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Some teachers might worry if their students are always silent in class. Not Alma Simakowicz, who teaches American Sign Language at Passaic High School. Talking is just not part of her lesson plan.
Simakowicz teaches five classes of sign language to about 57 students at the Paulison Avenue school. Unlike other languages that require mastering accents and communicating through letters -- written, spoken and read -- sign language students have to retrain their brains to think in images, not words, Simakowicz said. But for many of the students tackling that task this year, the challenge is a welcome one because it opens them not only to a new language but also to a new community as well.
"Before I took this class, anything that came up on the news about deaf people, it didn't mean as much to me," said Denea Gresham, 17, a senior.
Now, Denea said, she and several of her peers see themselves as important links between the hearing and deaf worlds, a point Simakowicz often makes.
"I've met quite a few deaf people," Denea said. "When I sign with them, it's so cool (for them) to see a hearing person speak their language."
Simakowicz started the sign language course at the high school in 2001 as one of three world languages offered (with French and Spanish). The theory of teaching sign language is to create a piece of the deaf world because "you can't go to a different country to learn sign language," she said.
According to a 2005 study on world languages by the state Education Department, more than 90 percent of New Jersey schools and 97 percent of its high schools offer Spanish. The other top languages are French, Latin, Italian and German. Less than 5 percent offer sign language, though it has been considered a world language by the state since 1996, said Jon Zlock, department spokesman.
Simakowicz said the class brings diversity to the school's world language program.
Students who have chosen the class agreed it was something cool and different -- an exciting class to spice up their day.
The five sign language classes Simakowicz teaches are sorted into two levels -- one for beginners and one for the more advanced. On Tuesday, the otherwise silent class was punctuated by the laughter of boisterous teenagers dashing madly toward empty seats while playing a game of silent musical chairs -- a good way to learn vocabulary.
Instead of playing music, the modified game requires one student to stand in front of the seated students and sign descriptive words like "white sneakers" or "curly hair." Those who matched that description would leap from their seats and try to find a vacant one. The last student standing is the next one to come up with a word.
Ashley Arguelles, 16, a junior, said she learned the signs for at least two new words: red and help. One fist placed over an open palm and then drawn toward the body means "help." This word was popular during the lesson. Students frequently used it to get Simakowicz's expert assistance. One student mischievously signed the word "old," forcing Simakowicz alone to leave her chair. She did so, with a smirk.
Ashley loves the class: "The fact that it's different, that you have to interact with people instead of just reading a book," she said. Plus, "it's a beautiful language."
Students seldom write in the class, since the main focus is on using the eyes and hands. One of Tuesday's level-two classes required students who had brought in drawings of their kitchens to describe them in sign language to classmates who drew what they were told. Most of the drawings were a pretty good match in the end, much to the students' delight.
Vocabulary sheets Simakowicz passes out are full of pictures and diagrams of how to make signs but lack written definitions. She uses lots of hands-on activities, and students also learn about the history of sign language, famous deaf people and the culture of the deaf community.
Several students said that learning to speak with their hands was not as hard as learning other foreign languages: "It's so much easier to use hands than accents," said Stephany Montalvo, 17, a senior in her first year of the course.
"When you want to emphasize something, you use what you know -- facial expressions and body language," added Stephanie Lavi, 17, a senior in the level-two class.
Sign language grammar, however, can be tricky to master because the word order does not follow the same rules as in spoken English. For example, questions come last in a sentence, but time always comes first. As in: time six, I woke up (not, I woke up at six). Stephany said she has trouble remembering to furrow her brow when asking the Who, What, Where, When or Why questions that require it. Yes and No questions call for raised eyebrows, Simakowicz said.
But for all their trouble, the students are acquiring a highly marketable skill, Simakowicz said.
The need for interpreters for the deaf is great and it outpaces the supply, said Pam Ronan, spokeswoman for the state Division of Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She said the division estimates there are as many as 720,000 people statewide with some degree of hearing loss.
Yet the state Department of Human Services lists only about 150 interpreters in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York who are either certified by the Registry for Interpreters of the Deaf or have successfully passed a Division screening, Ronan said. One hundred of those interpreters are from New Jersey. Ronan said the Division recommends $60 per hour for fully certified interpreters.
Several students, like Stephanie, indicated that they intend to use sign language professionally.
She wants to become a sign language interpreter in English and Spanish as well as interpreting in spoken Spanish and eventually Korean too. Anthony Palma, 17, a senior in level one, wants to be a doctor. "I know deaf people get sick too," he said.
And his career goals are just one example of how the course has affected his life beyond the classroom.
"It makes you more open, well-rounded and accepting," Anthony said.
Some teachers might worry if their students are always silent in class. Not Alma Simakowicz, who teaches American Sign Language at Passaic High School. Talking is just not part of her lesson plan.
Simakowicz teaches five classes of sign language to about 57 students at the Paulison Avenue school. Unlike other languages that require mastering accents and communicating through letters -- written, spoken and read -- sign language students have to retrain their brains to think in images, not words, Simakowicz said. But for many of the students tackling that task this year, the challenge is a welcome one because it opens them not only to a new language but also to a new community as well.
"Before I took this class, anything that came up on the news about deaf people, it didn't mean as much to me," said Denea Gresham, 17, a senior.
Now, Denea said, she and several of her peers see themselves as important links between the hearing and deaf worlds, a point Simakowicz often makes.
"I've met quite a few deaf people," Denea said. "When I sign with them, it's so cool (for them) to see a hearing person speak their language."
Simakowicz started the sign language course at the high school in 2001 as one of three world languages offered (with French and Spanish). The theory of teaching sign language is to create a piece of the deaf world because "you can't go to a different country to learn sign language," she said.
According to a 2005 study on world languages by the state Education Department, more than 90 percent of New Jersey schools and 97 percent of its high schools offer Spanish. The other top languages are French, Latin, Italian and German. Less than 5 percent offer sign language, though it has been considered a world language by the state since 1996, said Jon Zlock, department spokesman.
Simakowicz said the class brings diversity to the school's world language program.
Students who have chosen the class agreed it was something cool and different -- an exciting class to spice up their day.
The five sign language classes Simakowicz teaches are sorted into two levels -- one for beginners and one for the more advanced. On Tuesday, the otherwise silent class was punctuated by the laughter of boisterous teenagers dashing madly toward empty seats while playing a game of silent musical chairs -- a good way to learn vocabulary.
Instead of playing music, the modified game requires one student to stand in front of the seated students and sign descriptive words like "white sneakers" or "curly hair." Those who matched that description would leap from their seats and try to find a vacant one. The last student standing is the next one to come up with a word.
Ashley Arguelles, 16, a junior, said she learned the signs for at least two new words: red and help. One fist placed over an open palm and then drawn toward the body means "help." This word was popular during the lesson. Students frequently used it to get Simakowicz's expert assistance. One student mischievously signed the word "old," forcing Simakowicz alone to leave her chair. She did so, with a smirk.
Ashley loves the class: "The fact that it's different, that you have to interact with people instead of just reading a book," she said. Plus, "it's a beautiful language."
Students seldom write in the class, since the main focus is on using the eyes and hands. One of Tuesday's level-two classes required students who had brought in drawings of their kitchens to describe them in sign language to classmates who drew what they were told. Most of the drawings were a pretty good match in the end, much to the students' delight.
Vocabulary sheets Simakowicz passes out are full of pictures and diagrams of how to make signs but lack written definitions. She uses lots of hands-on activities, and students also learn about the history of sign language, famous deaf people and the culture of the deaf community.
Several students said that learning to speak with their hands was not as hard as learning other foreign languages: "It's so much easier to use hands than accents," said Stephany Montalvo, 17, a senior in her first year of the course.
"When you want to emphasize something, you use what you know -- facial expressions and body language," added Stephanie Lavi, 17, a senior in the level-two class.
Sign language grammar, however, can be tricky to master because the word order does not follow the same rules as in spoken English. For example, questions come last in a sentence, but time always comes first. As in: time six, I woke up (not, I woke up at six). Stephany said she has trouble remembering to furrow her brow when asking the Who, What, Where, When or Why questions that require it. Yes and No questions call for raised eyebrows, Simakowicz said.
But for all their trouble, the students are acquiring a highly marketable skill, Simakowicz said.
The need for interpreters for the deaf is great and it outpaces the supply, said Pam Ronan, spokeswoman for the state Division of Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She said the division estimates there are as many as 720,000 people statewide with some degree of hearing loss.
Yet the state Department of Human Services lists only about 150 interpreters in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York who are either certified by the Registry for Interpreters of the Deaf or have successfully passed a Division screening, Ronan said. One hundred of those interpreters are from New Jersey. Ronan said the Division recommends $60 per hour for fully certified interpreters.
Several students, like Stephanie, indicated that they intend to use sign language professionally.
She wants to become a sign language interpreter in English and Spanish as well as interpreting in spoken Spanish and eventually Korean too. Anthony Palma, 17, a senior in level one, wants to be a doctor. "I know deaf people get sick too," he said.
And his career goals are just one example of how the course has affected his life beyond the classroom.
"It makes you more open, well-rounded and accepting," Anthony said.