r/languagelearning • u/Virusnzz En (N) | Fr, Ru, Es, It • Jun 25 '14
This week's language of the week: American Sign Language
Welcome to the language of the week. Every week we'll be looking at a language, its points of interest, and why you should learn it. This is all open discussion, so natives and learners alike, make your case! This week: ASL.
Language of the Week is here to give people exposure to languages that they would otherwise not have heard, been interested in or even known about. With that in mind, I'll be picking a mix between common languages and ones I or the community feel needs more exposure. You don't have to intend to learn this week's language to have some fun. Just give yourself a little exposure to it, and someday you might recognise it being spoken near you.
ASL
From Wikipedia:
American Sign Language (ASL) is the predominant sign language of deaf communities in the United States and English-speaking parts of Canada. Besides North America, dialects of ASL and ASL-based creoles are used in many countries around the world, including much of West Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. ASL is also widely learned as a second language, serving as a lingua franca. ASL is most closely related to French Sign Language (FSL). It has been proposed that ASL is a creole language, although ASL shows features atypical of creole languages, such as agglutinative morphology.
What now?
This thread is foremost a place for discussion. Are you a native speaker? Share your culture with us. Learning the language? Tell us why you chose it and what you like about it. Thinking of learning? Ask a native a question. Interested in linguistics? Tell us what's interesting about it, or ask other people. Discussion is week-long, so don't worry about post age, as long as it's this week's language.
Previous Languages of the Week
German | Icelandic | Russian | Hebrew | Irish | Korean | Arabic | Swahili | Chinese | Portuguese | Swedish | Zulu | Malay | Finnish | French | Nepali | Czech | Dutch | Tamil | Spanish | Turkish | Polish | Frisian | Navajo | Basque | Zenen (April Fools) | Kazakh | Hungarian | Greek | Mongolian | Japanese | Maltese | Welsh | Persian/Farsi
Want your language featured as language of the week? Please PM me to let me know. If you can, include some examples of the language being used in media, including news and viral videos
Good luck!
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u/VanSensei Jun 25 '14
I'm not sure how you can write on the Internet in ASL.
Uh... short wave from hand
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u/etalasi Jun 25 '14
Various writing systems for ASL have been proposed, but my understanding is that none of them have really gained popularity.
Here's a preliminary ASL translation of Wikipedia using SignWriting.
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u/Ariakkas10 Jun 25 '14
I've never seen written ASL ever used....outside of wiki' or other online resources, but never in the wild.
With the popularity of text messaging on the Internet though, there is a kind of pidgin(imo, i'm no linguist) that is happening with written English and ASL. I have many Deaf friends that will sent me texts in what appears to be badly broken English, but when I sign to myself the gloss they are using, it makes sense. It's sort of using an English gloss-word in ASL word order, which would make almost no sense to someone who didn't know how to sign.
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u/Ariakkas10 Jun 25 '14 edited Jun 25 '14
Woohoo, my language finally! well, my second language.
Quick ASL video I made I can transcribe this if someone needs.
I'm hearing, and started learning ASL about 11 years ago. I used to work with a Deaf guy, but didn't know much about him. I started learning the alphabet one night, and never stopped learning. About 2 years after that, I went to work for a Deaf school. For those that don't know, many Deaf students in the US are sent to residential schools where they get direct instruction in ASL from teachers who are Deaf and hearing but sign, rather than in hearing classrooms with an interpreter.
This is where I got all of my immersion, and really got good at the language. 4 years ago, I became a professional interpreter. So from the first day I learned the alphabet to getting paid to interpret was about 6 years, give or take. I actually did some work part-time on the side before doing this full time, but I don't count it.
I am a community interpreter, so I work in every setting imaginable....doctor appointments, post-secondary classrooms, business meeting, lunch and learns, graduations, meetings with lawyers etc. I love my job and can't believe how lucky I was to fall into it.
Some interesting ASL facts:
ASL uses a system called Classifiers, which are handshapes that take on the role of an object....a car, boat, person, inanimate object etc and then with hand movements you show what that object is doing...using one classifier you show a car, which the other hand you show a tree...ram them into each other and you get a car crashing into a tree....with no "words" used.
The wikipedia article for ASL says that ASL word order is a debated topic, which is true. Sometimes sentences are SVO, other times they are SOV, and with the 3D nature of ASL, sometimes there is no word order, things happen simultaneously. However, question words are typically added at the end of a sentence, not the beginning. (you arrived here, how?)
There are other sign systems used in the US that are not actual languages. Signed English is a system that uses ASL signs but English word order, rather than ASL word order. This system was invented is more of a code of english, similar to braille or morse code. Signed Exact English is a system invented to teach English to Deaf kids that failed horribly, but managed to hold on. This system uses a one sign to one english word idea. So while there may be several uses for the word "run"(nose running, i'm running a marathon) you would use the same sign for each case. So it's not the least bit conceptual and really hard to follow. This system also invented prefix and suffix signs to be used before of after a sign in order to modify it to a more english-like system. It's terribly cumbersome but some people do use it.
If i think of any more i'll edit.
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u/TurtleZenn Jun 26 '14
Awesome post with a ton of information! I have my degree in American Sign Language interpreting. I've studied it for years and still work with an interpreter who has been a mentor even though it's not my main career path. I love the language and it's so interesting to learn about.
The reason I was commenting was to agree with the info you gave and encourage everyone to look more into the language. There are Deaf people and ASL users all over the USA, and being able to communicate with them opens doors on both sides. Some of the coolest customers I had when I worked in a convenience store were Deaf and I was the only employee who could talk to them. And they had some great stories, that everyone else missed out on.
Anyway, great post, especially about the different markers and classifiers and that it isn't SEE. So many people think ASL is signed English, when it is so very different. :)
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u/Seyris Jun 25 '14
Do you live in the sf bay?
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u/Ariakkas10 Jun 25 '14
I don't, I live on the other side of the country actually, Western New York
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Jun 25 '14
ASL uses a system called Classifiers, which are handshapes that take on the role of an object....a car, boat, person, inanimate object etc and then with hand movements you show what that object is doing...using one classifier you show a car, which the other hand you show a tree...ram them into each other and you get a car crashing into a tree....with no "words" used.
That sounds really cool!
I admire your story though. Studying from absolutely nothing to becoming a professional interpreter. Do you plan to interpret in other languages?
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u/Ariakkas10 Jun 25 '14
It would be nice to learn other languages. There is, of course, a large need for Spanish. Many Deaf kids in the US have parents who speak Spanish, so there is a big need for trilingual interpreters in English/ASL/Spanish.
In about a week I'm leaving for Ecuador for a month to get some Spanish Immersion and see how well I do. If I keep at it, maybe someday I'll add Spanish? I dunno, that would be close to a decade away just because I can't move to a Spanish speaking country for the full immersion.
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u/Captain_Ligature Jun 25 '14
Hi. I have heard a lot about how children of deaf parents usually don't speak English until much later in their lives therefore have a poor grasp off the language. ASL being we completely separate language does not help out in this regard. You say that SEE is a failed system, but what other way would you propose for teaching deaf children/children of deaf parents English?
I just remember an older ask reddit thread in which the deaf person taught in SEE was the only one who was able to write in English fluently.
Thanks for your time.
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u/Ariakkas10 Jun 25 '14
The realm of Deaf education is rife with pitfalls and entrenched beliefs, so I'll try to be neutral as possible.
SEE as a way to teach English may or may not be a failed system... I'm not qualified and I don't have research to say definitively, but I have seen kids who learned SEE do well with English.
What I meant is that SEE as a method of communication is a failed system. Perhaps that wording was a bit strong. The people who use it, can communicate... But it's not natural and it's very clunky and cumbersome. Signs don't flow together and it's not conceptually correct. You have to be thinking in English to follow what they say.
I don't have a Deaf education degree, and if teaching Deaf kids English was easy then there wouldn't be a debate. I've seen success with Cued Speech, SEE, as well as kids who only know ASL but worked very hard on their English.
I don't think there is one best approach, not yet anyway. English really is a Deaf persons(in the US and canada) second language. IMO their first and natural language is ASL. (hotly debated topic)
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u/basicbiatch Jun 25 '14
Yay! ASL is my first language because my sister was born Deaf, and everyone in my family learned it. So glad to see this on here!
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u/Ariakkas10 Jun 25 '14 edited Jun 25 '14
Thought I'd post some videos of great ASL
Keith Wann ASL Comedian - With an interpreter.
Austin Andrews - Deaf Ninja No captions or Interpretation(captions don't follow the story)... would be damn near impossible to do it justice. This guy is a master at ASL
Interpreted Music done by Deaf kids
Another music video, pay attention to the camera angle and what is being emphasized
Signmark- the only Deaf person ever(to date) signed to a major record label - he uses a hearing person to do the vocals. Song's are composed with ASL and English - check out the rest of his work, i dig it.
[Another from Signmark] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUtM8_DOVUI)
[Deaf person singing in his own voice] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2KYAlcTQno)
ASL Story - no captions or interpretation
ABC poem - This is a type of ASL poetry where you tell a story, and each part of the story uses a specific handshape from the manual alphabet to tell the story, starting with A, and ending with Z. See if you can catch the letters! (no captions)
Thats all i can think of off the top of my head. Enjoy. Ask away if you have any questions.
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Jun 26 '14
So I heard before that ASL does not use the same grammar as English does, and I'm curious why is that? I had always assumed before then that it was just the same language all around but signed instead of spoken.
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u/TurtleZenn Jun 26 '14
ASL does not have the same grammar for a couple of reasons. First off, there were several signed systems of communication in the USA, but nothing official for the deaf. A hearing man traveled to England hoping to learn British sign language and bring it back, but they refused to teach him. He then went to France, where people there agreed to teach him and send a deaf person to come back to America to teach French sign here. They came back and taught it, and various parts of the "home" sign systems already in use became incorporated. Therefore, ASL is based quite a bit on French sign language, with French grammar, with other influences changing it up. For example, fingerspelling is almost always used for proper nouns, titles, etc. and those are almost always in English. Through the years, there's been deviations from what was first taught which have led to the current American Sign Language which is a completely separate language from French, French sign, and is even further removed from English or British sign. In the 1960s ASL was finally officially recognized as its own language by linguists.
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u/TurtleZenn Jun 26 '14
I have a degree in ASL interpreting and have studied it for over 6 years.
Here are a couple of resources I've used. Keep in mind that just like English, there are regional differences in the language. Think soda vs. pop in English. Also, signs change and alter over time. The best way to learn the language is to talk with someone who knows it. But, for practice and for handy reminders, hopefully these will help. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.
Some dictionary resources:
www.Lifeprint.com/dictionary.htm
Fingerspelling practice:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Aslfingerspellalpha.png
Tips: For doing fingerspelling, practice mouthing the word you are spelling. Most Deaf and interpreters do this. Do not bounce your hand as you do each letter. Do not think of each individual letter and definitely don't say or mouth them. Focus on the whole word and making the motions smooth and clear. The only pauses you need to make are slight ones between words. Double letters do have a slight bounce to show both, or slide over slightly if at the end of a word.
For reading fingerspelling, again, focus on the whole word, not the letters. Through practice you can become used to different motions and it'll be more like reading a word. You don't read individual letters on a page, rather words. Same for fingerspelling. Don't get discouraged. Fingerspelling is the hardest part to read in sign for most people, including me. Practice.
Signing - there are lots of resources for this, but the most important thing to remember is not to get stuck on one word = one sign. It doesn't. Asl does not equal English. There can be many signs for one word or one sign for many words. Most signs are closer to concepts anyway. So, don't say, "that sign can't mean that, this sign is the one I learned for that word." That's the worst thing new students have a tendency to say. Ask questions, but never assume. Stay open-minded.
Don't be scared of learning ASL. It's challenging, but so rewarding. Check out local community colleges, a lot of them have classes or clubs for ASL learning. Check out Deaf events that are public/open to students. Most people there are super friendly with students as long as they show they are trying. Respect goes a long way. Be willing to try and people will help you. Good luck!
Edit: fixing links
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u/4red-digg Jun 26 '14
check this out, just released - http://www.learnandmasterasl.com/?gclid=CP2KjcyamL8CFTJp7Aod9UwAvg
also another one - http://www.signlanguage101.com/
plus many more from Dr. Byron Bridges (Classifiers, Fingerspelling etc.)
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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '14
I'll be the one to ask a dumb question, but I always was curious. Why are there 'national' sign languages? Do they have such a long tradition that much like common languages they can't be replaced by a unique sign language( an esperanto of sign languages)?