How long did it take you to be fluent in ASL?

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DaeHan

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Just wondering. This question is more for Hearing people.
 
Years, but it also depends on how much interaction with the Deaf you have. For me I'm hard-of-hearing, but didn't learn to sign until high school. I picked up the language really fast, but i'm still learning more and more as I interact with Deaf people. Hope this helps you.
 
I'm late deafened. I was comfortably using an interpreter after 1 year (but still slow)... By 3 years I was very much up to speed and much more fluent. ASL is my 8th language though so I don't think that much speed is the norm. I was on scholarship to study linguistics when I had the worst of my hearing loss so it changed my academic path etc.
 
Learning any language requires discipline, patience and allot of practice. That said, if you want to have a good learning curve really do yourself a favor and be goal oriented in your approach. What are your goals? Your goals will determine the time and energy (hours,weeks, years) you will need to burn in order to get to your goal. Goals matter.
Some examples of the top of my head. Goal 1. Pick up the local hot deaf chick and have some fun. Goal 2. Write an award winning screen play in ASL. to be adapted to the screen by yours truly. Goal 3: Be able to carry a conversation, to start a conversation, to end one to weave tales and cause laughter with your deaf friends, goal 4. become a terp with all that entails. Goal 5; Pick up the local hot deaf chick and have some fun/ oh well i said that already but its worth repeating. All these goals are valid. All you can accomplish. But if you don't set them prior to you really grinding it out you will be left with allot of wasted time in my opinion. I cant stress this enough in learning any language. Even more so with asl. Set your goals. Meet your goals, Track your progress. (objective journal entries of your progress or lack thereof) You will save yourself allot of time if you use a very simple regimented system of clocking your acquiring and retention of signs. regardless on how much your practicing with a native signer. make no mistake you will need to find a native signer. if you want fluency.
for whats its worth.
as for me i'm Deaf. i was born hearing, Deaf at 9, Deaf residential school after, then gally where i worked on Goals 1 and 5 respectfully. i am fluent in 3 languages at present. and working on my fourth. English, Italian (English and Italiano i acquired before my deafness. -ASL. after. I will be attempting my JPLT level 4 dec 2014. obviously the spoken part will be void for me in the exam.
Hope this helps
Hoichi-the earless
 
I've been learning for almost two years, had one year of full time instruction but I need to practice more. So I'm not fluent in any sense of the word!
 
hoichi said:
Learning any language requires discipline, patience and allot of practice. That said, if you want to have a good learning curve really do yourself a favor and be goal oriented in your approach. What are your goals? Your goals will determine the time and energy (hours,weeks, years) you will need to burn in order to get to your goal. Goals matter.
Some examples of the top of my head. Goal 1. Pick up the local hot deaf chick and have some fun. Goal 2. Write an award winning screen play in ASL. to be adapted to the screen by yours truly. Goal 3: Be able to carry a conversation, to start a conversation, to end one to weave tales and cause laughter with your deaf friends, goal 4. become a terp with all that entails. Goal 5; Pick up the local hot deaf chick and have some fun/ oh well i said that already but its worth repeating. All these goals are valid. All you can accomplish. But if you don't set them prior to you really grinding it out you will be left with allot of wasted time in my opinion. I cant stress this enough in learning any language. Even more so with asl. Set your goals. Meet your goals, Track your progress. (objective journal entries of your progress or lack thereof) You will save yourself allot of time if you use a very simple regimented system of clocking your acquiring and retention of signs. regardless on how much your practicing with a native signer. make no mistake you will need to find a native signer. if you want fluency.
for whats its worth.
as for me i'm Deaf. i was born hearing, Deaf at 9, Deaf residential school after, then gally where i worked on Goals 1 and 5 respectfully. i am fluent in 3 languages at present. and working on my fourth. English, Italian (English and Italiano i acquired before my deafness. -ASL. after. I will be attempting my JPLT level 4 dec 2014. obviously the spoken part will be void for me in the exam.
Hope this helps
Hoichi-the earless
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This is for the hearing and probably for Late Deafened people (who were hearing in the early adult). You have many years of being deaf since you were 9 years old. :roll:
 
yeah i've been deaf for 29 years give or take a few months.
for whats its worth
 
The same could be said for other Deaf people from other countries, where they use a different sign language.

Like me for instance, I use Auslan (Australian Sign Language), and I'm not fluent in ASL. I can use JUST enough ASL to get by, but it does take a lot of practice, discipline and patience to become fluent. That said, one will need to do some kind of ASL immersion. If I was to visit the USA for a while, I'd become immersed into ASL by visiting Deaf friends, events and whatnot within the USA Deaf Community.
 
Australian fellow here like shezzbeav here however I have been to the USA in the past and my ASL level is close enough to fluent but I can carry a decent conversation over video call or in person. taking practice makes a lot of learning plus I am a quick learner as well
 
access communication quality ASL. so communication whether you ASL depend quality skills. your access communication specialist to skills visual to how understand. whether to community relationship to deaf community. also alots education. alots of eduction. alots of hearing approximate to learn newbie :)
 
about as long as it takes to learn french or chinese or indian
 
In my opinion, Its not so much the language that matters its the individual and his/her motivation, her/his methodology, and last but not least his/her natural ability at learning, acquiring, and retaining another language. Those who are polyglots at a young age will pick up and retain languages easier then those who grew up monologlot.. Regardless learning and becoming fluent in any language not your own takes allot of work, discipline, and sacrifice. Also languages that are closer to each other linguistically tend to for obvious reasons be easier for those with fluency in one or the other to pick each other up. Not always but its a safe bet someone fluent in German will pick English up quicker then Chinese. again people are curious and complex beings so this will very.
People define fluency different. Which is a problem but recognizing that, Ill cede learning 100 signs mostly about chicks booze and flicks isn't all that hard. Anything more, your gonna have to work at it. Rightly so. Look at what your doing? Thinking it comes cheap with little dedication or work will get you know place fast. not implying any one here does just a figure of speech.
refer to my above posts for some very good tips. stivck with it. galy wasnt built in a day!!
Hoichi-the earless
 
Depends on who you are and how much you interact with people and having friends who are Deaf or joining a club where people sign is the best I learned and having an awesome teacher who is close to the core of Deaf culture and community. It will take you several years but the beauty of sign language is that you can still convey meaning where with spoken languages it can really tough
 
I started learning ASL seven-ish years ago (but I've only actually been able to learn in classes and interact with the Deaf community and such for three of those, most heavily last year when I did a residential practicum at a Deaf school). Even though I'd say I'm fairly proficient, I definitely still wouldn't call myself fluent. Not on an adult level, at least. It really depends on how much you can interact with people and such, largely.
 
Took me a year to learn sign language that was back in High school. Right now I am studying Education and minorring in deaf studies.
 
a year?
define "learn sign language", at what level was your fluency?
just curious
 
DaeHan said:
Just wondering. This question is more for Hearing people.
Click to expand...

When I was a kid, I learned ASL from 1985-1989, lost it during my schooling in a hearing school district, regained it back from 2001-2005, and have had it since then.
 
hoichi said:
a year?
define "learn sign language", at what level was your fluency?
just curious
Click to expand...

Yep a year without no sign language class due to me being on a IEP/504 plan since middle school. I was more into the deaf community, where I was able to have a sign language interpreters with me as I enter my sophomore year in high school.
 
I believe the standard is 3-5 years for fluency. I hang out with signers all the time, but since reception is delayed, don't understand everything. Have been signing for 3 years. Would say I sign at about an ASL3 level, if ASL5 is fluency.
 
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