SimplyMints

I have been thinking about going to Gallaudet, and it's clear to me that SEE isn't gonna cut it there. I have very quickly become fluent in SEE, and am using it with some ASL and a touch of PSE to talk with my family, who are learning SEE (the mix is mostly with my sister, who is learning ASL, and who took an ASL class in high school also, as did I).

However, my mindset is culturally Deaf, now that I've finally found a concrete definition of it, and of course I know I will never be accepted as such without ASL fluency. Besides that, I really want to learn ASL because it just looks so much more fun to sign than SEE. I watch it on YouTube, and it just makes me wish I was raised with it, really.

My local community college does NOT teach ASL. I've also searched the websites of every college and university within 3 hours drive of my house, and have yet to find any that even know what ASL is. The more I read about Gallaudet, the more I want to go, but I want to know ASL first, and my search is discouraging.

So I've found this course on lifeprint, and I guess my only option is to use that and teach myself. I hope I don't show up looking like an idiot because I'm signing all wrong, ROFL! I've seen some YouTube videos of people doing that, and translations, and it was hilarious!!

I live in a rural area, so there's scarcely a hearing community, much less a deaf one, so there are obviously no public resources for me. I don't wanna move. All my family are here, and I love it here. I want Gallaudet to move here instead

Well, I guess I'll dive in while I don't have any other classes to take! Any ideas that will make this easier for me will be appreciated, especially since I'm starting full-time school soon, and it won't be easy to find time to study.

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"A world that is not on the verge of annihilation can still be perfectly stimulating, and definitely not boring." - Andrea Berlinghoff

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JClarke

Go beyond your dreams!

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Jolie77

Well, I think it's great you have a mindset on this. If you decide to go to Gallaudet to improve your ASL skills, I'd say you have more than an option to broaden your horizons. Remember, Things may not be as what it seems to be but if you toughen it out, you'll be able to open yourself to so many things. By the way, SEE is a start and not every one would cut you out just because you know SEE. In time, you'll be able to pick up on things as you go with the flow.

Please don't be discouraged yet. Do you know of any one else (a deaf person) or something like that which will give you a recommendation of any ASL courses that can be provided nearby? Some of the time, the websites might not have all the information out there. You might want to ask your Vocational Rehabilitation case worker to see if he/she knows any more of this than you do? It's just a start.

Good Luck.

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JClarke

Plus, if the VR is good enough to sponsor you to the Gally, it would be the possibility to be the experience of your life? I am just suggesting, I have always wanted to go there, which I have been there once, 10 years ago when I was a kid but unfortunately the money has held me back.

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Byrdie714

They do offer classes at Gallaudet and NTID for SEE/PSE users to help make the transistion to ASL.

Of course, you will be graded on it.

SimplyMints

VR ... an hour and a half to two hours drive, but the rest of my life is worth it as soon as my car gets out of the shop

(Did I mention I live in a remote area? I moved here on purpose to get out of the city .. just in time to need city services.)

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"A world that is not on the verge of annihilation can still be perfectly stimulating, and definitely not boring." - Andrea Berlinghoff

SimplyMints

Yep, money is definitely a huge deterant, but such is life in the free world. You have to pay your family estate for everything.

Really, they do? I was looking for something like that on their website, but found only some summer activities. I don't mind getting graded if I get credit for it, lol! Well that sounds great! I think my motivation will help me learn it better than most things because it's like ASL will open up a portal into a whole new world for me to explore

I remember it was my senior year in high school that I took ASL 1, and by the end of the year, I was asking my instructor for special permission to come back for ASL 2 and 3, and he said the school board wouldn't allow it. After I left high school, my life became so busy that I just honestly forgot about it until I began losing my hearing. By then, it was too late because I had moved to a land where people will sooner believe you're from Jupiter than you're deaf. They're like, "Deaf? What is that? Is that like Mr. Holand's Opus?" OMG you wouldn't believe how many people have said that to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Had a couple of people ask if it was caused by macular degeneration. I mean, gees, I knew what "deaf" meant all my life! Where do these people come from?

Sorry, lost the topic there.

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"A world that is not on the verge of annihilation can still be perfectly stimulating, and definitely not boring." - Andrea Berlinghoff

JClarke

minty, I know -- it sucks and even my friend in my hometown found out when he wanted to go and give it a try but being an international student of the gally, it would cost him $30,000 per semester and I found out also, via Shezzbeav's post, that first year international students are not eligible for any sponsor schitt in the USA

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SimplyMints

Well in that respect, I'm definitely lucky to be born in the US! I estimated spending about $30k/year there (education, fees, living, etc.), and that's before any government loans, grants, or scholarships. But I didn't consider the cost of travelling there and back, including Christmas and summer vacations. That would be expensive. My closest relatives are in New Hampshire, and I think their house is about an 8 hour drive from Washington DC. I'd probably fly all the way back here for vacations.

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"A world that is not on the verge of annihilation can still be perfectly stimulating, and definitely not boring." - Andrea Berlinghoff

JClarke

and also, it is impossible to find anyone who would be willing to pay for that amount, wish it was flipping cheap back in the old days, eh!

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Cloggy

Best way to learn a new language is to dive into it. Go there, and you will learn it far quicker than doing it yourself..

SimplyMints

I might just do that actually. I know ASL won't become fluid to me until I start using it with other people who are also using it. However, at that time, I'll be starting regular classes that are taught in ASL, and I don't wanna be struggling to understand my instructors. College level classes are hard enough as it is, and I can't let my grades slip, or I could be dropped from my program

*tries to make one small transition by signing "me" instead of "I"*

Hmmm, what an ugly habit. Harder to break than I thought. Maybe it'll be easier in ASL grammar context.

One thing people (online) have tried to tell me to do is to sign in the mirror. That's just something I cannot do because I distract myself. It's like when I was hearing, and I would talk on the phone when there was a slightly delayed echo of my own voice that just threw me off. Though the mirror is live (minus distance from mirror * 2 / speed of light = virtually instant), it still just totally distracts me, and ...... I ...... si....gn ..... real ........ y ........ clog ........ gy (borrowed your name, thanks).

Sorry, I'll let you get back to your breakfast

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"A world that is not on the verge of annihilation can still be perfectly stimulating, and definitely not boring." - Andrea Berlinghoff

Liza

Hey Minty! Just dive right into it, like Cloggy said. Do add ASL classes to that, and it will be a great help. I wouldn't recommend taking degree-related classes since you don't have a full grip on ASL yet unless you think you could could manage it. GU is great for immersing yourself in a signing environment, plus you have opportunities to use your signing skills in many things like organizations, events, jobs, classes, social life, etc.

society's_child

This is true. Also I learn more associating with deaf than sitting in a classroom.

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Deaf Mortgage

Best way to learn ASL is to go Gallaudet. Since you wanted go Gallaudet, go there and have crash course of social life. Life experiences will teach you more.

They do offer new signer program at Gallaudet. Check it out. Dont ever be afraid to go to Gallaudet because of ASL.

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One more thing to add - I was not fluent in ASL until I went to Gallaudet. I will never forget how my arms were sore from 24/7 signing. That only last two months then I never experienced that soreness until I had new born daughter 7 weeks ago. Holding her was same experience as I was signing all the time at Gallaudet.

Don't expect to be expert within a year or two. It took me 2 full years to finally become advance and fluent. I did it because I fell in love with ASL. I couldn't go back to English spoken language. After 4 years, I was able to explore story telling. Still today I am exploring ASL story telling methods. I have my ways of telling story now. It has been 7 years since I entered Gallaudet... I cherish every moment of it.

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Travel at unbelievable prices! www.DeafTravelSearch.com

society's_child

I took ASL 3 at Gally this past winter. I really enjoyed it.

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SimplyMints

I'm signing like 16 hours a day, almost every waking moment these days, but I'm signing SEE and PSE and some funky combination involving ASL signs and SEE word order, with a little mix of some of the basic ASL principals I've learned so far. My main concern was that I would go to Gallaudet and not be able to understand my instructors because they were signing pure ASL. I had explored their website, and didn't find mention of a beginner's course in ASL, so I didn't know it existed.

I think all that's left now is to get over the anxiety of having to leave home and live in a dorm with somebody else. I've lived by myself for over ten years, and I like it here. When I first started college, I went away to school and stayed in a dorm with a room mate for 1 semester. I worked and studied and worked and studied and hardly slept and just barely passed my classes. I worked to support myself because the government grants and loans and all the financial aid I could get was not enough to support me, and my parents couldn't afford to help me. Besides, they're too old to be paying for their kids to go to school, and I'm too old to be accepting help from them. I have been a student for as long as I can remember, and have never gotten very good at studying. I have a 3 times registered IQ of 146 and study long hours, so in theory, I should be absorbing all kind of information, but I barely pass any of my classes, and if I can't keep my GPA up, I'll be dropped from my program. That will leave me in my 30s without a degree and without a job and without a home and without financial aid to go back to school. I have to do it right the first time or not at all. I don't have room to make a mistake this time.

By the way, I already do love ASL! I only wish it were required learning for all main-streamed sighted students in grades 1-12 =D Then I would already know it, and I wouldn't have to learn it in my 30s! And my poor parents learning it in their 60s! I feel sorry for them =/ They can't even go to Gallaudet!

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"A world that is not on the verge of annihilation can still be perfectly stimulating, and definitely not boring." - Andrea Berlinghoff