Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ASL

Playing with signs

HotPatatta — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:56:21 -0800

Is there such thing as a gesticular version of a pun or word play in American Sign Language? How common is it to play around with double meanings of signs? Can you offer humorous examples of signs having multiple uses or meanings?

Please hope me keep "hearing!"

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:37:38 -0800

I'm losing my hearing. What are my options? Almost every woman on my mother's side of the family eventually loses her hearing. The good news - this won't be a big problem for another ten years; the bad news - the first signs are showing up years earlier than my mother's and grandmother's did.

I do not have the option to see a doctor or audiologist right now and the chances are good that I won't have the option for a long while, but I will do as soon as I am able. Until then,I know that there's nothing I can do to turn around the hearing loss without seeing a doctor, but is there something I can do to allow me to continue functioning in society?

What I do know:
From my family history, I will most likely be completely deaf within thirty years, but I will be severely impaired within the next ten to fifteen. My symptoms are showing up ten to fifteen years earlier than the other women in my family. I don't want to find myself deaf with only a notebook and pen as my primary means of communication, so I want to start now and help reduce the impact of the problems I foresee. I know almost nothing about the deaf community, but I certainly don't want to offend anyone by asking ignorant questions or making inadvertently offensive comments.

I need tips on how better to read lips, and what options I have for cheap or free sign-language classes. Where should I look first? What questions should I ask when I get there? Should I try to learn ASL or should I go for a more international version? I live in the southern US, but I have friends from and will be traveling to the UK a lot, so I'm not sure what I should be doing. I'm at a loss about where to start.

Throwaway email: ehwhatdidyousay@gmail.com

How to Learn ASL in DC

gyges — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:03:02 -0800

What's a good way to learn ASL in Washington, DC? I'm aware of Gallaudet, but it looks as if I've missed the fall enrollment deadline for classes. I can enroll in the springtime, of course, but in the meantime, I'd like to start learning how to converse with the deaf community in DC. I should point out that I have a 9-5 job outside of the city, so my options are limited to home study and evening/weekend instruction. My motivation for wanting to learn ASL (and start sooner rather than later) is because I've been half-deaf since early childhood, and my hearing in my remaining ear has inexplicably diminished throughout my adult life to the point that I now (at 31) wear a hearing aid and have significant problems when holding conversation in noisy/crowded environments.

So, where's the best place to start? Thanks everyone!

ASL in Houston

LittleMissCranky — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:30:54 -0800

Learning ASL in Houston Could anyone recommend a good ASL class in Houston? Preferably in the loop, preferably evenings, but I'm flexible. Any signing coffee-club sort of groups would also be great. Thanks!

ASL classes in NYC?

interweber — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:32:03 -0800

Where can I take cheap (preferably free!) American Sign Language courses in NYC? I took a beginning ASL course in college and unfortunately was unable to continue taking them while at school. I am still in love with the language, but have sadly forgotten so much of it from not being able to practice... I would like to take classes, but have had a really hard time finding a free (or even cheap) course in the NYC area. Any suggestions?

This is my first question, but I've been reading and enjoying this community for a long time now. Thank you!

i want to learn asl at home

phoeniciansailor — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:22:19 -0800

help me learn sign language (asl) in the comfort of my own home my boyfriend is fairly-well deaf, and although he's very good at lip-reading and understanding what i'm saying, i feel that we'd talk faster (with less repeating) if we used sign language -- almost as a supplement. and maybe later on in life, we'd come to rely on the signing more. we've both taken college-level ASL classes many years ago, but neither of us has ever hung out in deaf circles, so that knowledge sort of .. evaporated. we found the classes fairly mediocre and often embarrassing, and have no interest in going back and trying that approach again. and frankly, we're not the most social people in the world, so crashing a "deaf coffee night" at the local starbucks is (unfortunately) out of the question.

are there any good online courses or dvds, or other types of learning tools which we can use at home, which will bring us back up to speed and help us get better with our signing? most of the dvd's i've found have been the same kind of old-fashioned, corny videos where they have very artificial conversations. online mostly all i've found have been "video dictionaries", which are great, but not what we need for learning how to have a conversation. so far, the best sites i've found have been deaf video blogs, since it's really people signing at normal speed, using "slang" and so forth. but they're probably not the best learning tools.

Age, Sex, Loc... er, American Sign Language

msittig — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:05:08 -0800

Baby signing classes in Socal next week? We're a couple visiting the (new) grandparents in north Orange County next week, Saturday the 29th through Saturday the 6th, and would like to attend a single baby sign language class sometime during that week. Preferably we would take advantage of a "one free preview class" deal like at Gymboree but are also willing to pay a reasonable price (under $100) for a one-time seminar.

So far Gymboree has said that they don't offer free previews of their signing classes and my Google-foo is failing me in turning up anything else. Does anybody know of any specific classes, or have any leads/contacts I could follow up on?

Do deaf people get distracted by very expressive hand and body movements?

lychee — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:49:49 -0800

Is it annoying, distracting, or offensive to a deaf person who is using an interpreter to interact with hearing people who gesticulate a lot and have very expressive facial or body movements? I know being expressive with your face and body language is important when communicating in sign language, but let's say you have Person A, who is deaf; Person B, who is the interpreter; and Person C, a hearing person. If C is standing next to the interpreter and C is moving their hands around at the same level as the interpreter's hands, using expressive body language and moving around a bit, all while talking to A via the interpreter, is this distracting?

(One thing to note, C is expressive in general, so I don't think they are aping the signer's movements, but it feels to me like subconscious imitation, because I do sense a change in their body and hand movements when we are interacting with hearing persons versus when we are meeting with the deaf person.)

Baby Signs

roundrock — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:59:48 -0800

I'm working on some basic sign language with my 14 month old, and now that the weather's warming up, he has a real need to communicate the word "outside" when he wants to go out and play (he'll go over to the door and babble, but it would be great if he could come to me and tell me what he wants). Can someone explain (or link to a site with picture/video) the sign for "outside," "outdoors," or something similar? Bonus if the gesture is fairly simple so that my son can catch on quickly.

Soccer and ASL

lostinsupermarket — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 09:33:01 -0800

Help me integrate a deaf child into my girls soccer team. I coach a team of 8 year old girls in rec league soccer. Our team has been together for three years. This year we've been asked to take on a deaf player who has had problems fitting in with other teams (due to communication problems). My team was chosen because as a young person I was fluent in ASL (due to the illness of a sibling). Many years have passed, my skills have rusted considerably. No one else (kids or parents) on our team has any experience with ASL. We have discussed it, and we are all eager to learn and help.

Please offer specific suggestions on how we can give the kids enough communications abilities to play soccer together as a team, and for parents to learn enough ASL to support/welcome our new player.

A question about sign language.

LeeJay — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 17:52:48 -0800

A question for those familiar with American Sign Language (or other signed languages): When hearing speakers are surprised or shocked or wish to indicate they have just said something they shouldn't they often clap their hands over their mouth. This is usually immediate and seems almost involuntary. Is there something similar used by deaf signers or do they tend to use the same gesture hearing people do? The meaning of the hand over the mouth seems pretty clear. But I wouldn't think that deaf signers associate the mouth with communication in the same way and I am wondering if they do something different to communicate the same idea.

Learning American Sign Language

Apoch — Wed, 18 May 2005 05:43:24 -0800

I'd like to learn American Sign Language. Are there any good, free web resources that would let me teach myself?

Does sign language have anything like a rhyme?

freebird — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 10:15:10 -0800

Does the concept of "rhyme" exist in sign language? That's a bit too vague - I know the concept exists, but I'm curious about examples, and whether it can be defined as directly as it can in verbal and (to a lesser extent) written language.