Taking ASL class (plus is there a FAQ for newcomers?)

[Mudkipz]

I have many questions, but if you can give me a FAQ, it'd be so great! I'm confused.

I want to try taking ASL class next semester and try to like it. It would go toward on completing General Education requirements as second/foreign language, so I can transfer to a uni! Maybe even if I finish it and like it, I can learn it further!

Okay here goes...:

• What is SEE?
• What is English Sign language?
• What is the differences between the three?
• Is there more (please no... )?
• What is the most used sign language out of all?
• Is there much of a difference in the dictionary for ASL, ESL, etc?
• How long it takes to learn the "basics" and able to use the language in a casual conversation?
• Is there Youtube videos of people using both Sign language and spoken English at once? Should I watch them?
• ...
• Will my wrist hurt from practicing? :P

How is it like to teach ASL on campus? Do they talk as they spell/say the words in ASL? Is it better for me learn ASL online? How you guys use ASL over Skype? What if the video cam lags? I have never used Skype.

Yeah I know there's the search function and google, but it would take a while to find the infos to all my questions and I'd love to getanswers from you guys!

Thanks

 

[purplewowies]

I have many questions, but if you can give me a FAQ, it'd be so great! I'm confused.

I want to try taking ASL class next semester and try to like it. It would go toward on completing General Education requirements as second/foreign language, so I can transfer to a uni! Maybe even if I finish it and like it, I can learn it further!

Okay here goes...:

• What is SEE?
• What is English Sign language?
• What is the differences between the three?
• Is there more (please no... )?
• What is the most used sign language out of all?
• Is there much of a difference in the dictionary for ASL, ESL, etc?
• How long it takes to learn the "basics" and able to use the language in a casual conversation?
• Is there Youtube videos of people using both Sign language and spoken English at once? Should I watch them?
• ...
• Will my wrist hurt from practicing? :P

How is it like to teach ASL on campus? Do they talk as they spell/say the words in ASL? Is it better for me learn ASL online? How you guys use ASL over Skype? What if the video cam lags? I have never used Skype.

Yeah I know there's the search function and google, but it would take a while to find the infos to all my questions and I'd love to getanswers from you guys!

Thanks

I can't answer all of these, but I'll answer the ones I know:

1. It most commonly refers to Signing Exact English.
2. ?
3. SEE is English word order and is an invented system. ASL is a natural language.
4. Depends on whether you want to know about the "obscure" ones like CASE and LOVE, and if you're counting Cued Speech (which isn't really a sign system, but another way to see spoken English) and Pidgin Sign English and... :P
5. In America or worldwide?
6. There are grammar and syntax differences.
7. The basics (as in survival signs like "hi" and "toilet") could be learned in as little as a week or two. However, it takes a while longer to be able to competently carry on a conversation.
8. I wouldn't. That's SimCom, and the message/language (English and ASL) is usually "dumbed down" a little on both sides. I try to find as close to "pure" ASL as possible when I look on YouTube.
9. !!!
10. Mine did in the beginning, but it doesn't now unless I sign for a sufficiently long amount of time.

I took two ASL classes from Fall 2007 to Spring 2009.

 

[Mudkipz]

I can't answer all of these, but I'll answer the ones I know:

1. It most commonly refers to Signing Exact English.
I'm gonna check it out. Thanks
2. ?
I meant to say... what is the difference between ASL and ESL (English Sign Language)?
3. SEE is English word order and is an invented system. ASL is a natural language.
ASL is a natural language? That sounds more important than a invented system.
4. Depends on whether you want to know about the "obscure" ones like CASE and LOVE, and if you're counting Cued Speech (which isn't really a sign system, but another way to see spoken English) and Pidgin Sign English and... :P
... Well I'm gonna go on to the next one as it will answer this one.
5. In America or worldwide?
Both! What is the most used sign language in America and worldwide?
6. There are grammar and syntax differences.
Shouldn't be bad switching from one to another similar language as there's fingerspelling (Awesome)!
7. The basics (as in survival signs like "hi" and "toilet") could be learned in as little as a week or two. However, it takes a while longer to be able to competently carry on a conversation.
a week or two to strive in a simple conversation using sign language? Challenge accepted.
8. I wouldn't. That's SimCom, and the message/language (English and ASL) is usually "dumbed down" a little on both sides. I try to find as close to "pure" ASL as possible when I look on YouTube.
I'm thinking that listening to what the people say as they use sign language would be easier for me to "remember and learn", you know? Mind showing examples of these kind of videos with SimCom and pure ASL? Please!
9. !!!

10. Mine did in the beginning, but it doesn't now unless I sign for a sufficiently long amount of time.
Interpreters come to mind...
I took two ASL classes from Fall 2007 to Spring 2009.
Two classes in your schedule for the day from 2007 to 2009 or just 2 ASL classes through out? Either way- well that's a difference, so... ?

I answered them, as in bolded with questions in response and... Thank you!!

I got a question about Youtube videos. How I know if it's pure ASL or least a good video to watch?

 

[StSapphire]

1. what is SEE?
2. what is english sign language?
3. what is the differences between the three?
4. is there more (please no... )?
5. what is the most used sign language out of all?
6. is there much of a difference in the dictionary for asl, esl, etc?
7. how long it takes to learn the "basics" and able to use the language in a casual conversation?
8. is there youtube videos of people using both sign language and spoken english at once? Should i watch them?
9. ...
10. will my wrist hurt from practicing? :p
11. how is it like to teach asl on campus? Do they talk as they spell/say the words in asl?
12. is it better for me learn asl online?
13. how you guys use asl over skype?
14. what if the video cam lags? I have never used skype.

I just started ASL a month or so ago, but I've picked up answers for most of this either from background from my class, or from reading older topics here.

1) As mentioned, it's "Signed Exact English", or "English on the hand".

2) Entirely different languages. Think the difference between, say, French and German. Different roots, different signs, etc.

3) All three are essentially different languages, with different grammar, different words, etc. ASL and SEE are more likely to have overlapping signs, but will likely feel much more "artificial" than either of the other two.

4) Oh yeah. Think about how many different languages there are in the world. Then think about how many dialects each of those languages may have. While it's probably not nearly as enormous as that, there's plenty of other sign languages.

5)Among the US, ASL is used the most (I think - verify with someone who knows more than me to be certain), but you'll come across lots of regional signs for things.

6) As mentioned, they're entirely separate languages, so yes. (I believe the previous person was answering in regards to ASL vs SEE, rather than ASL vs ESL)

7) No clue. I've been taking evening classes, one a week, for a month. I might be able to converse with a very bright 3 year old? I would assume this has more to do with your ability to learn new languages than anything in regards to the language itself. Assume that it's likely to be at least as difficult as learning a new spoken/written language, with the added benefit that there's no easy to lookup "ASL to English" dictionary (at least that I know of), since handshapes, rather than letters, are used.

8) Probably. As previously mentioned, there's Simultaneous Communication (SimCom) which is how my class is taught (the teacher signing everything she's saying as well as saying it) and you may pick up one or two new signs, but it won't help you to learn ASL grammar/syntax. If anything, I would imagine it might be more helpful to see if you can find any YouTube videos which are subtitled with actual ASL (rather than English interpretations) to help you learn. (And sorry, no examples, I don't use YouTube often.)

9)

10) It might! Depends on how much you practice and how fragile you are. :P I would assume like anything, that it gets better the more you work at it.

11) Probably depends on the teacher. I'm taking adult evening ASL classes at my local school for the deaf, and our teacher always uses SimCom.

12) Nope. Not unless you either know fluent signers who you can "chat" with in ASL in real life, or know people who you can VP/Skype with to practice. Otherwise, having others to practice/help with is going to be extremely necessary so that you know you're getting the right handshapes and the like.

13) I've not done that yet, because I don't know any ASL-conversing 3 year olds, but I would assume it would work the same as using a VP (Video Phone) or standing in front of someone. Skype uses your computer's webcam to stream video to someone else who also have a webcam, and you can see each other simultaneously and sign back and forth that way.

14) Skype has voice and text, so you can IM or talk to the person if it starts getting either way too choppy, or you can't understand their signs or vice versa.

 

[purplewowies]

Two classes in your schedule for the day from 2007 to 2009 or just 2 ASL classes through out? Either way- well that's a difference, so... ?

I was in high school and took ASL 1 in the 2007-2008 school year and ASL 2 in the 2008-2009 year. There was one more year I could've taken, but I moved out of the district before I could.

Also, to answer your question in the first post about teachers voicing while signing: My ASL teacher never voiced, but early on, the teacher's assistant interpreted. After that, it was pretty much immersion. With all the other tools (word lists, DVDs, books), we learned pretty fast. There was actually a rule (that not many people followed often) that we were supposed to be voice-off in the classroom because being immersed is the best way to learn. Like if you were dropped in France, you'd learn French pretty quick just to survive.

 

[Mudkipz]

I just started ASL a month or so ago, but I've picked up answers for most of this either from background from my class, or from reading older topics here.

1) As mentioned, it's "Signed Exact English", or "English on the hand".

2) Entirely different languages. Think the difference between, say, French and German. Different roots, different signs, etc.

3) All three are essentially different languages, with different grammar, different words, etc. ASL and SEE are more likely to have overlapping signs, but will likely feel much more "artificial" than either of the other two.

4) Oh yeah. Think about how many different languages there are in the world. Then think about how many dialects each of those languages may have. While it's probably not nearly as enormous as that, there's plenty of other sign languages.

5)Among the US, ASL is used the most (I think - verify with someone who knows more than me to be certain), but you'll come across lots of regional signs for things.

6) As mentioned, they're entirely separate languages, so yes. (I believe the previous person was answering in regards to ASL vs SEE, rather than ASL vs ESL)

7) No clue. I've been taking evening classes, one a week, for a month. I might be able to converse with a very bright 3 year old? I would assume this has more to do with your ability to learn new languages than anything in regards to the language itself. Assume that it's likely to be at least as difficult as learning a new spoken/written language, with the added benefit that there's no easy to lookup "ASL to English" dictionary (at least that I know of), since handshapes, rather than letters, are used.

8) Probably. As previously mentioned, there's Simultaneous Communication (SimCom) which is how my class is taught (the teacher signing everything she's saying as well as saying it) and you may pick up one or two new signs, but it won't help you to learn ASL grammar/syntax. If anything, I would imagine it might be more helpful to see if you can find any YouTube videos which are subtitled with actual ASL (rather than English interpretations) to help you learn. (And sorry, no examples, I don't use YouTube often.)

9)

10) It might! Depends on how much you practice and how fragile you are. :P I would assume like anything, that it gets better the more you work at it.

11) Probably depends on the teacher. I'm taking adult evening ASL classes at my local school for the deaf, and our teacher always uses SimCom.

12) Nope. Not unless you either know fluent signers who you can "chat" with in ASL in real life, or know people who you can VP/Skype with to practice. Otherwise, having others to practice/help with is going to be extremely necessary so that you know you're getting the right handshapes and the like.

13) I've not done that yet, because I don't know any ASL-conversing 3 year olds, but I would assume it would work the same as using a VP (Video Phone) or standing in front of someone. Skype uses your computer's webcam to stream video to someone else who also have a webcam, and you can see each other simultaneously and sign back and forth that way.

14) Skype has voice and text, so you can IM or talk to the person if it starts getting either way too choppy, or you can't understand their signs or vice versa.

You had 4 class session for a month so far and you say you can converse with a child? That's ... very good, it it? You think ASL is fast to learn to you? Like easy to pick up words and sign them? I'd definiately gotta try it out, but need to finish my classes for the semester.
For next semester in Summer... I'll have ASL and English.

I was in high school and took ASL 1 in the 2007-2008 school year and ASL 2 in the 2008-2009 year. There was one more year I could've taken, but I moved out of the district before I could.

Also, to answer your question in the first post about teachers voicing while signing: My ASL teacher never voiced, but early on, the teacher's assistant interpreted. After that, it was pretty much immersion. With all the other tools (word lists, DVDs, books), we learned pretty fast. There was actually a rule (that not many people followed often) that we were supposed to be voice-off in the classroom because being immersed is the best way to learn. Like if you were dropped in France, you'd learn French pretty quick just to survive.

Same with Spanish class I'm taking (oh... don't like it much), you gotta speak Spanish at all times, but it seems it's 50/50 in my class because it's so hard to just look at spanish dictionary, alone say them right to have a conversation, so the rule was pretty much ignored.

"Like if you were dropped in France, you'd learn French pretty quick just to survive." Sounds good. Maybe the students in ASL will have tape on their mouth to make sure they don't talk, but only sign! ... okay scratch that. maybe have one of those sound detector like a stoplight where it flashes red if the room is too loud, yellow if it's starting to get loud, green if it's nice and quiet. Points off if the stoplight turns red! :P

 

[StSapphire]

You had 4 class session for a month so far and you say you can converse with a child? That's ... very good, it it? You think ASL is fast to learn to you? Like easy to pick up words and sign them? I'd definiately gotta try it out, but need to finish my classes for the semester.
For next semester in Summer... I'll have ASL and English.

Haha, I'm not sure "converse" is the right word - I can answer simplistic questions, and ask a handful of simplistic questions. And... I can fingerspell stuff obscenely slow for all the signs I don't know.

But since I'm taking classes once a week, we tend to (try) and pack in as much into one class as a normal high school might try to cover in 3-4 classes. I wouldn't say it's "easy" at all, but compared to my classmates, I may have picked it up slightly faster than some others, and slower than some others, as well. From the start of classes, we've been starting with the signs that are either simple enough to easily remember or are close enough to the concept that they represent to enable the signs to "stick" easier.

Same with Spanish class I'm taking (oh... don't like it much), you gotta speak Spanish at all times, but it seems it's 50/50 in my class because it's so hard to just look at spanish dictionary, alone say them right to have a conversation, so the rule was pretty much ignored.

"Like if you were dropped in France, you'd learn French pretty quick just to survive." Sounds good. Maybe the students in ASL will have tape on their mouth to make sure they don't talk, but only sign! ... okay scratch that. maybe have one of those sound detector like a stoplight where it flashes red if the room is too loud, yellow if it's starting to get loud, green if it's nice and quiet. Points off if the stoplight turns red! :P

It's different with ASL/English, since it's actually possible to communicate in both at the same time (unlike French or Spanish, unless you're writing one and speaking the other). After all, if you've forgotten the sign for "restaurant", you could sign "sign what r-e-s-t-a-u-r-a-n-t" or you could just verbally say "I forgot what restaurant is" and then go back to what you were saying before you forgot. I have at least tried the former more for fingerspelling practice, however, and that might be helping some.

 

[Mudkipz]

Haha, I'm not sure "converse" is the right word - I can answer simplistic questions, and ask a handful of simplistic questions. And... I can fingerspell stuff obscenely slow for all the signs I don't know.

But since I'm taking classes once a week, we tend to (try) and pack in as much into one class as a normal high school might try to cover in 3-4 classes. I wouldn't say it's "easy" at all, but compared to my classmates, I may have picked it up slightly faster than some others, and slower than some others, as well. From the start of classes, we've been starting with the signs that are either simple enough to easily remember or are close enough to the concept that they represent to enable the signs to "stick" easier.

Yeah one class a week. Gotta make sure the learning is "juicy" and packed as it's once a week. Fingerspelling, I think I'm gonna use that a lot if I know and "love" the ABCs and not the words. "Oh man this word is too hard to sign... fingerspelling it is! naughty"


It's different with ASL/English, since it's actually possible to communicate in both at the same time (unlike French or Spanish, unless you're writing one and speaking the other). After all, if you've forgotten the sign for "restaurant", you could sign "sign what r-e-s-t-a-u-r-a-n-t" or you could just verbally say "I forgot what restaurant is" and then go back to what you were saying before you forgot. I have at least tried the former more for fingerspelling practice, however, and that might be helping some.

Yeah I can see that fingerspelling would be useful! In Spanish for me, I must stop and look in a book if I forget the words. The learning process is slow, especially if I don't understand it and say the words enough to remember them. It's annoying to look in the book and take pauses to say them in a sentence (agh)...

You ever find people that use sign language out in the public or you must go to a certain place to see many using them? I'm just wondering...

 

[purplewowies]

You ever find people that use sign language out in the public or you must go to a certain place to see many using them? I'm just wondering...

I've never seen TONS of signers in most everyday places, but I have seen people signing in malls and stores. My dad always makes sure to point them out to me, tell me to look, and pretty much encourage me to eavesdrop (not because he wants to know what they're saying, but simply because they're signing).

There was also a girl who was in ASL 3 when I started ASL 1, and she worked at a Bob Evans in the town that got a pretty good amount of Deaf customers.

 

[Dez]

I'll just answer the ones that are more individual, verses wide spectrum, since those have been covered

how long it takes to learn the "basics" and able to use the language in a casual conversation?

It depends. My classes are 2 days a week and last almost 2 hours. I was able to do basic introductions and minor checking of well being within the first week. I think it is all based on how much of a visual learner you are.

is there youtube videos of people using both sign language and spoken english at once? Should i watch them?

Watching songs is a good way to grasp how the grammar is based, as long as it doesn't look like someone is struggling to remember what they're supposed to be doing in it/looks sloppy. It is also great to watch for the expressions.

...



will my wrist hurt from practicing? :p

I have never had my wrist hurt unless I came in with a sore wrist, lol. But that just makes logical sense.

how is it like to teach asl on campus? Do they talk as they spell/say the words in asl?

I was taught in a 'sealed voices' environment. They used a whiteboard if we didn't understand, but voices were almost always off.

is it better for me learn asl online?

Eh...only if its through skype or some other such one on one teaching. otherwise, you miss so much.

how you guys use asl over skype?
what if the video cam lags? I have never used skype.

I've done it a few times, and it seems to work out rather well. If you don't understand something, just ask to repeat, and the handy feature of the in video im helps in the really sticky situations. It is different from one on one and takes getting use to but is a great tool if you are lacking a community to sign with.