CTTMISTYSK

Not that not all words in a language aren't essential… but they aren't. If you are stranded somewhere where no one speaks the same language as you it's a little more important to learn how to say things like:

"My name is ___"

"Where is the bathroom?"

"I need to use the telephone."

"Please help me!"

rather than less important things like:

"To be, or not to be: that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler… blah blah blah." Well, you get the idea.

Which is why I've created what I am calling: CAROLINE'S TOP 10 MOST IMPORTANT SIGNS THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW, or CTTMISTYSK for short. 

1. Hi my name is.

Know how to introduce yourself. It's important, because you're important, and people need to know who you are. You're a big deal!

Also know how to sign your name. When introducing yourself you sign your name using the alphabet. Learn your name, seriously I'm just trying to save you embarrassment. Nothing seems stupider than not even knowing how to spell your own name.

Here is the alphabet

2. How are you?

You need to know how to be polite, and that includes asking people how they are, to which they will almost always respond with: "Good"

Seriously though have you ever had a conversation with an acquaintance what didn't include "Hi, how are you?"

3. Deaf / Hearing

It's very important to ask if someone is deaf or hearing. It isn't considered rude. Deaf people are in no ways ashamed of being deaf, and it is not a disability.

4. Bathroom

When ya gotta go, you gotta go.

5. Food / Drink

nom nom nom

6. Want / Need

How are you ever going to get things if you don't know how to ask for them?

7. Slower

This one is very important, especially for those just learning ASL. Deaf people can sign ridiculously fast. It's amazing, I don't know how they do it! While beautiful, it can be very hard to understand if you are not fluent, so you can use this sign to ask them to repeat and slow down.

8. Hello / Goodbye

Salutations! These are easy!

9. Thank you

You may know this sign from the The Gratitude Campaign, which you can watch here:

I'm not sure if this ever actually caught on, or what variation of thank you they are using (I sign it from the lips, not the chest), but it's a good application. 

10. Annoying

Being a teenage girl, I am required by the laws of nature to find things annoying. So this is just a sign of a word that I find people use very frequently to express their emotions. Unfortunately there isn't a sign that mean "annoying" exactly, but this works well enough. 

11. Help

Whether you've been kidnapped, your car broke down, or you just need a little help with your math homework.

12. I love you 

Aw this is corny, but I think it's cute to know how to say I love you in multiple languages. Most people already know this sign.

Ooops, I guess its actually Caroline's Top 12 Signs…. at least the acronym stays the same!

CTTMISTYSK

What is Signed English?... and why am I not learning it?

Did you know that babies can learn signs to communicate before they can speak? For real! Check out this video!

AWWWWWWWWWWW.

Most parents who teach their babies how to sign are not deaf, and therefore do not speak ASL. A lot of times, parents opt to teach their baby Signed Exact English (SEE) instead.

SEE is to ASL what Google Translate is to most languages, a word for word translation of English into signs. Basically, every English word is converted into a sign, but the grammar and structure is the same as English. Hearing parents often choose SEE to teach to their children, because it is much easier for them to learn. Many people do not consider SEE to be its own language like they do for ASL. 

However, SEE is not considered a "living language" like ASL. ASL is cultural; there is a whole deaf community! SEE is often rejected by the deaf community, and in sometimes considered offensive. Probably for the same reason your foreign language teacher when students hand in reports that they typed into Google Translate in English, then hit "translate". 

It's really not the same. For example, translate the lyrics of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" into Chinese, and then back into English, and the second verse goes from

"In west Philadelphia born and raised On the playground where I spent most of my days Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school When a couple of guys, they were up to no good Started making trouble in my neighbourhood I got in one little fight and my mom got scared And said "You're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel-air" "

to this

"Born and raised in West Philadelphia

On the playground where I spent my days

Cold, apricot, relaxing all cool

All shooting some B ball outside school

When a couple of guys, they do not get better

Started making trouble in my neighborhood

My mom and I was afraid to play in a small

And said: "You and your aunt and uncle in Bel-Air""

Yeah sure you get the same idea in some of the phrases, but its not the same. And then some lines are completely wrong. Cold, apricot? What?

Just like the Chinese sentence structure and other grammar rules differ from English, so does Signed Exact English and American Sign Language. The two are not equivalents, and in translation there can be confusion just like with the song above.

Anyway, personally, I choose to learn ASL for a reason, and that was to be able to communicate with native speakers and learn more about deaf culture. Sure, SEE would be much easier for me, but that isn't the point. When you're passionate enough about something it doesn't matter how hard something is, because it's worth it.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SEE AND ASL

Grammar Study

Wow grammar! Super interesting right? I know what you're thinking: "Can you please talk about predicates, and modifiers, ooo and best of all... commas?!" 

No? Sigh, well sarcastic blog reader, I'd have to agree with you. I have never been too fond of grammar, and I ain't never done too good on them grammar tests. Irregardless, grammar is important, and in my opinion, one of the most difficult parts of learning any new language. We are so accustomed to our own way of speaking that anything else sounds wrong.

So bear with me, and I will make this "Grammar Study" as quick and  painless as possible. And hey, you're still reading! So maybe you do show a genuine interest in ASL grammar!

Questions. They are very important. How else would we gain knowledge of the world around us, build friendships, or express curiosity?

"What's your name?"

"Is that your dog?"

"How old is he?"

"Why did he just bite me?!"

"Does this look infected?"

"Where is the nearest hospital?"

Many of these questions contain "wh- question words": Who, what, where, when, and how (yes I know "how" doesn't start with a "wh" but it counts, okay) 

In English, we start the sentence with the these words, but in ASL, the question word follows the phrase.

For example, in spoken English I would say, 

"Where is my chocolate?"

"Who is that odd man over there?

"Why won't One Direction answer my fan mail?"

However, if I was signing….

MY CHOCOLATE- WHERE?

ODD MAN THERE- WHO?

ONE DIRECTION DOESN'T ANSWER MY MAIL- WHY?

So you see the question modifier follows the verb. They are also accompanied with the furrowing of eyebrows in what's called a "question face". 

(signing "who?")

Go ahead, try it, no one is watching.

Here is also a link to a page that contains pictures describing how to sign each questions word! Ya know, cause I know you are curious! CLICK HERE

Of course that's not to say that signing question word first is wrong but it's just not as commonly used.

In English we can say

"My chocolate is where?!"

"That odd man over there is WHO?!"

"And One Direction is ignoring me, why?"

Usually questions are worded that way for emphasis (notice the ?! or the ALL CAPS to show anger or disbelief.) or are rhetorical. The same emphasis can be added in sign language by rewording the question.

And so that's all for my brief grammar study. You're welcome. :)

Vlog

Wow I am awkward on camera... I knew there was a reason I never became a child actor! I hope you enjoyed my first, and probably last vlog, in which I explain my inspiration for learning ASL and talk about some of resources.

Week 4 Frustrations

I think there comes a point whenever you're learning a new language when you sit back and think "oh crap, I can't do this." Everything is going good, you're having fun learning new words, and then BAM a sinking feeling as you realize just how "big" languages are. 

I'll be talking to my sister and say something like: "I like Life cereal, but sometimes I'm not in the mood for something so cinnamon-y" and then I think to myself: 'Now how would I say that in ASL?' Then I'll realize I don't know the word for 'cereal', 'mood', or 'cinnamon'.  

It dawns on me that there are so many words to learn. So many, and it can feel like you can never learn them all. Even in English, which I am pretty good at, I don't know all the words! Thankfully, sign language consists of much less words than English. In an article on fingerspelling, Dr. Bill Vicars points out that there are about 180,000 English words, and only about 10,000 ASL "words". That leaves 170,000 words unaccounted for. (Vicars par 3)

ASL uses less words to say the same thing. There aren't as many synonyms and words are sometimes fingerspelled, or modified as the signer sees fit. That makes it both easier and hard, if that is even possible. Still, it seems like fluency is impossible!

I have to remind myself that fluency is not the goal. I need to focus on getting a good foundation for basic communication. I need to be learning words like "go" "stop" "please" "deaf", and not words like "cinnamon". 

To cheer myself up, I wrote short script introducing myself, and I realized I can say a lot more than I originally thought. Not bad, considering I'm a "hearie" who has only been learning for a couple weeks. I realize I've been neglecting the visual aspects of blogging, so I decided to post the video of me introducing myself in sign language. I posted subtitles at the bottom for non-speakers to understand. 

https://vimeo.com/61543734

Defining ASL

I can't believe week three has just come to a close! I feel like I've learned a lot of ASL, but still have so much to learn. I think that's the way with all languages though. 

The American Sign Language University are so great, they teach applicable sign language in an easy way.  My vocabulary has grown, and I think I would be able to sustain a short conversation. As part of one of the first lesson, one of the objectives was to effectively define ASL.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines it as such:

Main Entry: American Sign Language
Function: noun
Date: 1960
: a sign language for the deaf in which meaning is conveyed by a system of articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body

Reading the definition, I felt like it only scratched the surface of defining what ASL truly was. Although I have only been learning for a few weeks, I challenged myself to come up with my own definition of ASL

1. ASL is a performance.

Every sign, every gesture combines to tell a story. In addition, facial expressions are key to expressing emotion. Facial expressions are basically the equivalent of tone or inflection in spoken English. Questions are asked with a specific "question face" and the connotation of a word can be changed drastically based on your facial expression. I will admit that I feel a bit foolish sometimes, sitting in my room, or in the classroom, sticking out my bottom lip as I sign "sad", or furrowing my eyebrows as I sign a question. Still, done right, ASL is so elegant. It is truly and art.

2. ASL is a community.

As I go through the lessons I can definitely feel a sense of community portrayed. Dr. Bill Vicars, the man who created the American Sign Language University, begins each lesson with "Hello ASL Heros!". Also, random tidbits about culture are interspersed. For example, in the deaf community, people tend to hug each other way more. In general, I get the feeling that they are a close knit group of people, with a strong sense of unity. Though I feel blessed to have all of my senses, I almost am a little sad that I never will truly be apart of this community. 

3. ASL is a workout. 

I honestly don't know how native speakers can sign so fast. It's crazy. After practicing for a half hour I can feel my hands cramping up, and that's only going about half the normal spoken speed! I can't imagine speaking with my hands for a whole day, or a whole week, or my whole life. I don't know how many muscles are in my hands, but I am sure they are all getting a thorough workout!

Anyway, I am really excited to learn more signs. The next thing I would like to conquer would be grammar, because it is very different than English grammar.