The sentence structure of ASL is definitely something to get used to. For one, words such as "the", "it", "is", "are", "am", "to" are not normally acknowledged. So the number of words that it takes to say something in English is significantly more than required by ASL.
For example, if you wanted to tell someone where they may find your cat, you would say in English "You know the bedside table in my room? If you look on the ground to the right of it, she'll be sitting right there." In ASL, the signs used would be "you know my room, bed, table, cat, sit." The rest of the descriptors would be sort of pantomimed. So you would sign "you know my room." You would turn this into a question by opening your eyes wide, raising your eyebrows, and leaning forward a bit (I'll go into the importance of facial expression in another posting). Then you would sign bed and point to an imaginary spot just in front of you. This spot is now a reference point. Then, holding that spot with the index finger of your non-dominant hand, you would then point to a spot close beside it with your other index finger and make the sign for table. You have just shown that the table is to the right (or left) of the bed. Now you would point again to hold the position of the table, and point below and to the right of this point and make the sign for "cat" and "sit".
It sounds like a lot, but that's just because ASL is a much more visual language than a spoken language. You use less "words" and rely more on creating a picture for your audience.
These descriptions start out as quite general, and then you narrow it down to more specific details. Going back to the example of the cat sitting beside the table, you would start by signing the general location (room), then get a bit more specific (bed, table), and finally show which side of the table you would find the cat sitting.
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!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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