Questions about fluidity

Ethereal

Ethereal

New Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2004
Messages
248
Reaction score
0
I am going to school to become an interpreter. I grew up signing and signing is natural to me. I was talking to some girl I go to school with who said that they feel awkward when they sign.

Is this normal when you begin signing, or do some people just have harder times signing than others?


Also, I know 2 people who, 1 signs with very jerky motions, and 1 signs very, very sloppily to the point of making some signs look like others.
Do either of these situations bother deaf people?
 
The one that signs very, very sloppily to the point of making some signs look like other sign bothers me more than those with jerky motions. It is more about understanding what the other person is saying.
 
I can't answer the last questions, but I can answer the first one.

Yes, many people are nervous when they first start out signing. Especially if they are signing out side of the classroom to someone who is Deaf. It's the same with learning any language and then using it to talk to a "real" person (native speaker/signer).

There's a whole lot of "what if I sign something wrong", "what if I accidentally say something 'bad'", "will they understand me", "will I understand them", "am I making a fool of myself"? It's that sort of self doubt that makes people nervous.

I know it wasn't until I had a Deaf friend and signed regularly that I stopped being nervous. Of course I really didn't need to be as nervous even before that. Most of the Deaf people I ran into were very nice, patient and were quite pleased that I was taking the time to learn ASL and sign with them.
 
Thank you both for responding. I must admit, this is a whole new experience for me and I'm starting to think about things that never occured to me before.
 
i also think people who were awkward with signs need to "think" or "remember" signs. those are from jerky types of signers...

sloppy ones shows me they are just lazy i think.. or too used to it and just assumed that since one deaf person is used to it means all deaf does. but then only those people are who i knows... that signs sloppy .. have been around deaf people for a while and got to used to it. im not sure about others that i havent met. Who knows maybe they have different reason.

im just like sleepytaz except one thing.. sloppy signers just show me that they are too lazy to communicate and that kinda irrates me . i can handle jerky ones.. because i do have patience and i do allow them to take time and think before they try. (hey they DO try and that is what i appeciate the most)
 
Ethereal said:
Do either of these situations bother deaf people?
Click to expand...

It never quite got to the point that it became bothersome to me. I'm not sure whether its due to just due to my tendency overlook that particular trait in ones signing abilities.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.

Anyone can sign. A monkey can sign.

The true talent lies in understanding what the other deaf person is saying and , if signed in ASL, translated properly, however if its in Visual English, transliterated properly.

My biggest pet-peeve, since I sign basically in English, is the interpreters tendency to "insert" their own words, to make the sentence more seamless or configured in accordance to their concept of how a "sentence" should be uttered.

Every interpreter I've come across has done this. I wonder if it's just a natural reaction in terms of "polishing" off an sentence after hearing it from a third party. Nevertheless, I consider it very unprofessional.

So, with that jerking action of yours, don't worry much about it. It'll go away with time and experience. It's actually the least of your worries.
 
Ethereal said:
I am going to school to become an interpreter. I grew up signing and signing is natural to me. I was talking to some girl I go to school with who said that they feel awkward when they sign.

Is this normal when you begin signing, or do some people just have harder times signing than others?
Click to expand...

I don't think those are mutually exclusive. Every time I've started to learn a new (to me) language, spoken or signed, I feel VERY awkward! (Alas, in the case of ASL, I still feel awkward, because I haven't pursued opportunities to use it and have thus forgotten a lot. :()
 
Back
Top