Taught Myself the ASL Alphabet

i think loudsilence maybe a child lets not be harsh she doing her best
 
caz12 said:
yes you right but not sure in what contex you mean
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Whomever had said that, made it seem like I was restraining myself not to make fun of, and tease those who are HOH or deaf. I don't think that it's right that they should get made fun of, therefor, I don't do it. I would never do something like that because:
a) Its just wrong to begin with
b) I have been bullied before over something I couldn't help and it freaking sucked.
c) They can't help that so why should they get bullied for it?
 
Hi LoudSilence,

I think it's great that you're interested in this stuff, and neat that you've learned the alphabet and some signs.

It's good stuff to know, and based solely on my own experience, I think it's good for your brain.

And really cool that you were able to have that interaction at your 4-H fundraiser.

I think it's all good so far. I also think that it's true that if you want to go much further, a class would be really beneficial - it's so easy to learn things wrong when you start putting real sentences together, but that's your call. Your life, your schedule, your decisions.

That said, if you want to start talking about what you're doing, especially in a place like this, there are a couple things I'd watch out for. (just based on what I've read from your posts so far)

1.) What you're doing now, don't call it "using ASL" (from post 13). Fingerspelling plus a handful of signs is really different from ASL. There's a whole grammar, a really important part of the language, that is most likely missing - you're probably either just using English grammatical structures and putting signs (or fingerspellings) in for the English words, or doing something more basic and just getting very simple concepts across. ASL is way more sophisticated than that. Again, this doesn't mean that what you've done is worthless. And there are enough people who've done a little bit like that, that there seem to be a good number of Deaf people who are pretty good (and pretty patient) about figuring out what we're trying to say. But ASL is a precious part of the Deaf community, so I'd be specific when describing what you're doing. Just like you did in the beginning: "I know the alphabet, numbers 0-9 and a few signs".

2.) If you can possibly borrow a book on Deaf Culture to read, I'd do that. If not, then (also referencing post 13) I wouldn't refer to yourself (in comparison with other teenagers) as "willing" to learn this stuff. You're learning it because you're interested in it. Ok, I'm learning it because I'm interested in it. "Willing" makes it sound like Deaf people are just sitting around waiting for us to learn some ASL so we can help them out, and the reality of Deaf culture is nothing like that. It's a privilege for hearing people to get to learn this stuff. And honestly, if you eventually decide that you want to get good at it, *you* will need Deaf people. You'll need their time, their patience, their willingness to sit and have conversations with you with what for them will be at an extremely basic level, and maybe, if you decide you're interested, you'll need them to teach you. (There are some good hearing ASL teachers, but there are things that just aren't the same as learning from a culturally Deaf, native signer.)

3.) More on being careful how you phrase things. I understand what you were saying in post 24. You're not restraining yourself because you would never want to treat people badly in the first place. Same here, awesome, all good. But (22 and 24) referring to Deafness as something someone "can't help" again sort of puts it in a negative light. Almost like if they could help it they'd be different. And lots and lots of Deaf people don't feel that way at all.

4.) This isn't as intense as the other issues, but since you're here, obviously interested in the subject to some degree, I thought I'd mention it, In post 13 you made reference to "learning sign language". So it's worth remembering that there are many many different signed languages in the world (just like there are lots of spoken languages). Some people don't know this and think there's just one. When you just talk about "sign language", it reinforces this idea. If you want to promote understanding of how things actually are, better to talk about the language you're interested in as "ASL". Or, if you're talking generally about kids all over the world learning, you could say "signed languages." Honestly I'm just now starting to fix this in my own usage. (I know in (1) I said not to say you're using ASL yet out of respect for the community and its language. But it is the language you're interested in, learning little pieces of so far. I hope that didn't make things confusing.)

Ok. I hope you don't feel like I just hit you over the head with a rock. Or several rocks. I do think it's a positive thing that you're interested and learning.
 
Thank you very much. I would be very interested in getting an ASL book. I apologize if I offended anyone on this site with my wording. I will take your advice when working on my ASL practice.
 
Oh good, I'm glad that went over ok. I had just been thinking about how it happens to alot of people - what seem like subtle little things in the way they say things can really carry alot of weight, and then they get shaken up about how people are reacting to them here. Then I read your post, so my brain was kind of in that place - thus you got one of my little (cough) novels:0

Do you have access to a good library?
 
Oh, I also meant to ask you, where did you learn what you've picked up so far?
 
I do have access to a library, and I learned most of what I now from a book, "Sukari". It was about a chimp that learned to sign. I also have ASL apps on my smart phone. Thank you for that link.
 
LoudSilence said:
I do have access to a library, and I learned most of what I now from a book, "Sukari". It was about a chimp that learned to sign. I also have ASL apps on my smart phone. Thank you for that link.
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How old are you?
 
LoudSilence said:
I thought myself the ASL alphabet and 0-9. I am pretty proud of myself, although some letters take me a minute the figure out what they are. I always mix up "A", "S", and "E". Other than that, I'm not to shabby! :D

I also know a few words: diaper, tree, bird, yes, no, respect, understand, beautiful, nothing, going, mom, dad, on, I love you, love, kiss, learn, and friend. It's not much, but it is a start. My school doesn't offer this, so I learned all of this on my own.
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Good job!
 
LoudSilence said:
I learned most of what I now from a book, "Sukari". It was about a chimp that learned to sign.
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:io:

(you might consider scraping your money together for a copy of this, new or used, it's what a lot of courses use and it's fantastic: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Signing-Naturally-Student-Workbook-Units/dp/1581212100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372025156&sr=8-1&keywords=signing+naturally]Signing Naturally Level 1[/ame])
 
A lot of people use the Signing Naturally curriculum, and it comes with CD/DVDs to view on your TV as well. It's also what most colleges use for their ASL courses.

Anybody remember the Candy Bar story? I watched that when my husband was taking his ASL classes, and I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the punch line. It ended up good :lol:
 
The Candy Bar story is good, but I think everyone's favourite was the famous The Ball Story. Ben Bahan is an amazing storyteller!
 
See if you can get the library to find a copy of The Mask of Benevolence for you, it clearly explains the oppression and audism perpetrated against the Deaf community, and will further your learning of Deaf culture, which is an integral part to learning ASL.
:)
 
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