us rat lab by hearing people

Bottesini said:
Then it was kind of pointless for you or any of the hearing students to take it if you had no place to use it. Also very pointless for you to continually criticize something you don't participate in, and apparently have no interest to seek out.
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I think this is the same thing as students taking French in high school and they'll never use it. Students are required to take a language and ASL is easier to learn than than other languages. When I was in collage I was invited to a professor ASL class to see how I liked it. I was the only student in the class that was HOH. The professor said something that was very true and funny how hearing people relate to us. I was the only student that LOL and the other students thought I was horrible for laughing as the did not know I was HOH . I did not sign up for that course. I did not like being the only HOH student in it , there was no one I could relate in the class. I have no idea why the students where learning ASL and deaf culture. The professor was not HOH or Deaf.
 
I think there are many different reasons why a hearie chooses to learn ASL -- maybe a friend or family member uses ASL, maybe they have an interest in a beautiful language the same as one would choose to learn French, Spanish, Russian, German, etc. There are many websites, forums, and books on French, Spanish, Russian, German culture... There are far fewer resources to learn about Deaf culture. Luckily, this forum allows people who want to know more about Deaf culture to gain some insight. I don't think any questions are meant to make anyone feel like lab rats being poked and prodded. Just general interest in another culture like any other.

I guess what I'm not sure about is why there is criticism in some of these forums that portrays the hearing world as indifferent to ASL and Deaf culture, yet there seems to be simultaneous annoyance - such as this thread - about those who do have an interest and want to learn... It's confusing. Can someone explain? :dunno2:
 
welcome, TinyDancer, there are various threads or discussions on this already if you will look around-
 
Frisky Feline said:
I sort of hope that hearing asl students would able to reply to this thread to share this with us. :aw:
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Can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you why I'm learning ASL... my son was born hard of hearing, he wears bilateral aids and is doing great with oral/aural, but we also had an ASL consultant teach us all ASL, sent him to an ASL preschool, and I quit my job to go to work at a service agency where I think 39% of our employees are Deaf or hard of hearing, so that my son - and our whole family - will be connected to the community.

As far as the songs... I've never learned one, but I would guess it's because it's easier for most hearing people to remember song lyrics than prose. Rhythm & rhyme are memory triggers; before the written word was commonplace, oral cultures passed down stories and histories in the form of poetry because the mechanics of poetry make it stick in your head. I can still remember some Shakespeare I had to memorize in high school... and nursery rhymes from childhood.
 
I like to think that these ASL students are Jane Goodall, they sat and watch us how we act.
 
Frisky Feline said:
I sort of hope that hearing asl students would able to reply to this thread to share this with us. :aw:
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When I was younger I learned the ABC's and I just fell in love with it and and it has fascinated me ever since. I love the expression of ASL and I've come to love Deaf culture, what little I know of it.

I tried to take ASL 1 for two years at my college then I *finally* got in during my last semester (this past spring) and found that it comes very easily to me. I've taken Spanish, studied basic Japanese and Russian on my own, but no language has felt as much like home to me than ASL. Since I cannot afford to take ASL 2 up at the college this semester (I've graduated and moved two hours away), I've gotten in touch with my teacher and she set me up with one of her ASL 5 students to practice via Skype (we'll start this Friday. I am super excited!). I will also be moving back upstate this summer just so I can continue with the same teacher so my vocabulary is consistent.

I have tinnitus from years of loud music and sounds that has recently gotten much more noticeable.(I'm a musician. I have to wear plugs while I play to prevent it from getting worse. :( ) I also have a loud buzzing separate from that, I think, in my left ear (originally with really loud noises but it sets off with quieter and quieter noises as I go along...) I'm also beginning to have a tough time catching all words in conversations in noisy places (like the craft store I work in). I'm glad I'm learning ASL because, honestly, I might need it at some point.


I hope that explained my situation as a hearing ASL student adequately. I just woke up and I'm rushing to get into the shower and get ready for the day but I wanted to answer really quick.
 
I'm not sure why they would use songs as a final project. I would think conversations or storytelling would be a better project. As a hearing student, I would think the reason that some people learn to sign songs is to have repetitive practice in their daily lives.
For instance, when I'm driving down the road, I try to fingerspell words on trucks, cars, billboards, etc. I also watch videos of people signing and fingerspelling (such as videos on deaftv.com) to help me to understand through sight instead of sound.
When having a conversation with a native signer, it is more difficult for me to "read" the fingerspelling and signs if I'm not practicing my own signing at faster speeds.
When listening to music, and signing the words... the speed is faster which helps me retain the signs better. It also gives me different words than what I have learned in class, which I find adds to my vocabulary.
I don't want to offend, bore, or upset someone because I cannot sign clearly and at a normal conversational pace with a native signer.
I went to my first silent dinner and met some amazing people. Luckily I found that the individuals there were very receptive to me as a hearing student. Without knowing ASL, I may not have had the opportunity to meet them or get to know who they are.
I don't want to just be able to sign, I want to be able to have meaningful conversation with another person, and get to know them on a personal level.
I try to show respect to everyone I meet no matter the mode of communication they use, the color of their skin, etc. This is because I would want the same level of respect in reverse. I don't want to treat anyone as a lab rat, because I wouldn't want the same done to me.
I hope this helps with the questions above.
 
I am hearing with moderate hearing loss. My dr tells my husband "talk to the face". When he's near and "talks to the face", i can hear him. When he doesn't, I don't. I had surgery in 2002 to remove a Acoustic Neuroma (Schwannoma) from the right inner auditory canal and that has caused my hearing loss. I'm not afraid to be completely deaf. It would be a relief. I'm not sure why I feel like I belong in the Deaf community.

I am almost 65 years old. When I was about 13-14, my parents were gone and someone knocked on the back door. It was a Deaf family of 4. A child about 8-9 stood there holding a burlap sack and the father handed me a small business card. On one side was the manual alphabet and on the other was a small flag pin. I went to the cupboard and got food and put it in their sack. I quickly learned the alphabet. My mother worked as a waitress in a coney island restaurant and one of her regular customers was deaf. One Saturday, she took me to the restaurant and sure enough he came in. My mother pushed me toward him. I fingerspelled "m-y n-a-m-e i-s B-r-e-n-d-a" and he started signing back to me. I had not a clue what he was signing. I knew then there was much more to learn.

In my 30s, I joined a Deaf Sunday School for a large baptist church in Detroit. I started classes there. The instructor was CODA. I learned quite a bit there, then I went to Madonna University in Plymouth, MI and Interpreter program. I earned 22 credit hours before I had to quit. Then in my early 60s, I began classes at the Deaf Service Center in Ft Myers, FL.

I took all the had to offer. I've tried to socialize with the Deaf but they treat me with great disdain. I don't sign fast and they were not impressed with my desire to learn.

I guess it's sorta like having a conversation with someone who can only speak a few words of you language.

When I was at the church, I helped interpret the song service. It is a great way to practice the signs. It doesn't help with the language structure, etc.

I'm at my wit's end about how to be accepted by the Deaf. It seems that many Deaf nowadays prefer English structure and not strict ASL...and that confuses me also.

Why doesn't the Deaf want hearing people to know and use their language? I've never treated any deaf with disrespect...ever.

Thanks for listening.
 
Brenda9995 said:
I am hearing with moderate hearing loss. My dr tells my husband "talk to the face". When he's near and "talks to the face", i can hear him. When he doesn't, I don't. I had surgery in 2002 to remove a Acoustic Neuroma (Schwannoma) from the right inner auditory canal and that has caused my hearing loss. I'm not afraid to be completely deaf. It would be a relief. I'm not sure why I feel like I belong in the Deaf community.

I am almost 65 years old. When I was about 13-14, my parents were gone and someone knocked on the back door. It was a Deaf family of 4. A child about 8-9 stood there holding a burlap sack and the father handed me a small business card. On one side was the manual alphabet and on the other was a small flag pin. I went to the cupboard and got food and put it in their sack. I quickly learned the alphabet. My mother worked as a waitress in a coney island restaurant and one of her regular customers was deaf. One Saturday, she took me to the restaurant and sure enough he came in. My mother pushed me toward him. I fingerspelled "m-y n-a-m-e i-s B-r-e-n-d-a" and he started signing back to me. I had not a clue what he was signing. I knew then there was much more to learn.

In my 30s, I joined a Deaf Sunday School for a large baptist church in Detroit. I started classes there. The instructor was CODA. I learned quite a bit there, then I went to Madonna University in Plymouth, MI and Interpreter program. I earned 22 credit hours before I had to quit. Then in my early 60s, I began classes at the Deaf Service Center in Ft Myers, FL.

I took all the had to offer. I've tried to socialize with the Deaf but they treat me with great disdain. I don't sign fast and they were not impressed with my desire to learn.

I guess it's sorta like having a conversation with someone who can only speak a few words of you language.

When I was at the church, I helped interpret the song service. It is a great way to practice the signs. It doesn't help with the language structure, etc.

I'm at my wit's end about how to be accepted by the Deaf. It seems that many Deaf nowadays prefer English structure and not strict ASL...and that confuses me also.

Why doesn't the Deaf want hearing people to know and use their language? I've never treated any deaf with disrespect...ever.

Thanks for listening.
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I appreciate your time of sharing your experiences it here.Thanks.
 
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