A homegrown "foreign" language - American Sign Language

[SaraP]

Oh, no, no!

The sound I gave you was for European Portuguese. Brazillian Portuguese will still sound close to soul, but cut off at the L.

[Chase]

Did you hear the applause? Probably not, 'cause deaf people usually raise their hands and wiggle them or wave instead of clapping.

The silent excitement is National Deaf History Month from March 13 to April 15.

Okay, why such weird dates? Thought you'd never draw that question mark in the air. The first date (March 13, 1988) was the successful protest by Gallaudet University students for a deaf president at GU.

Paradoxically, we travel back in time for the end date (April 15, 1817) when the first American School for Deaf was established in Hartford, Connecticut.

History session done. The lights just flashed to end this class, so wave your hands.

[Literateparakeet]

Thanks Chase, I love this kind of stuff.

I will be sure and share this with my ASL class!

I mean about National Deaf History Month and the reason for the dates. (we knew about the applause ).

[Chase]

Today, I'm 71 (tap the ring finger on your thumb for seven, then hold up your index finger for one).

"Birthday" used to be a cumbersome word with two signs of birth+day. To put "happy" in front or back was an additional sign.

Nowadays, most of us deafies use a single sign: Place your open five-hand to your lips (as in the beginning of "good" and "thanks") but bend your middle finger to touch your chin. Then transfer the hand (finger still bent) to touch over your heart.

So happy birthday to kindone, Chase (71), Abstractrx, mdfa (47), bloemmarc (26), ILUVJLD (25), Private_Peterson (21), DoomyMuffins, and Metaphor (18).

[Katrina S. Forest]

Eek, I can't believe I've been away from this thread so long. I feel like I'm turning more and more into an AW lurker. Anyway, a very belated but very happy birthday, Chase!

Not sure where to begin on what I've been up to.

So, my spring class ends and I'm super excited about summer classes. Hooray, I'm thinking. School is closed, so I have all these free hours. It will be so much nicer.

Sadly, not everyone feels that way about summer and we were one student short of the minimum number to hold the class. *tears*

My original intention was to sign up for fall classes. Sure, I've got a baby on the way in a few months, but I can still drive, dang it. Then my other half sat down and had the, "don't be insane" talk with me. (This is the talk I get when the number of activities I try to do exceeds the boundaries of common sense.) It boiled down to, "either you forego the ASL class or you give up trying to finish your novel before the baby is born, aand I know you won't do that second option, even if you say you will."

Yeah, he's right. I won't. So, teary-eyed again (as anything makes me teary-eyed nowadays), I let the deadline for fall classes come and go.

So right now my plan is to just keep up practicing as much as I can and hope next summer has more interested students.

On the bright side, I was happy to see that they are offering some "ASL for Mommy" classes elsewhere, and while it will probably just be baby-related vocab-building, it's a class I can bring the baby along to. I'm also still getting e-mails from my ASL class about local events so I'm going to keep an eye out for things I can bring the baby to there as well. (I do need to master how to sign, "I suck at signing," though. I feel anyone who tries to start a conversation with me deserves that warning. ^_^ )

[Chase]

Splitting months may seem weird, but it begins a trip back through time:

Revolution. On March 13, 1988, Irving King Jordan was elected Gallaudet University’s first deaf president. Students revolted at the appointment of yet another hearing GU president, the appointee resigned, and Jordan was elected.

Charter Day. On April 8, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the charter establishing Gallaudet University campus in Washington, D.C.

Principal Founding Father. On April 15, 1817, Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet opened the American School for the Deaf as its first principal.

So sign "hello" to a deafie this month (and half of next month):

Sort of a British palm-out salute after touching the right temple.

[Chase]

Hi, it's me again.

As the day approaches when spring is celebrated by filling wicker baskets with colored eggs, marshmallow chicks, and chocolate bunnies, please remember it’s the middle of National Deaf Month (yeah, it’s two half-months, go figure).

Nobunny should be so cruel as to bite the ears off.

[Katrina S. Forest]

Originally Posted by Chase

Hi, it's me again.

As the day approaches when spring is celebrated by filling wicker baskets with colored eggs, marshmallow chicks, and chocolate bunnies, please remember it’s the middle of National Deaf Month (yeah, it’s two half-months, go figure).

Nobunny should be so cruel as to bite the ears off.

Oh, geez, that reminds me of my toddler this Easter:

"First I eat Bunny's ears! Then I eat Bunny's head! Then I eat Bunny's body!"

(He still drools like a maniac by the way, so this was all said with chocolate drooling down his chin.)

I like the two half-month thing, actually. It's different. I think each month has about a million different things being celebrated, some way more worthy of attention than others. (I Googled "National Bread Month" as a random thing just to see. Yup, it exists. November, actually.)

In other news, I'm going to have to take an ASL test for placement in the level 2 class, since I've been gone a year. I think it's just going to be introducing myself, letters, colors, stuff like that. I'm happy to finally be getting back, but tests always make me nervous.

[Chase]

Nice to "hear" from you. Okay, I'll quit the deafie jokes which sometimes make hearies uncomfortable and kill the thread.

I'm so glad you're back to your studies. Speaking of which, our AW admins were gracious enough to borrow some ASL smileys for us.

You already saw for "I love/like you" and to sign "I'm deaf."

We also have:



(The white waving hands for silent applause are hard to see, so Alleycat may outline them for us)

(When together as you know, this one says "chase" in ASL, my specialty signature.

[moth]

I did not know AW had ASL smilies! *goes, finds them all, swoons*

Katrina, good luck on your test! I hope they don't videotape you, those were always the bane of my existence. Although I suppose now it wouldn't be tape, lol. But still.

I hear you about being nervous for a test, no matter how prepared you feel. But I think nerves before a test are good, because it shows you care. I've taken a bunch of pro exams over the years, expressive and receptive, state and national, and I was a wreck every time. I've got one coming in October that I'm scared to death of. But I've seen your threads about April, and you know what you're talking about. I think your test results will show you know your stuff.

Originally Posted by Chase

(When together as you know, this one says "chase" in ASL, my specialty signature.

Love it! I saw this at the end of one of your posts the other day and the literal representation honestly didn't occur to me. Hope that doesn't make me a bad terp...

I use that sign "chase" for "chassé" (for obvious reasons ) in the ballet class I interpret for a little deaf girl. This is the 6th year I've been doing this class for her, and last year I had reason to write down all the different signs I've had to invent for the class over that time -- it approached 100 and continues to grow with all the new stuff her teachers present. It's fascinating because of the French history/influence on ASL paired with all the French vocabulary in ballet. (It's also nerve-wracking because I don't get a heads-up on the new lessons, so I usually have to think really fast! Luckily she's a sweet girl and understands if I think of a better sign later.)

It's weird, because I took 14 years of ballet myself (age 4 to 18), and I took French in h.s. and college, so I'm in a good position to make up signs for an English usage (I almost said "gloss," but I don't think that's right) of French words.

[Katrina S. Forest]

Wow, that's cool! I'm notorious for ignoring the smilies, so

for pointing them out. ^_^

I'm fine with jokes as long as no one asks me to make any, as I apparently am only funny when I didn't mean to be.

Originally Posted by Chase

Nice to "hear" from you. Okay, I'll quit the deafie jokes which sometimes make hearies uncomfortable and kill the thread.

I'm so glad you're back to your studies. Speaking of which, our AW admins were gracious enough to borrow some ASL smileys for us.

You already saw for "I love/like you" and to sign "I'm deaf."

We also have:



(The white waving hands for silent applause are hard to see, so Alleycat may outline them for us)

(When together as you know, this one says "chase" in ASL, my specialty signature.

[Haggis]

Chase, you can always post the deafie jokes in the Old Fart's thread. We laugh at anything there.

We drool a lot too.

[Katrina S. Forest]

Originally Posted by moth

I did not know AW had ASL smilies! *goes, finds them all, swoons*

Katrina, good luck on your test! I hope they don't videotape you, those were always the bane of my existence. Although I suppose now it wouldn't be tape, lol. But still.

I hear you about being nervous for a test, no matter how prepared you feel. But I think nerves before a test are good, because it shows you care. I've taken a bunch of pro exams over the years, expressive and receptive, state and national, and I was a wreck every time. I've got one coming in October that I'm scared to death of. But I've seen your threads about April, and you know what you're talking about. I think your test results will show you know your stuff.

Aw, thanks for the encouragement. I suppose they could ask me to record a video, but my guess it will just be a simple video chat.

One way I've been getting vocab practice in is when I'm trying to get the new baby to go to sleep, I open up Marlee Signs on my iPhone. I had another app at one point where the creator talked through each sign, which really annoyed me. I know they were just trying to give a helpful mnemonic, but 1) It doesn't seem useful for teaching a non-speaking language and 2) I generally use my iPhone in places where sound isn't really appropriate anyway.

One thing that confuses me on the Marlee Signs app, though, is the grammar. For example, I remember our ASL teacher taught us to sign, "What's your name?" as [YOU][NAME][WHAT]. But in the app, Marlee signs it, [WHAT][YOU][NAME]. I've been practicing the way I learned it.

[Chase]

all. Didn't know we had interpreters (terps) here at AW.

Just so you know, I've only been totally for (ten) years, after two decades of worsening HoH, but my big sis couldn't hear from birth, so we grew up on ASL.

I speak and speechread.



P.S. You got it, Haggis. Love your avatar. Hannibal (with closed captions) was on the AMC channel last night.

[Maryn]

I thought of this thread really hard last night. Did you all feel a funny vibration or anything, or am I not all that smart?

I was watching "Tosh.0" and host Daniel Tosh was doing his usual comedic riffs based on YouTube videos, including a fight breaking out at what appears to be a Halloween party for deaf people, some of whom have been drinking too much.

While Tosh was insult-comic funny about what they might have been arguing about, I wanted to know what they were signing before that one guy took a swing.

http://tosh.comedycentral.com/video-...t---uncensored (Note that's uncensored-- Hm, is swearing and cursing the same in ASL?) Anybody?

Maryn, curious

[Chase]

Originally Posted by Maryn

I wanted to know what they were signing before that one guy took a swing.

The argument started with the guy in the black turtleneck signing: Wrong. Saw-you. You-wrong . . . or . . . [what-you-sign] wrong.

The guy in the hat at one point signed a quick f--k you. It’s made by slamming the V fingers together where branch from the hand and then pointing at the victim of the curse. When we were little and mad at each other, my sister and I threw that and more insults back and forth like a crazed ping-pong match.

Turtleneck’s forefinger to head where Daniel froze the frame is think.

After the guy in the hat got up, turtleneck signed fine! just before he was pushed.

Then another guy confronted hat, signing me-maybe-push/fight?

Kay said Daniel was going for jokes rather than a good translation. Of course, she got all huffy at making fun of deafies, but I thought it was all good.

[Haggis]

Originally Posted by Chase

all. Didn't know we had interpreters (terps) here at AW.

Just so you know, I've only been totally for (ten) years, after two decades of worsening HoH, but my big sis couldn't hear from birth, so we grew up on ASL.

I speak and speechread.



P.S. You got it, Haggis. Love your avatar. Hannibal (with closed captions) was on the AMC channel last night.

,

What's ASL for cray's usual whiny smilie--

[Chase]

Originally Posted by Haggis

What's ASL for cray's usual whiny smilie--

The sign: look through the 3/4 circle of the C-hand (for the crescent moon), then push it away from the eye slightly skyward.

To see it signed, go to:

http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

Click on "M," then scroll down to "moon" and check out the add-on for "full moon."



P.S. In every ASL class I've ever taught, the first "how do you say" questions are always for smut signs, ha ha ha.

[Haggis]

I'm not the kind of puppy who likes to disappoint.

eta: you described that perfectly. So how do deafies distinguish between "moon" and "moon?" Context?

[Haggis]

Just a thought here, . Might the crescent moon ASL sign be used to describe someone who might be considered "half-assed?"

[Chase]

As you said, context and surrounding words. For instance, up is pointing heavenward:

Cray-us-moon-make. (Cray is mooning us.)

Moon-up-sky. (The moon is above [us])

Edit: Such sign-play is possible within groups; deafies also have their cool signs. However, there is no deaf idiom I'm aware of for the term "half-assed."

I could make the signs: the one finger, then dropping the hand below it to sign a two for half (1/2). Then I could sign behind or rear, but few deafies would get it. Sorry.

[Maryn]

Originally Posted by Chase

The argument started with the guy in the black turtleneck signing: Wrong. Saw-you. You-wrong . . . or . . . [what-you-sign] wrong.

The guy in the hat at one point signed a quick f--k you. It’s made by slamming the V fingers together where branch from the hand and then pointing at the victim of the curse. When we were little and mad at each other, my sister and I threw that and more insults back and forth like a crazed ping-pong match.

Turtleneck’s forefinger to head where Daniel froze the frame is think.

After the guy in the hat got up, turtleneck signed fine! just before he was pushed.

Then another guy confronted hat, signing me-maybe-push/fight?

Kay said Daniel was going for jokes rather than a good translation. Of course, she got all huffy at making fun of deafies, but I thought it was all good.

Thanks, Chase.

I might have taken offense if Tosh hadn't started with "Deaf people want to be treated like anyone else, which means we make fun of them," or words to that effect.

When Mr. Maryn was very ill, I remember laughing really hard at a standup comic who had the courage to mock chemo patients' baldness and puking. Never saw the guy again, though.

Maryn, learning

[Haggis]

Originally Posted by Maryn

Thanks, Chase.

I might have taken offense if Tosh hadn't started with "Deaf people want to be treated like anyone else, which means we make fun of them," or words to that effect.

When Mr. Maryn was very ill, I remember laughing really hard at a standup comic who had the courage to mock chemo patients' baldness and puking. Never saw the guy again, though.

Maryn, learning

I'm with Maryn.

Haggis, learning

[Chase]

Maryn and Haggis. This is all fun for me. However, my signs and translations are far out of date and most likely lacking. Katrina and Moth are trained terps and know lots more than I do.

[moth]

Chase, you're too kind. I envy you. You grew up using ASL and you're deaf yourself. My sign skills are good, but I have no deaf family or history and I do sometimes fall prey to hearing bias. (Not all the time tho )

Me, a trained terp? Yes.

Me, rusty in ASL? Also yes.

I can speak and understand ASL conversationally with my deaf friends, but ask me to interpret to/from ASL in a professional capacity and I'll get very nervous. I use CASE (Conceptually Accurate Signed English) professionally because it's what the park district that employs me mandates. It's serviceable for the ballet class, and happily it's not the horror that is SEE 1 or SEE 2 (Signing Exact English) (shudder). But my professional-confidence-level ASL is a good 8 years past. It'd take a while to get it back.

However. I watched the video Maryn posted, several times, with much backing up and re-watching, and I had a whole reply written up last night. And...I didn't have the nerve to post it. I was afraid that what I'd seen was wrong (it's been a looooong time since I've been to a deaf party. Good times tho) or that I'd missed something completely obvious.

I caught the "wrong" and the "think" in the video. But I missed the F you and, well, everything else Chase pointed out. I'm glad I didn't post what I wrote last night, because it would have been lacking.

Don't get me wrong, I'm good at my job. I'm just also out of practice with deaf grown-ups at a party.

The half moon thing made me laugh...I don't know how I'd sign that either.