerve to contract what the English teacher was saying. How can someone learn English if they are not getting what was said word for word. I'm not saying that its easy to interpret. I know its difficult. But the problem is the effort put into it. A lot of "terps" are lazy. I signed in my wife's church word for word. I slipped here and there. But that was my first time signing for a group of deaf people. At court, I sign word for word no problem with my wife. Same at the doctors. If the effort is there then it can be done. But "terps" throw it off with their excuses and then suck deaf people into it by saying ASL is so beautiful. I'm not saying its not, but every language is beautiful in its own way. But that excuse is used as a method of deferring a debate. The moment a "terp" gets into a debate with a true signer, a person who is certified in deaf history and sign language, they turn to a deaf person and start using that excuse. Its pathetic. The only way to pull the deaf community into a good standing is to have them learn real sign language once again. The way it was taught years ago. And in regards to a lot of the books that "terps" learn from, most are written by people who signed word for word before the book and they tried changing it to their own way, or they were written by people who have no experience in the deaf field.