The NAD (National Association of the Deaf) has worked with the NFL to have deaf students from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind perform the national anthem at the SUPER BOWL!
I can't wait to watch.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Exciting News!
Hey guys so I just found this on the internet. This is going to be a great way for millions and millions of people to be exposed to American Sign Language!
The NAD (National Association of the Deaf) has worked with the NFL to have deaf students from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind perform the national anthem at the SUPER BOWL!
I can't wait to watch.
The NAD (National Association of the Deaf) has worked with the NFL to have deaf students from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind perform the national anthem at the SUPER BOWL!
I can't wait to watch.
The 4-1-1
So now I think it's important to go over some of the basic things everyone needs to know about ASL.
ASL is its own language. It is NOT signed English.
ASL is the third most spoken language in the United States. (after English and Spanish)
ASL is also spoken in 22 other countries.
Sign language is more than just communicating with your hands. It incorporates the body and face as well. Non manuals are different facial expressions and body movements that add additional meaning to a sign. Depending on the non manual used, the sign can have a different meaning.
Name signs are common in the deaf community. Name signs are used instead of fingerspelling out everyone's name. Name signs can simply be the first letter of a name and the first letter of a last name, or signs describing a person made using a letter hand shape. My name sign combines the letter "K" with the sign for "FIELD HOCKEY" because my name starts with K (Kelsey) and I love to play field hockey. If you are not deaf, you have to wait for a member of the deaf community to assign you a name sign out of respect. I finally got a name sign my senior year in high school when I would go to Silent Lunch every Wednesday. Silent Lunch was a great opportunity to meet members of the deaf community and to practice my signing more. Every Wednesday and Friday members of the deaf community meet at either a mall or a restaurant and just relax and socialize together. My class was lucky enough to experience this every week. It helped me to improve so much and I made some great friends at the same time!
While at Silent Lunch, a favorite topic to talk about was the huge online deaf culture. Blogging and video-blogging (vlogging) have become a popular way for the deaf community to stay even more connected. Here is a link to one that I follow regularly.
ASL is its own language. It is NOT signed English.
ASL is the third most spoken language in the United States. (after English and Spanish)
ASL is also spoken in 22 other countries.
Sign language is more than just communicating with your hands. It incorporates the body and face as well. Non manuals are different facial expressions and body movements that add additional meaning to a sign. Depending on the non manual used, the sign can have a different meaning.
Name signs are common in the deaf community. Name signs are used instead of fingerspelling out everyone's name. Name signs can simply be the first letter of a name and the first letter of a last name, or signs describing a person made using a letter hand shape. My name sign combines the letter "K" with the sign for "FIELD HOCKEY" because my name starts with K (Kelsey) and I love to play field hockey. If you are not deaf, you have to wait for a member of the deaf community to assign you a name sign out of respect. I finally got a name sign my senior year in high school when I would go to Silent Lunch every Wednesday. Silent Lunch was a great opportunity to meet members of the deaf community and to practice my signing more. Every Wednesday and Friday members of the deaf community meet at either a mall or a restaurant and just relax and socialize together. My class was lucky enough to experience this every week. It helped me to improve so much and I made some great friends at the same time!
While at Silent Lunch, a favorite topic to talk about was the huge online deaf culture. Blogging and video-blogging (vlogging) have become a popular way for the deaf community to stay even more connected. Here is a link to one that I follow regularly.
In the Classroom
In the last post I briefly talked about my experience in my ASL classes in high school. I want to elaborate a little bit more. On the second day of class I remember walking in terrified of not being able to talk. We had just learned how to spell our names and learn some basic signs that we would be using in the classroom often. My teacher gave us a link to a website where you can type in any word and a video pops up demonstrating how to properly sign the word. This website is a great resource. It has a main dictionary for everyday words and then has specialized dictionaries for things like religion or conversations. I bookmarked the website because that is how often I use it. If anyone wants to learn how to sign or wants to learn a particular word, this is the place to go. Every nine weeks in my ASL classes, no matter what level I took, all the students were required to pick a song, transcribe it, and then perform it for the class for a grade. I was so nervous when I first heard about it, but the projects quickly became one of the most exciting days of class. As soon as I get a hold of my projects that were recorded I will post them up, but until then here are some good examples of people signing to music.
Miley Cyrus- Party in the USA
Owl City- Fireflies
Performing the songs in class was not just a fun activity for us to do, it also showed us how American Sign Language is not just signed English. It is its own separate and unique language with different grammar rules as well. When first looking at a song to perform, the first step that we needed to do was called transcribing. It is basically taking the lyrics from ASL into word form. The piece of paper with the transcription on it is called a gloss.
Here is a picture of what a gloss looks like.
Many times ASL and English cannot be translated literally and if you tried to sign this way most people would not understand.
If you are interested in learning to sign a song, here is a website that explains more and shows you an example.
Miley Cyrus- Party in the USA
Owl City- Fireflies
Performing the songs in class was not just a fun activity for us to do, it also showed us how American Sign Language is not just signed English. It is its own separate and unique language with different grammar rules as well. When first looking at a song to perform, the first step that we needed to do was called transcribing. It is basically taking the lyrics from ASL into word form. The piece of paper with the transcription on it is called a gloss.
Here is a picture of what a gloss looks like.
Many times ASL and English cannot be translated literally and if you tried to sign this way most people would not understand.
If you are interested in learning to sign a song, here is a website that explains more and shows you an example.
Talk With the Hand
I created this blog to write about one of my passions and interests: American Sign Language (ASL).
Everyone has seen people out and about signing to each other and most likely want to know what they are talking about. All throughout my life I was drawn to these people who were communicating with their hands; talking without sound. My mom would always tell me "Kelsey, it's rude to stare. Stop that!" She would make me look away but I would always fight for a final glance. In middle school I taught myself the alphabet, but that was about it.
When I went onto high school I learned that I had the opportunity to take 13 different languages- one of them being ASL. I finished Spanish in 9th grade and then signed up for ASL 1 in 10th grade. The great thing about sign language class was that from the beginning we were not allowed to talk. We were allowed to write notes to each other or to the teacher until we learned signs and then we were expected to sign for the rest of the year. Many of the students in my class immediately started complaining, saying things like "But now we can't talk!" That was dumb. We could talk... just using our hands.
One of the things that I find so wonderful about sign language is that it takes what most people view as "communication" and turns it upside down. I took three years of American Sign Language in high school and it became my favorite class of all time. Now that I am a college student at George Mason, I have not been taking classes because ASL is not recognized as a foreign language and they don't offer classes... so in the summer I am going to be taking classes at Gallaudet in Washington D.C. My hope is to become fluent my my sophomore year in college and become an interpreter either privately or for the government.
Here's the link to Gallaudet's website. Check it out.
Everyone has seen people out and about signing to each other and most likely want to know what they are talking about. All throughout my life I was drawn to these people who were communicating with their hands; talking without sound. My mom would always tell me "Kelsey, it's rude to stare. Stop that!" She would make me look away but I would always fight for a final glance. In middle school I taught myself the alphabet, but that was about it.
When I went onto high school I learned that I had the opportunity to take 13 different languages- one of them being ASL. I finished Spanish in 9th grade and then signed up for ASL 1 in 10th grade. The great thing about sign language class was that from the beginning we were not allowed to talk. We were allowed to write notes to each other or to the teacher until we learned signs and then we were expected to sign for the rest of the year. Many of the students in my class immediately started complaining, saying things like "But now we can't talk!" That was dumb. We could talk... just using our hands.
One of the things that I find so wonderful about sign language is that it takes what most people view as "communication" and turns it upside down. I took three years of American Sign Language in high school and it became my favorite class of all time. Now that I am a college student at George Mason, I have not been taking classes because ASL is not recognized as a foreign language and they don't offer classes... so in the summer I am going to be taking classes at Gallaudet in Washington D.C. My hope is to become fluent my my sophomore year in college and become an interpreter either privately or for the government.
Here's the link to Gallaudet's website. Check it out.
Monday, February 1, 2010
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