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Register-Mail.com - Galesburg Register-Mail Online
Two friends talking. And hardly a sound between them.
Carol Monical is deaf. Kaye Randell is not, but her hands form letters, words and phrases nearly as fast as people speak.
Monical replies in kind, shaping her thoughts with rapid movements of her hands.
"There are words there are no signs for," said Monical in a soft flat, monotone known as a deaf accent. "You have to spell them."
Monical, who lives in De Long, was born with a hearing deficiency and was deaf by her late 20s. Over time, she picked up sign language. She is rare among deaf people, because she can use her voice.
"I was a good lip reader," she said. "But there's so much you miss."
For years, she managed the Orange Julius store at the Sandburg Mall, sometimes serving as a classroom lab for people studying sign language and often surprising other customers who were slow to realize she could not hear.
Randell, who lives in Galesburg, learned sign language while working as a classroom assistant for the Peoria Association of Retarded Children. But she improved her skills to interpreter status at Illinois Central College in the mid-1990s.
"There's a big difference between knowing sign and being an interpreter," she said.
Although the two knew each other slightly for years, the friendship grew when Randell followed along with Monical to provide interpretation as part of her schooling.
"There's not a word big enough to describe her assistance to me," Randell said.
They now meet socially when time permits, but Randell interprets for Monical twice a month at church.
Sign language is gaining in usage. For one thing, small children too young to speak are being taught sign language, using it to ask for food, rather than crying and leaving a parent to guess. This requires a parent know the language, as well.
Plus, Randell said, more children are being born with hearing problems and parents are learning sign along with their children.
Randell has taught a course in sign language at Carl Sandburg College for more than 10 years and students have included parents of deaf children, nurses who work with deaf patients, people who lost their voice through disease or an accident and others.
The class this year was cancelled, however, because too few people enrolled.
Monical benefits from this increased knowledge of the language as she goes about her daily life doing such things as shopping.
"Sometimes, if people know I'm deaf and they know a little sign, they'll use it," she said.
Her children know the language and so do five of her grandchildren.
The two share some insight into the language during a meeting at a local coffee shop.
Like spoken language, they point out, sign has regional differences, much like spoken dialects. Randell said some words have 10 different signs throughout the United States.
Also, the sentence structure is different, creating such sentences as "Tomorrow store go I." The declarative sentence "French fries want" becomes a question when stated with raised eyebrows.
Learning sign is no different from learning any foreign language. The time required to become conversant is variable.
"It depends on the person," Randell said. "Some people, never. For others, easy."
There are other impediments to speaking with hand and arm motions. On this day, Randell is recovering from rotator cuff surgery in her right shoulder, limiting the movement of her arm. One of Monical's fingers is wrapped in heavy bandage, the aftermath of a recent operation.
Joking, Randell said, "It's laryngitis."
Two friends talking. And hardly a sound between them.
Carol Monical is deaf. Kaye Randell is not, but her hands form letters, words and phrases nearly as fast as people speak.
Monical replies in kind, shaping her thoughts with rapid movements of her hands.
"There are words there are no signs for," said Monical in a soft flat, monotone known as a deaf accent. "You have to spell them."
Monical, who lives in De Long, was born with a hearing deficiency and was deaf by her late 20s. Over time, she picked up sign language. She is rare among deaf people, because she can use her voice.
"I was a good lip reader," she said. "But there's so much you miss."
For years, she managed the Orange Julius store at the Sandburg Mall, sometimes serving as a classroom lab for people studying sign language and often surprising other customers who were slow to realize she could not hear.
Randell, who lives in Galesburg, learned sign language while working as a classroom assistant for the Peoria Association of Retarded Children. But she improved her skills to interpreter status at Illinois Central College in the mid-1990s.
"There's a big difference between knowing sign and being an interpreter," she said.
Although the two knew each other slightly for years, the friendship grew when Randell followed along with Monical to provide interpretation as part of her schooling.
"There's not a word big enough to describe her assistance to me," Randell said.
They now meet socially when time permits, but Randell interprets for Monical twice a month at church.
Sign language is gaining in usage. For one thing, small children too young to speak are being taught sign language, using it to ask for food, rather than crying and leaving a parent to guess. This requires a parent know the language, as well.
Plus, Randell said, more children are being born with hearing problems and parents are learning sign along with their children.
Randell has taught a course in sign language at Carl Sandburg College for more than 10 years and students have included parents of deaf children, nurses who work with deaf patients, people who lost their voice through disease or an accident and others.
The class this year was cancelled, however, because too few people enrolled.
Monical benefits from this increased knowledge of the language as she goes about her daily life doing such things as shopping.
"Sometimes, if people know I'm deaf and they know a little sign, they'll use it," she said.
Her children know the language and so do five of her grandchildren.
The two share some insight into the language during a meeting at a local coffee shop.
Like spoken language, they point out, sign has regional differences, much like spoken dialects. Randell said some words have 10 different signs throughout the United States.
Also, the sentence structure is different, creating such sentences as "Tomorrow store go I." The declarative sentence "French fries want" becomes a question when stated with raised eyebrows.
Learning sign is no different from learning any foreign language. The time required to become conversant is variable.
"It depends on the person," Randell said. "Some people, never. For others, easy."
There are other impediments to speaking with hand and arm motions. On this day, Randell is recovering from rotator cuff surgery in her right shoulder, limiting the movement of her arm. One of Monical's fingers is wrapped in heavy bandage, the aftermath of a recent operation.
Joking, Randell said, "It's laryngitis."
