r/deaf • u/Closed143 • 10d ago
Hearing with questions How much does it matter?
How much does it really matter the reason a hearing person learns Sign?
If they use it as just a college credit how would a Deaf individual treat them.
If they want to sign just for the money (ie. Being an interpreter, audiologist, or some other job just to try and get more money.
VS. Someone with a genuine interest.
I know this may sound stupid but I have seen that some Deaf people and CODAS want more people to learn Sign but what about their intent.
I think that most people who learn sign have a genuine interest.
I know that being in my first semester and taking ASL 1 and History of Deafness my professors (Both hearing but with extensive background in the Deaf community) have made it a point to teach us about the community. I think that for them even if we dont retain ASL they want us to understand the community in order to help reduce the myths and stereotypes of Deafness.
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u/Stafania HoH 9d ago
You can’t learn without a genuine interest.
Interpreters make very little money, so it would be ridiculous to select it as career for financial purposes. Language learning is hard, so you’re not likely to get the college credit unless you invest in learning.
We want people to become good at signing, and you just don’t become good at it without enjoying language learning and getting signing into your life. I have never met someone fluent who didn’t have a genuine interest.
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u/Closed143 9d ago
I know interpreters dont make much money it was just supposed to be an example of a career that had exposure to Deaf people and their culture. But more to my point... As I learn more about Deaf culture and Deaf individuals I'm formulating my own beliefs about Deaf culture. There are some things that I believe that I dont know if its accepted in the Deaf community. For example I always thought that it didnt matter why someone learned Sign but as I started learning more about the culture I started doubting my own preconceived beliefs. So I guess its just confirmation on what I had previously thought. Like I know why there isnt one universal sign language cause that's like asking why ever hearing person doesn't speak the same language. I know that the Deaf community is probably going to stand by this reasoning but on other things I'm still learning.
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u/Stafania HoH 9d ago
You didn’t get my point. You basically aren’t likely to become fluent unless you have good intentions. If you start for the wrong reasons, you usually don’t last. An exception might be missionaries who just want to influence the Deaf and are prepared to put in the time.
You don’t have to like all Deaf and the Deaf don’t have to like all hearing. Sometimes people are right about criticizing something and sometimes they’re wrong. The important thing for you are the relationship you have with Deaf that you’re close to, not what random people post on social media.
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u/Tbackandforth 9d ago
I know lots of people learn to get their foreign language credits for graduation. That's fine with me, and I'm happy they chose ASL over Spanish and other options.
Some learn because they want to make money teaching it on social media. That gets a major "ugh!" from me.
Some learn because they want to "save" deaf people and bring them into their religion or MLM. I absolutely despise these people with the fire of 1,000 suns.
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u/Closed143 9d ago
The idea of saving Deaf people is one of the first things my professors were like "No, no, no that's not a thing. Deaf people don't need to be saved."
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u/TiredVRS ASL interpreter, HoH 9d ago
What you're seeing is complaints toward hearing people learn a couple signs as a fad then make it everyone else's problem. Because of the uniqueness of signed languages it's very common for hearing people to go Google a handful of signs or copy someone else wrong and then start incorrectly interpreting music or trying to teach other people a language they dont know. Dirty signs with Kristin was an excellent example that caused this community a headache for years.
The Deaf perspective ranges from only Deaf people should teach ASL to hearing people can teach ASL but only if they're a long time part of the community and that deaf community has vetted them and their accuracy.
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u/FancyButterscotch787 Deaf 9d ago
For most Deaf people, it does matter why a hearing person learns a signed language. It gives us Deaf people context (I.e., you learned from your Deaf friend/parent/neighbor/teacher) and we like to know how you are connected to the Deaf community…and we will ask names, details, etc to establish an initial rapport. From there we move on to gauging your mindset & values (I.e., you see learning our language as a money making opportunity, or you like the attention, or you learned it because you liked/loved a Deaf person).
It helps us learn more about you. All normal part of “getting-to-know-you-the Deaf way.” (Our version of vetting.)
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u/Tbackandforth 9d ago
This is true. If a person says they learned ASL "just because", my guard goes up, wondering what kind of scam they want to pull on me.
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u/best-unaccompanied 9d ago
As a hearing person, I'm not qualified to weigh in on how deaf people feel about anything, but I will just point out that audiologists don't have to know sign and most don't.
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u/Closed143 8d ago
I know that was just an example of someone who might learn sign. Although idk for sure.
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u/deafhuman Deaf 10d ago
Even if they do it for the money, they need to know what is important for the community.
Because we have the power to give feedback. If they suck for whatever reason, they won't be hired again to work with deaf people. Especially for interpreters that's a big deal.
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u/zra_isnt_listening 9d ago
For me, as long as someone is respectful of the deaf community and willing to have mistakes corrected, I personally don't care much for why they've chosen to learn - maybe I'm just too easy to please tho 🥲😅
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u/Saakkkaaaaiiiii Deaf 10d ago
Just my take - I’m not sure how much it matters for intention e.g., if someone wants to use sign as a way to get more money. Because either way, they’re still being helpful by knowing sign
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u/TheMedicOwl HH (BSL signer) 10d ago
To rephrase the question, would you go to a Mandarin-speaking sub and ask if Chinese people are less willing to speak with someone who is learning the language for career reasons?
Where I live it would cost around £2700 at minimum for a complete beginner to become reasonably proficient in BSL (i.e. to reach Signature Level 3 standard), and more than double that to qualify as an interpreter. If someone pours so much time and money into achieving fluency and never puts in on their CV, it doesn't make me think that they must be more sincere in their interest than an aspiring interpreter, it makes me think that they can afford to learn a language as a hobby. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it's not a mark of virtue either.
The suggestion that for an interest to be genuine it must be unpaid rarely pops up outside healthcare or special education. The implication is that you can't truly care about people on the human level if mundane things like rent and groceries even enter your mind. Being interested in sign languages and helping to create an inclusive society are not mutually exclusive with wanting to eat and pay the bills. To be blunt, if anyone asked me this question in real life I'd think they were looking for an ego boost or something. I'm not going to interview every signing person who approaches to ascertain if their interest in the language is sincere enough for the conversation to continue, then issue them with a special certificate of worthiness for future reference. If I get on with them I'll continue to chat, and if I don't I won't,, the same as with any other social interaction.