hearing learning ASL, how long?

sorry to double post but I think I figured it out the movies are in .swf format, a format my current QT does not recognize and I still have to do a complete OS upgrade just to upgrade QT - like I said I have a stoneage computer......

when I get the funds Im definitely getting a Laptop!
 
Hi...I am struggling through learning ASL myself...my husband is HOH, as is his brothers, due to a kidney disease...they all hear for the most part, wear hearing aids (sometimes) but could wake up totally deaf tomorrow...no one ever knows for sure...

Anyways..back to learning ASL...I am currently taking a class through our school networks, and it has helped alot...the class started in October of 2005...I felt I was not learning anything, but every time we have had a test, I feel GREAT because I passed with a 100%!! :)

Lastnight, my husband FINALLY began signing to me...I have asked him to at home, but he for some reason did not want to...but he did lastnight, and I understood him...now, he had to repeat a couple of times, but I got it and I was soo excited!!!...

I am not fast yet, and I would be totally lost in a conversation between him and another totally deaf friend of his from work...their fingers just fly...but I am beginning to feel I could at least get part of the conversation...
I cannot think in sign yet...and I need to pause and think when I am signing to him, or in class to a partner, but I am getting there...

Alot has to do with how determined you are to learn as well, I think...
 
diehardbiker65 said:
Howver on the average it takes 5 years to master ASL.
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That's what I had been told -- for any language, to become really fluent with it takes about 5-7 years. But a lot will depend on how much you use it. You're going to learn faster if you're using it everyday in real conversations (total immersion) than you will if you're taking a class once a week, and have no one around to sign to any other time.
 
My husband thinks out loud, using sign language...hahaha..he will be driving and his fingers will be flying and he does not even realize it...he said when he was learning as a teenager, of course he learned with his older brother, but he said every time he thought to himself, he started by fingerspelling everything, and then as he learned the signs for words, he signed his thoughts...now it is just a natural habit...
I keep telling him I cannot wait to be fluent enough to read his thoughts...hahaha

But seriously, I am trying to remember to at least fingerspell, or use the sign if I know it, when I am thinking out loud, or even talking...or reading posts here...as I read them, I will sign them back to myself...

I am also trying to get our school to recognize ASL as a foreign language, we are in Iowa...then my son would not have to struggle through Spanish like he has been (ADHD and other LDs) and he could actually learn a language that would be useful in our family and extended family...

Practice...Practice...Practice...
 
I'm still a beginner at ASL, i've only been learning about 2 months now. I work with several deaf people at my work, and me and a particular individual were drawn to each other. During breaks we would communicate by writing and after work hours we would instant message on the computer. He started teaching me to sign so we can communicate better...very hard in the beggining but it's beginning to be easier. It's funny we used to communicate a lot through writing at work and now since i've been learning ASL he makes sure we communicate through sign even if it takes me awhile to read his finger spelling ....and he's try to get me to interact with his deaf friends at work. We work together about 3 days a week and the more i sign the easier it gets....
 
It takes up to 2 years to learn fluency in any language. It absolutely helps a great deal to be with deaf. I am very fluent for 15 years, became fluent with the help of deaf friends, family members, etc...... took 2 classes, and learned most fluently at first from a book called: "Signing made easy." This is for you to learn how to speak fast, but you must continue with ASL classes as it will teach you the sentence structure better. This book help me learn enough to talk within 2 months.
 
artist616 said:
It takes up to 2 years to learn fluency in any language. It absolutely helps a great deal to be with deaf. I am very fluent for 15 years, became fluent with the help of deaf friends, family members, etc...... took 2 classes, and learned most fluently at first from a book called: "Signing made easy." This is for you to learn how to speak fast, but you must continue with ASL classes as it will teach you the sentence structure better. This book help me learn enough to talk within 2 months.
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Good point here. Being with deaf people DEFINITELY helps.
 
Let's see... For it to finally "click" and be able to show my own personality through sign... 4 years. BUT, I must be honest, I'm very, VERY PSE (Pidgin Sign English). I tend to sign English word order (conceptually accurate), with ASL characteristics, and sometimes when I'm lucky my brain switches to ASL. I wish that ASL would stick! Maybe another 4 years for that?!? :)
 
Margie said:
Hi Goabe,
I've known ASL now for 31 yrs, and most deaf use it.
Thats the best way to learn ASL is from a deaf person, thats how I learned.
Keep up with your sign language classes.
Margie
Dir. of Commuication Services
OCDAC
Interperter too.
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I agree. I've been signing for 20 years, and the way I learned was by joining the league for the hearing impaired and hanging out with Deaf adults. My son was exposed to ASL from a very early age this way, and can be considered a native signer, even though he's Deaf and I'm hearing. It's like learning any language--the only way to get all of the nuances is to learn it from a native speaker.

Most of the time I would consider myself to be fluent, but there are still times when I will run into someone who is a native signer that makes me feel incompetent with their mastery of the language. I didn't really get comfortable with my use of the language until I reached a point where I understood that undertanding ASL and English are two completely different things. I now shift into a different mode when I'm signing. For instance, I can be carrrying on a conversation and understand everything that is signed and be able to respond back to it, but if I have to put the signs into voice, it may take me a minute to find the words I want, even though I understood the sign.

Hearing signers and Deaf signers are different. Even though a hearing signer may teach you something in a classroom that is technically correct, the way the sign is used in the Deaf community may be different. Hang in there. The only way to fluency is to jump in and start using the language! :)
 
It is good for you all hearies to learn ASL but it is most important for you to use facial expressions along with ASL...

SxyPorkie :hyper:
 
SxyPorkie said:
It is good for you all hearies to learn ASL but it is most important for you to use facial expressions along with ASL...

SxyPorkie :hyper:
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Absolutely, Skyporkie!! Don't worry about saying everthing you sign so you can be speech read (as so many hearing teachers of ASL tell students to do). Use your face to tell me how happy you are, or how mad you are. And don't sign that you are happy to meet someone without smiling. Most hearing teachers of ASL fail to teach that Deaf watch the face, and see signs in the periphery.
 
jillio said:
Absolutely, Skyporkie!! Don't worry about saying everthing you sign so you can be speech read (as so many hearing teachers of ASL tell students to do).
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I think there is a purpose (in limited cases) to not mouth. Specifically, while mouthing is good for communication, it's not so great for the language learning experience; thus, there are situations where each is appropriate.
 
ismi said:
I think there is a purpose (in limited cases) to not mouth. Specifically, while mouthing is good for communication, it's not so great for the language learning experience; thus, there are situations where each is appropriate.
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Sure, when using proper names, etc. I jsut meant not necessary to lip synch every single sign.
 
jillio said:
Use your face to tell me how happy you are, or how mad you are. And don't sign that you are happy to meet someone without smiling. Most hearing teachers of ASL fail to teach that Deaf watch the face, and see signs in the periphery.
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YES! That is the big difference...though you can see it in the hands with beginners, the best way to tell the difference between hearing and deaf is the face. OY it is annoying when you see people sign with no expression, boring and difficult to understand!
One interesting tidbit, there has been research done (saw MJ Bienvenu talking about it once) proving deaf people do actually watch the chin/lip area generally, so they can catch the face and the signs.
The other part that was interesting is this, they say that while hearing signers think of the signs first and then add the expressions/facial grammar to fit, (these acts should look simultaneous, this is just in the head of the signer) native signers start with the face and add the signs to fit. Interesting, huh?
 
signer16 said:
YES! That is the big difference...though you can see it in the hands with beginners, the best way to tell the difference between hearing and deaf is the face. OY it is annoying when you see people sign with no expression, boring and difficult to understand!
One interesting tidbit, there has been research done (saw MJ Bienvenu talking about it once) proving deaf people do actually watch the chin/lip area generally, so they can catch the face and the signs.
The other part that was interesting is this, they say that while hearing signers think of the signs first and then add the expressions/facial grammar to fit, (these acts should look simultaneous, this is just in the head of the signer) native signers start with the face and add the signs to fit. Interesting, huh?
Click to expand...

Very Interesting!!
 
signer16 said:
YES! That is the big difference...though you can see it in the hands with beginners, the best way to tell the difference between hearing and deaf is the face. OY it is annoying when you see people sign with no expression, boring and difficult to understand!
One interesting tidbit, there has been research done (saw MJ Bienvenu talking about it once) proving deaf people do actually watch the chin/lip area generally, so they can catch the face and the signs.
The other part that was interesting is this, they say that while hearing signers think of the signs first and then add the expressions/facial grammar to fit, (these acts should look simultaneous, this is just in the head of the signer) native signers start with the face and add the signs to fit. Interesting, huh?
Click to expand...

Use the facial expressions along with ASL are most important...
SxyPorkie
 
I agree that it all depends on the person how quick it takes to learn asl. I've been learning about 5 months now from deaf coworkers at work. It was pretty slow learning at first but now i am doing much better. The more time i spend with my friends the quicker i pick it up. I would like to take a class but i don't have the time right now. So for right now I am learning from my friends...they are very patient with me and i think that they like that im interested in learning.. i also think the reason u want to learn has something to do why u want to learn...if u have a strong desire to learn u'll pick it up quicker..
 
Learning ASL and having it 'click'

I was born with a severe-profound hearing loss. I was taught in school using the oral method with the assistance of a personal FM system. I was able to hear most of what the teacher was saying if they were facing me and the FM was on. The part that I missed was the replies of the other students and the social interactions. I started to learn ASL in the fall of 2004 out of curiosity. It was more or less an academic exercise for me, I had the time and wanted to learn a bit and planned on taking one class - ASL 101 (1A). Then as I picked up and kept learning, 102 & 103. I went to the Ontario Camp of the Deaf last summer (2005) for a one week ASL immersion camp. That was really an eye opener and like others have said on here when you are using ASL 24 hours of the day you learn a lot faster as you are using sign for all of your interactions. Then in the fall of 2005 I started with level 201 to 203. I will be going again this year for level 301 (3A) now. Starting in September I will be taking level 301 classes. I am finding now that I can understand conversations and follow along in my head.

Jim
 
tegumi said:
The most confusing part of ASL for me is "classifiers"... I will see someone use a classifier, and not know what that sign was, I will ask my friend and be like "wtf sign was that" and then he goes, thats not a sign, thats a classifier... :doh: The first classifer I did this with was "CHA", the C handshape smacking down on an open palm... :lol: I still do this, because of course not every single new handshape you see is a sign, so you have to find out if its a classifier or a sign... basically what it is and how to use it.

Teg
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I have taken two ASL classes at University (complete immersion) and the damn classifiers are so frickin confusing. I am in another asl class next fall.

I can have a conversation with a deaf person and understand about 80% of what is being said. I find it much easier to "listen" to someone then to sign myself.
 
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