Feb. 13, 2006
It’s just like any other language. But then again it’s not. There’s a lot to learn, cruising into a sign-language class for the first time. For student Nikki Matthews, it’s a way to “bridge the gap between worlds.” At the first meeting of a recent six-week beginner sign-language course at Deaf Services Inc. in Merrillville, the Griffith woman and several other hearing students learned signs for some vital concepts: “Hello,” “teacher,” “drive carefully” and “eat.” Moments later, they were speaking without words. For teacher Steve Miller, the class is not just work and study. There are lots of smiles and laughter needed, too. Of course, it will get harder. After practicing the letters of the alphabet and finger spelling their names, Miller gave his new signers a bit of the bad news: Learning American Sign Language is “just like any other foreign language.” That means lots and lots of practice.
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/02-13-06_z1_news_07.html
It’s just like any other language. But then again it’s not. There’s a lot to learn, cruising into a sign-language class for the first time. For student Nikki Matthews, it’s a way to “bridge the gap between worlds.” At the first meeting of a recent six-week beginner sign-language course at Deaf Services Inc. in Merrillville, the Griffith woman and several other hearing students learned signs for some vital concepts: “Hello,” “teacher,” “drive carefully” and “eat.” Moments later, they were speaking without words. For teacher Steve Miller, the class is not just work and study. There are lots of smiles and laughter needed, too. Of course, it will get harder. After practicing the letters of the alphabet and finger spelling their names, Miller gave his new signers a bit of the bad news: Learning American Sign Language is “just like any other foreign language.” That means lots and lots of practice.
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/02-13-06_z1_news_07.html