Counting in ASL

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Beyonder

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Hi, My name is Chris, and I have a question to ask about counting in ASL.

I am not deaf, but I work with a few deaf people at work. I find trying to talk to them or explain something to them that I want to, to be extremely frustrating for me, as I know no ASL at all.

When I am at work and we are loading up our items to stock on our assigned aisles we have to count what we take out on our carts and write that onto a pull sheet. Anyhow I was watching the one deaf guy as he was counting his stock, and while he was pointing with his right hand at the boxes in his left hand he was forming some odd hand motions, in which case I have no idea what he was doing.

I was just wondering if anyone could explain to me what it is that he was doing. I assume that he would be counting in his mind and at the same time signing the numbers, but I have looked up some sign language counting charts and on most all I have seen is the single digit numbers the signer signs with his palm facing inward and the double digits they would sign with palm facing outward. As in this case I assume his palm is facing inward, but that does not account for how he would sign higher digit numbers with only one had.

Both the deaf people do this though, and I am just curious in understanding it is all. Even if I were to write something down on a peice of paper to ask them something, the one guy would be reading it and with his left hand be forming odd hand motions at the same time. They both sign so fast that I would have no clue as what they just said even if I did understand any ASL. Sometimes when they write back to me or text me, I have a hard time understanding what it is they are trying to say as it will be in broke language.
 
All ASL numbers are signed with just one hand except THOUSAND and MILLION. Even those can be signed with the dominant hand only, if necessary.
 
As DavidJ says, ask your co-worker. Most times they will be willing to explain it if you are indeed just curious and wanting to know.

The way I learned, 1-5 are signed palm inwards and all others with the palm out, but it also depends on the whole context and which would flow smoother. In my ASL class, we are just now doing numbers and most of the class was amazed that you can count into the millions and over with one hand.

ASL is a beautiful language and gets easier the more you use it.
 
Beyonder said:
Sometimes when they write back to me or text me, I have a hard time understanding what it is they are trying to say as it will be in broke language.
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It's not broken language. It's their language in ASL. At least it is not in a language that you don't know at all, like spanish (or whatever language you are not familiar with).
 
Why don't you ask your deaf co-worker?
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I did ask him, and he read my post it note and looked at me and put his hands up in the air and shook his head, meaning I don't know. I looked at him and said what do you mean you don't know? So I asked his friend the other deaf guy and he read my note and did the same thing, at this point I was extremely frustrated with both of them.
 
Does it really matter why they do what they do? As long as they got the job done and right?
 
Chris

If you're really interested in knowing, try going over to lifeprint.com. That guy has a wonderful website if you're curious in learning ASL. Keep in mind that ASL is a completely different language that English. This is why when your Deaf co-worker's written notes would seem odd to you. Learn a few basic signs, and ask these guys if they'll help you learn.
 
Beyonder said:
I did ask him, and he read my post it note and looked at me and put his hands up in the air and shook his head, meaning I don't know. I looked at him and said what do you mean you don't know? So I asked his friend the other deaf guy and he read my note and did the same thing, at this point I was extremely frustrated with both of them.
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Maybe the wording of your note wasn't clear to them.
 
Beyonder said:
Anyhow I was watching the one deaf guy as he was counting his stock, and while he was pointing with his right hand at the boxes in his left hand he was forming some odd hand motions, in which case I have no idea what he was doing.
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Sounds like he was doing a Deaf version of counting out-loud.
 
yes he was prob counting to himself as i do in sign. numbers in asl are not like the numbers in english lang. you dont use ten fingers to show the number ten and up. u use one hand some numbers are facing yourself and others facing away and when they flick thier wrist outward they are counting in teens. you dont use two hands to count numbers except hundreds and thousands in asl. dont get frustrated with your coworkers. its not thier fault u dont understand them. keep that in mind. ummm, you can look online at counting numbers in asl to get a better idea of what all the numbers look like. just a thought to help ya out. good luck.
 
Beyonder said:
I did ask him, and he read my post it note and looked at me and put his hands up in the air and shook his head, meaning I don't know. I looked at him and said what do you mean you don't know? So I asked his friend the other deaf guy and he read my note and did the same thing, at this point I was extremely frustrated with both of them.
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something to understand is that even though you may write down what u are trying to say, what u are writing is english and english is not all deaf first language so they may not understand the word order of english very well. asl is a language all its own and written english language is harder to understand for native asl users. (so to speak) just be patient and dont show your frustration toward them or you will only make it harder to communicate. just write that you are interested in asl but do not know the culture. they will understand that fine.
 
Beyonder said:
I find trying to talk to them or explain something to them that I want to, to be extremely frustrating for me, as I know no ASL at all.
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It's probably just as frustrating for them. I suspect your co-workers would be thrilled if you took some initiative to learn their language. You could start by asking them for some basic signs related to your job.
 
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