Tag Archives: american sign language learning

Give the Gift of Learning

Posted on by
2

Those of you who are learning to communicate with others who cannot hear are very special individuals.  And, during this Holiday Season, you may know of other friends and family members who would like to learn American Sign Language, also.

Because of this, ASLdeafined offers Gift Certificates year-round, for a variety of special occasions.  Gift certificates may be purchased for any period of time, from One Month to an unlimited number of months.

Simply email us at info@asldeafined.com to order your Gift Certificate today, OR, simply go to our website www.ASLdeafined.com, and click on “Gift Certificate”.  Once your order is completed, we will send you an Invoice through PayPal.  Then, we will e-mail you a Gift Certificate with a User Name and Password attached to it.  All you have to do is print out the Certificate and present it to your friend, or family member.

A sample of the Gift Certificate is attached below.   As you can see, the Gift of Learning makes wonderful Christmas gifts, as well as wonderful gifts for so many other special occasions.

Let us help you to help that Special Person to start learning American Sign Language today.

Myths About American Sign Language (ASL)

Posted on by
1

Myth #1:  American Sign Language is Universal.

American Sign Language is not universal.  This myth is often shared by the majority of the hearing community.  American Sign Language is learned by the majority of the Deaf community in North America.  In addition, there are other countries that have adopted American Sign Language as their form of a visual language.  Furthermore, American Sign Language is a derivative of French Sign Language (FSL).  People, who know American Sign Language, or French Sign Language, would be able to communicate pretty well with each other.  However, just because one country speaks English, does not mean their sign language system would be used in another country that also speaks English.  The more you know about American Sign Language, the more you will realize that it is not a universal language.

Myth #2:   American Sign Language is Shorthand.

Numerous people believe that American Sign Language is a form of shorthand.  And, these people would be incorrect.  American Sign Language is not a form of shorthand, but a complex language system with linguistic components.  Many people have this belief because American Sign Language does not have a written component to it.  Instead, American Sign Language is a manual way of communicating with those who can, and cannot hear.  The next time you hear someone say that American Sign Language is a form of shorthand, you can politely correct them.

Myth #3:  All Deaf People use American Sign Language.

This myth is definitely false.  There are many deaf people that do not know, or learn American Sign Language, for one reason or another.  Some deaf people grow up learning how to read lips and talk in order to communicate with those around them.  Other deaf people are raised in an environment where he or she learns American Sign Language as their primary language.  Regardless of which method one learns, now you know that all deaf people are raised differently, with different communication methods.

Myth #4:  American Sign Language is Easy to Learn.

American Sign Language is not easy to learn.  In fact, it takes many years to “Master” this language.  In order to learn American Sign Language, it is imperative to interact with the Deaf community.   People often think that by completing a couple of classes in American Sign Language, one would be able to interpret or sign at a proficient level.  However, this belief is definitely completely wrong.  To learn American Sign Language, it takes the same amount of time, or longer as a spoken language, to learn or master.  The more you practice your American Sign Language skills, the better you will become.

 Myth #5:  Parents of Deaf Children Learn American Sign Language.

Ninety percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents, of which, seventy-five percent do not know American Sign Language.  Many times, parents with deaf children do not learn how to sign.  Instead, they force their children to learn how to lip read and talk in order to communicate with them and other family members.  On average, lip reading is the least effective way to communicate with those who are deaf.

American Sign Language Fingerspelling Strategies and Techniques

Posted on by
4

Using American Sign Language for fingerspelling can be difficult to master. Most people who learn ASL seem to have a problem receptively and expressively with fingerspelling.  Also, many times when a person starts to fingerspell, he/she tenses up and becomes unable to use it properly, while others avoid using fingerspelling altogether, and instead, they invent their own signs (which is not an acceptable habit to develop).

Here are some tips on how to improve your fingerspelling, both expressively and receptively:

Tips for Expressive Fingerspelling:

1.   Make sure you form each letter clearly. Don’t be sloppy. If you are, the other person will not understand you.

2.   Make sure you don’t bounce your letters. The last thing you want is for the person you are conversing with to get dizzy and lightheaded from your hands moving all over the place, like watching a fly buzzing around.

3.   Make sure your hand is close to your cheek. For proper nouns, you want to mouth the word while you are fingerspelling it.

4.  Try not to “sound out” each letter while fingerspelling it. You don’t want to distract from your message.

5.  And relax.  You’ll be far more proficient at communicating that way.

Tips for Receptive Fingerspelling:

1.   Try and catch the first letter of the word. If you have any chance of understanding fingerspelling, you have to read that first letter.

2.  Now, since you have understood the first letter, you need to get some letters in the middle, and at the end. Fingerspelling is almost like Wheel of Fortune…guessing letters that you don’t see, or missed.

3.  Use context clues to figure out the fingerspelled word. What is it you’re talking about? What is a likely word that person is spelling? You will get the gist of the spelled word, unless your entire conversation is being fingerspelled. Then, you might have some problems.

4.  Ask the person fingerspelling, to slow down, or repeat it. Some deaf individuals have a tendency to “fly” with their fingers, and so their messages are being lost. They want to communicate, so they will not be offended if you ask them to slow down, and if you’re new at it, ask them to slow WAY down. Then, grab that first letter, and you’ll improve as you continue to read fingerspelling. It does require a great deal of both effort and practice.

On our website, ASLdeafined, we have plenty of fingerspelling activities that will help boost your ability to read fingerspelling. Watch, as Jonelle fingerspells a series of words and sentences, slowly at first, and then increases the speed, as the lessons advance.

As a way of introducing you to Jonelle, she was born deaf, and is a Fifth Generation of Deaf in her family. She brings so much talent and expression to our web site. Just recently, we added her fingerspelling lessons for you to learn from.  Your task is to recognize the word within a given sentence. Once that word is identified, you need to type it in the blank provided. And remember, Jonelle will start off very slowly in the beginning lessons, but then she gradually builds up speed as the lessons progress.  This will dramatically improve your ability to read fingerspelling.

Enjoy these new lessons, and please welcome Jonelle as one of your new instructors. ASLdeafined is making a huge impact on the lives of so many people around the United States, and the World, in their quest to learn American Sign Language. Thank you for being a part of our wonderful group of friends.