Speedlearning signs

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dracotkk

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I have a serious question regarding signing, and learning them. I hear these people say, "I've learned several hundred signs in this few-several week period", Do any of these people actually retain this knowledge after a fair amount of time? It sounds like cramming and memorization, but doesn't neccesarily mean it is true... Now i've been learning sign language for about 6 months now, quite frankly, I'm accepting of the speed at which i'm learning it. I'm barely getting to where I can make sentences without having to fingerspell an entire sentence. I can't really tell what others are saying via asl yet though.

Question though is cramming signs actually successful in the long run?
 
It would depend on a lot of things...

If you were an English-speaking person who knew BSL (British Sign Language), then you could probably learn ASL quickly.

If you experienced some ASL in the past, but didn't apply it for a while... you might learn quickly again.

If you were learning ASL and applied it in an signing environment, then you might learn quickly.

Alone, it can be difficult.
 
Continued use of and exposure to sign is really the key to success when it comes to retaining what one has learned. As the saying goes, "Use it or lose it." I think that applies perfectly to ASL. When I learned ASL, PSE and SEE in 1995, I had the chance to apply my skills by communicating with other Deaf and deafblind people at social events on a regular basis. The more I used sign, the easier it was for me to remember. I also used a tactile interpreter for the first time in 1996 at an AADB (American Association of the Deaf-Blind) conference. Because of the skills I gained in being able to use sign on a daily basis, using a tactile interpreter wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. :) Consistent useage and practice is key.
 
I first learned sign language when i was half way in the 6th grade. I was having trouble hearing my teachers so i was switched to a school where they taught sign. Being around the deaf people and teachers who sign constantly, i learned most of the sign i know in under a month. i was around it for the next 6 years before i graduated. after that i hadn't signed in about 2 years but its like they say, just like riding a bike, i never really forgot it i just needed to remind myself of it.
 
I am hearing and I learned signed english when I was ten and through the years periodically socialized with the deaf. I learned alot of sign with The Joy of Signing book by Lottie Reikoff. That was back in the late 70's early 80's. I am a visual learner and so remembering a sign is so much easier for me than learning a spoken language like spanish. I took that in hs for three years and barely remember it. I never took classes for sign and remembered them and never lost it. Now I am learning ASL for the past ten months and the vocabulary I had learned gave me a basis for learning ASL. But learning the grammar is more difficult as I haven't gone to college for it. I am learning it through DVD's and associating with the deaf more. But as far as learning signs, I can hear it once and remember it forever, spoken words forget it don't use do lose it.
 
I am one of the people who have said that. I learned approxamately 1,000 signs in 7 weeks. 150 signs per week. Let me tell you though, what that meant was practice and study EVERY NIGHT for 2 hours. Even weekends. A friend was teaching me and still had his ASL 1 book. Since he was doing this for free i felt an obligation to do my very best. We would meet every week and i would learn 150 or so new signs and take the book home and study them. It helps though that i had my Deaf friend who i met a month or so before help me too. The more i learned, the more i hung out with him and the more i could communicate. That really lit a fire under me it is amazing when you go from not being able to communicate (except for pen or pencil) to being able to so quickly. Still just a few months after learning those 1000 signs i am with him every week, (we're now BFF! LOL) and i now have so many Deaf friends. Some one asked how many and i believe 12 to 15. I am with them all so much. I even have friends that go to Gally and they want me to go there now too. LOL I tell them my signing is not that great yet.
That really cements it in your mind. not just learning and memorizing but actually putting it to use. It is one thing to know signs but to actually have conversations with people, wow that is a much differnet thing. My suggestion for learning more signs quicker, a lot of study. Also attend as many Deaf events as you can and try to make some friends who are Deaf, don't push yourself on them though.
 
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