Communication Dos And Donts

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Fouroclockandwaiting

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I am hearing but my really good friend is hard of hearing and his dad and sister are deaf. His dad can read lips and speak but I want to be able to communicate in his language (ASL) since he learned mine. I have been taking on line lessons but I'm nervous to use the signs i have learned. So I guess what I'm asking is..... If i mess up while signing be offensive in any way and will asking if i signed a certain word i find difficult correctly offend him as well? Also some simple mistakes or things that hearing people do that are offensive or just annoying would help too!
 
sink or swim man. dive in. thats the best way to learn the language. make mistakes. sign. keep signing.
sign.
make mistakes keep signing. you wont offend anyone just by making a mistake. were Deaf. not thin skinned. well many aren't. and besides
you really want to learn sign.
they will know its not just some passing novelty on your part. he your friend, his family
sink or swim!!!!
dive in and remember
laugh at yourself
 
It would be very rare for someone to get upset if you signed something incorrectly knowing you're hearing. You will find most of the time, we're just so happy and appreciative when someone even puts in the time to TRY to learn our language. :) Don't be nervous. Just do what you can. :)
 
The guys who commented said it well. What's courageous (well, it is to me) and lovely is that you are doing it for him. Doubtful he'd be offended by a thing.

I once signed hungry repeatedly until a deaf friend told me I was actually saying I was horny :) . An idiot in my dept. told me to tell my SEE instructor she was "sleep" instead of beautiful. It happens and we laugh and life goes on.

I don't sign ASL so my hat is off to you.
 
One think I'm worried about though is the order the words go in and there are no articles. That's what I really struggle with because its different than English.
 
yeah.................. like every language is different.
thats the beauty........
 
We don't get offended if we know you are trying to communicate with us...however, if you are going to talk about nothing but how wonderful you are, we get annoyed just like anyone else.

In other words, be sure you are ready to have a good two-way conversation.
 
One other pointer I seldom see mentioned, is be gracious when you get corrected. Some learners get defensive or embarrassed when their signs are corrected. Take the correction and learn from it.
 
That's a VERY good point Gobae. I was at youth group last month and a girl who is in ASL 1 saw me signing with my boyfriend and best friend. She kept trying to say we were wrong when we signed something or when we would try and teach her (nicely I might add) that what she was signing was incorrect and how to do it the right way but she kept telling us we were wrong. I didn't tell her I was deaf and my best friend had passed ASL 4 but I probably should have. I didn't know she was so defensive because she was pretty hard to lip read until my boyfriend told me after we had left.
 
KhronicallyBreathless said:
That's a VERY good point Gobae. I was at youth group last month and a girl who is in ASL 1 saw me signing with my boyfriend and best friend. She kept trying to say we were wrong when we signed something or when we would try and teach her (nicely I might add) that what she was signing was incorrect and how to do it the right way but she kept telling us we were wrong. I didn't tell her I was deaf and my best friend had passed ASL 4 but I probably should have. I didn't know she was so defensive because she was pretty hard to lip read until my boyfriend told me after we had left.
Click to expand...

Eavesdropping on other peoples' ASL conversation is just as rude as listening to others' voice conversations.....you have every right to say "mind your own business" when it happens......easier said than done, yes, tho....
 
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