Even More Conversation & Questions!

We have reached the final week: the week of the TED talks. Along with this comes large amounts of nerves, frustration, and especially confusion. I am trying to avoid all these things, but of course small amounts are even making their way into my head. The confusion is coming in where I am not exactly sure if I am supposed to be making this blog post, but even if it is not required, it is fun to make.

This week was again very open-ended, where research was definitely my first step unless I wanted tobe at a loss for words, literally, in the middle of my project. I again used my favorite website, lifeprint.com, which has different ASL lessons planned with many phrases and questions, as well as the history of ASL. So, as suggested by the site, I decided to learn how to say:

Yes, this is the sign for single

• Nice to meet you
• Are you deaf? (A very important one)
• Is this yours?
• Where do you live?
• Dad
• Mom
• Sister
• Brother
• And last but not least, "Are you single?"

During crunchtime, I decided to make up for my lack of learning least week and refine my knowledge for the TED talk just incase someone puts me on the spot. Overall, most of the learning was very straightforward and I could have figured them out with my knowledge of question words and some vocabulary. This pleasantly surprised me, and I think it will make it much easier for me to progress in the future and learn even harder phrases. Also, I found these phrases and vocab to be the most practical for daily use especially if I just meet someone who is deaf.

My strategy for learning has become very similar as I have progressed through the past 3-4 weeks. I just watched the videos on lifeprint multiple times, practiced, and put the phrases in to likely situations. I mean, asking a random person in sign language if they are single is the most likely situation in the entire world. Anyway, I found that this strategy is continuing to help me learn at this very high pace. The only better strategy for learning would be to find someone who is fluent in ASL, and being that I do not know one, I am doing the best that I can.

"Keep cal and sign BSL"

Again, I learned that sign language becomes increasingly more difficult as I delve further into grammar and things that I do not even know in English. But, all the signs are very practical, and the way that sentences are phrased is similar to the way primitive man spoke or how a toddler might speak, so I am already in the right frame of mind for that. The sign for live is literally just taking both hands on opposite sides of your torso and moving them upwards along your body. If you think about it, that is the part of the body that makes you live, so it makes a lot of sense.

If I were to branch off of sign language after this project or for a similar project I would definitely take a class on were certain signs came from, why they were created, how they have changed, and the difference between, say, American and British sign language. I have always wanted to take one of those language studies classes where you investigate how certain words or languages changed over time and I think that doing this in sign language would be so much more entertaining.

Rambling aside, I feel very accomplished upon the culmination of this project. I started out very strong, had good techniques, built a strong base of knowledge, and truly realized how much I liked sign language. I faltered somewhat towards the middle when I dove into statements and not just letters, words, or numbers, but I learned that research is key and used that to my advantage, which put me back on track. Finally, I can declare that if I were to be approached or if I were to approach someone who is deaf or knows sign language, I would be able to have a basic conversation with them. That was the goal, and although I was apprehensive about reaching it, I have finally got there and I feel amazing.

Wish me luck for my TED talk on Friday!