Thursday, February 12, 2009
Deaf Culture
I am currently in ASL 1 and have been learning so much lately about deaf culture. The very idea that an entire culture exists is fascinating to me. Its not about integrating the hard of hearing into our society but about us learning more to be able to listen to them instead of forcing them to us. I attended Silent Bingo the other night and learned so many new words just by being around the environment. Everyone was so willing to teach me anything I wanted to know. I have been learning that there are several different versions of Sign language depending where you are. Britain for example has an entirely different set of signs with only a few similarities. I am just fascinated by the language all around. Everything is so simple. There are no tenses or reasons to use "is" and "am." All grammar is done with your facial expressions. I am having so much fun challenging myself and this class and can't wait to learn more. I definitely recommend if for anyone who still needs a language or just has some free hours. Its so different from learning another language and that's why I like it.
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I learned a little bit of ASL in late elementary school and remember being fascinated as well. There was a hearing impaired girl in our class and so our teacher had Joyce Wilder, a professor here at WKU, come in a teach us the basics. I learned the ABCs, and basic words like: girl, boy, and colors. I was also given a name sign which was the best part! I never used it much and regret not developing my knowledge further. When I got to college I hung out with a deaf guy. I was amazed at how well he read lips! My friends and I picked up signing to try to include him the best we could. It was neat to see the interaction between he and the group. I couldn't imagine not being able to hear, but through ASL, and a lot of new technology its a lot easier for the hearing impaired to live a near normal life it seems. I bet you're very good at communicating, being in theatre, since so much of the language is facial expressions!
ReplyDeleteI took ASL I and II 2 years ago and absolutely loved it. It was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be but everyone is so patient and willing to help. I actually enjoyed ASL II more than ASL I. I had Kim Kirkpatrick for this class learned so much from her. I thought her class was going to be extremely hard because she is deaf but to my amazement, it was easier than ASL I. I think it was easier because she was patient and took things slowly and made sure that everyone understood what was going on before moving to the next topic. I have used ASL several times. I work at Culver's and every once a while, we will have a customer who is deaf and it always makes me feel good being able to communicate with them (although, I have forgotten most of the signs that I learned).
ReplyDeleteMy sister took it a couple of years ago and didn't stop talking about it. It seems really interesting, more so than the typical french or spanish that post people take. It's just so different and unique. Something I'd rather do that another year of Spanish.
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