Confused...

ContessaC

ContessaC

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Okay...I know someone will probably get offended by this post. For that I am sorry but...I am confused. I've been reading posts on AllDeaf for a few weeks and I find that a lot of them are very difficult to read/understand. Like their are words missing, or incorrectly conjugated (past, present, future)

Does anyone else have this problem?

:confused:
 
Welcome to the deaf ASL world.

If you can figure out my statement above, then it explains itself. If not, you need to take a few deaf culture classes from college or pick up a book on that.
 
I had the same problem. You don't have to read a book or something one of us can just tell you. ASL is not English, it has a completely different grammar system. That's why it sounds like broken English, because it isn't their first language.

I was learning ASL, been slacking hard on my lessons, and I'm almost scared of trying to use it. The grammar is so different I feel like I'm speaking backwards, I can repeat the lessons fine but coming up with my own sentences, omg Ima flub that hard. I took 3 years of French and could understand my teacher just fine but trying to speak it my self there would be long uhhhhhs in the middle of the sentence. At first I was a little puzzled, I figured, okay these guys went through school and I'm sure read books and everything so they read English okay, but I think when it comes to writing English they run into the same problem I ran into trying to speak French, so they just write more similairly to how they'd sign it, because it's just more natural for them. And I hope that made sense and wasn't too insulting because that I don't mean it in a bad way. :D
 
ContessaC said:
Okay...I know someone will probably get offended by this post. For that I am sorry but...I am confused. I've been reading posts on AllDeaf for a few weeks and I find that a lot of them are very difficult to read/understand. Like their are words missing, or incorrectly conjugated (past, present, future)

Does anyone else have this problem?

:confused:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I do as well. I see it this way; For some of those growing up learning ASL, English is learned as a second language.

Imagine growing up as a child learning to speak in German and learning English as a second language for writing. Lots more to learn that the average person.

I figured it's best to just accept everyone for who they are.
 
THANK YOU ALL!!!

For some reason I never thought of ASL in terms of how it would effect written language. I speak 2 languages (English & Spanish) fortunately both are latin based so they follow similar rules of grammer.
 
ContessaC said:
Okay...I know someone will probably get offended by this post. For that I am sorry but...I am confused. I've been reading posts on AllDeaf for a few weeks and I find that a lot of them are very difficult to read/understand. Like their are words missing, or incorrectly conjugated (past, present, future)

Does anyone else have this problem?

:confused:
Click to expand...

Yes, and I've given up trying to understand. It's ASL grammar used with English - it mixes about as much as Arabic and Spanish, so I just don't bother with the posts I can't make sense of.

Laura
 
ContessaC said:
Okay...I know someone will probably get offended by this post. For that I am sorry but...I am confused. I've been reading posts on AllDeaf for a few weeks and I find that a lot of them are very difficult to read/understand. Like their are words missing, or incorrectly conjugated (past, present, future)

Does anyone else have this problem?

:confused:
Click to expand...

Like there are words missing, or ... etal.

(You might want to check your own post first before criticizing other posts.)
 
Lau2046 said:
Yes, and I've given up trying to understand. It's ASL grammar used with English - it mixes about as much as Arabic and Spanish, so I just don't bother with the posts I can't make sense of.

Laura
Click to expand...

Really? What are you doing hanging out here? :confused:
 
ContessaC said:
Okay...I know someone will probably get offended by this post. For that I am sorry but...I am confused. I've been reading posts on AllDeaf for a few weeks and I find that a lot of them are very difficult to read/understand. Like their are words missing, or incorrectly conjugated (past, present, future)

Does anyone else have this problem?

:confused:
Click to expand...

wait till you meet a hearing Russian person. and then ask him/her to write something in English.

and many hearing people still have trouble with there-their-they're and your-you're. it boggles me.
 
AlleyCat said:
Like there are words missing, or ... etal.

(You might want to check your own post first before criticizing other posts.)
Click to expand...

I am not criticizing anyone. I was asking for some help in understanding if it was just me that had a difficult time.
 
Jiro said:
and many hearing people still have trouble with there-their-they're and your-you're. it boggles me.
Click to expand...

Though the misuse of grammer is boggling...the one that makes me cry inside is when people use the wrong form of TO/TOO/TWO

Now one that always makes me pause is using effect/affect
 
ContessaC said:
I am not criticizing anyone. I was asking for some help in understanding if it was just me that had a difficult time.
Click to expand...

But it gets difficult understanding even you when you don't use "there" correctly.
 
Well, it is the way they write. Some people write with "ASL-structured English," which can be tricky. I cannot understand a lot of texting because of the shortcuts. I don't text.

I steer clear of playing grammar nazi, because a lot of people take shortcuts when they post in a forum. If I was going to critique the posters here, I would have no friends. Oh wait...:sadwave:
 
"When in Rome......"

That's been my motto here. There are times when I don't always understand, but I do take a stab and try my best. Also, I am finding that as my total deafness goes on longer, I find I forget words totally or my fingers don't go as fast as my mind and I end up saying something not intended.
 
Yeah, my hearing friends always asked me about that. My best explaination to them: English isn't our first language and then I explained how difference between ASL and English.
 
Lau2046 said:
Yes, and I've given up trying to understand. It's ASL grammar used with English - it mixes about as much as Arabic and Spanish, so I just don't bother with the posts I can't make sense of.

Laura
Click to expand...

That's sad because the posters are making an attempt to communicate with all of you and instead they get a rejection because they aren't fluent in English. At least they tried so that says a lot about them. Just saying.
 
ContessaC said:
Okay...I know someone will probably get offended by this post. For that I am sorry but...I am confused. I've been reading posts on AllDeaf for a few weeks and I find that a lot of them are very difficult to read/understand. Like their are words missing, or incorrectly conjugated (past, present, future)

Does anyone else have this problem?

:confused:
Click to expand...


I really can see how you would have a problem but to solve this problem all you have to do is understand that ASL can not be written. This is why Deaf people all over the world's that a pure sign language users have to learn a second language in order to write/text in that language. Unless the Deaf person learns all the proper use of that language, when they write/text there will probably be some misunderstanding.

This is my favorite saying:

The limit of your knowledge is the limit of your language.
 
and one more thing - lot of "broken English" writing in here is not exactly written in ASL/deaf format. very few posters in here write in strong ASL/deaf format but most are not in ASL/deaf format.

I can see that they're struggling with it and I blame schools for that.
 
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