ASL~ American Sign Language

[Helmuth]

Is there anybody out there who signs or is Deaf, part of the Deaf Community, or HOH? Perhaps a child of a Deaf/HOH parent/grandparent/relative/friend?

[Prinxee]

I am shocked and sad that no one has responded to this yet.

My younger sister is deaf, so I do know quite a bit ASL.
However I don't know nearly as much as I'd like since I haven't lived with her for many years, so I intend to take classes when I enter the college program I'm aiming for, which should be next fall - if all goes well.

[Helmuth]

Your sister is Deaf? I know a few friends who are Deaf, and a few who know a 'few' signs in ASL, but that's it.

[Prinxee]

Yep. She was born deaf for no known reasons. She's the only recorded person in our family that was born as such, anyone else that ever lost their hearing was simply age and they never went completely deaf.

[Helmuth]

Wow, that's interesting. Um, can I ask a personal question? Completely ignore me if this comes out rude- but I was curious as to if she has learned ASL has a cochlear implant?

[Prinxee]

She does not have the implant. The implant is actually extremely experimental, even now a days.
She does know ASL, it's her first language. Her English is actually very bad, she can barely speak at all, though she can read lips alright with words she knows.

[SoundAndVision]

I know ASL. I've been learning for 5 years now. It all started with a poster of the ASL aplphabet tat was in my class and from there I checked out books and even talked to a girl who couldn't hear much.

[hachi.]

I know a bit of it! I train dogs and one of my specialites is service dogs. It is awesome to actually talk to some of my clients without having to write it or have them read my lips! I'm going to be learning more as I'm gonna be taking some classes!

[Cherry]

Yay, I've been trying to find ASL topics that actually stay open to participate in! I don't want to grave dig them.

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What would you gauge your skill level at?

I'm a beginner because I'm self-taught. But I'll be taking ASL 1 this fall. It's going to be taught by a Deaf woman but I'm not sure if we're going to be using an interpreter or if she'll speak and lipread.

I can admit that I'm kind of obsessed with ASL. I talk to everyone about it, even people who don't care about it, I watch a lot of Sign videos and read articles written by Deaf people. I've had dreams about ASL, but I haven't actually dreamed *in* ASL. I'm not fluent, like, at all. I don't understand topicalizing, and that's how ASL's grammar is set up.

Also,

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How did you learn (or how are you learning) ASL and why?

I'm learning ASL through books, videos, and websites and TV shows. I wanted to learn ASL because I met a girl who is Deaf at my homeschool co-op and didn't think much about it as a kid, but later I met her again at a Bible study and wanted to learn to talk to her. I also was watching Sue Thomas: FBEye which is a show about a real Deaf woman (it's based off her, it's not a documentary) who read the lips of people recorded in surveillance videos for the FBI. It doesn't have as much signing as I wish (although it's a LOT if you don't really care much about ASL and are just watching because it's a show about the FBI or because it leans toward being a Christian show) but it's interesting because it's not all drama like Switched at Birth is. And yes, I know it's a pretty good show. I watched two episodes and didn't really enjoy it, but the Deaf culture stuff was awesome. I watched the full-ASL episode (they lied, there was talking in it, they just didn't have the sound on for the talking he whole time. But they did talk at the beginning telling you it was going to be in all ASL. And at one point at the end. But it was a record-breaking episode, because there had never been that much signing on TV before.) and was extremely confused, but I did like it aside from the drama and relationships.
Before I forget, I recommend checking out lifeprint.com for its signing dictionary and thatdeafguy.com for comics about being Deaf. I go to both of those sites a lot. ^^

Edit: I wanted to say something I kind of find funny: One of the very first signs that I learned (aside from the ones everyone knows, like "baby" or "love" or "I love you" or "friend") is "death." XD I learned it from Sue Thomas: FBEye as mentioned above, because I could tell what that sign meant by reading the open captions. I also learned "take-up" or "occupy" (it means the same thing, apparently) from Switched at Birth when they were talking about "Occupy Carlton." Carlton is their Deaf school.
Edit 2: Wow, this is an old topic. XD

[SoundAndVision]

I'm also self taught but I'd say my skills are more intermediate becuase of how long I've been learning and signing (6+ years)
At first o had trouble with the alphabet but after I ad that down pat I just shot off and started learning so many words. In 4th grade we had a poster of the sign language alphabet and it created a "sign language phase" for most kids, I'm calling it ahase because now they nt even remember the alphabet nor did they ever learn anything past the alphabet and come 5th grade only me and my friend still signed. I now make sign language videos on YouTube of me signing the lyrics to songs. Watching others sign on YouTube helped me grow as a signer and I'm hoping my videos help others as well. It's like the rosettastone method; this sign equals this word. And that's how I learn.