One thing that has taken a lot of getting used to is the fact that one word can have several signs, depending on who you are speaking to. I volunteer at the local deaf centre, and one girl I was signing with was trying to say that she had missed something (in the sense that she didn't catch it). She used a sign I was not familiar with, so I asked her to fingerspell it. When I showed her the sign I knew for that word, she wasn't familiar with mine! Although, this girl is also just learning ASL as she grew up learning LSQ (Langue des signes québécoise), which is quite different from ASL. We compared our signs to those used by another native ASL user, and she had a few more to throw into the pool. It's actually quite comical to see us trying to communicate, because she signs so fast and uses a lot of signs I haven't learned yet, but a lot of them are actually signs I will never learn because they're not ASL signs, but I'm not sure which ones are from which language, and I have to constantly ask her to slow down! Whew! But it's definitely a lot of fun and gets my brain going. One thing that reassures me is when I see 2 native ASL users asking for clarification from each other for a sign that one of them doesn't understand. This is something that happens to everyone, no matter what level you are.
One major factor that accounts for the differences is the region where you learned ASL. If you learned in Manitoba, you will probably have quite a few signs that differ from those used by someone who learned in Ontario. If you look at the Canadian Dictionary for ASL, you will see they mention sometimes up to 6 different signs for one word, and they'll indicate which region uses which.
This can be a little daunting for someone like me who is just starting out and who is trying to make sense of it all. My teacher in level 1 showed us the sign for "twin". When I used it in level 3, my teacher didn't know what I was talking about. But when I went home to check in my dictionary, sure enough, there it was. One saving grace with this language is that you can always fingerspell anything! Thank goodness for that.
PLEASE READ: About my Blog...
I am an ASL student at Algonquin College in Ottawa. The program uses the "Signing Naturally" textbooks, which are really quite difficult to follow. This is where my desire to create this blog came from. I wanted to create a resource that would act as a supplement to the textbook to fill in the blanks, and maybe just explain things in a different way to hopefully help my fellow students. I also wanted this to be helpful to people who want to learn ASL but who don't have the textbooks, so I have tried to re-explain key things from the text.
If you are a student, the posts have been labeled according to the level of ASL and the unit of the book. If you are not using the book but simply want to go through the posts in order, follow the labels entitled "Post".
I have found that there are many different signs that are used, and they vary from person to person, and from teacher to teacher. So I have included any differences I have learned, but this list is by no means comprehensive. I am sure I am not aware of all of the variations, so I have just posted what I know. Please do not use this site to override anything that you know. I am only just learning and am by no means a pro. That said, I am more than happy to hear any comments or suggestions, so please let me know if I have posted anything that is incorrect, or if you would like me to do something differently. This blog is intended to help you, so if there is a way it could be more helpful, I sincerely want to know!
Monday, February 16, 2009
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