Please watch this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ybmS5OKhTU
What are your thoughts? Share with each other. Do you think this would hinder or be helpful? Why or why not. Also, ask any questions you may have here about the clip and seek help from you classmates.
Enjoy!
Monica
First I want to start off by saying that there are signs in here I didn't know and ones I do know but have forgotten what they are. From the jist of what I got, she was talking about how a 40year-old deaf person should go about learning English. It was suggested that the deaf person take themselves out of their asl groups and immerse themselves with hearing people to improve their English. I don't really know how to respond to this on weather or not it is a good idea. My first instinct it to say no that is an awful idea because I believe that having the asl still incorporated will help in learning English. Also, it seems like deaf people are in contact with hearing people all the time, so they are continually getting that exposure. But then I think about how we are trying to learn asl. For us to completely understand we have to immerse ourselves in the language and put away or English. I don't believe it is as easy for us to be in continuous contact with signers so it is key for us to separate our selves from our English.
ReplyDeleteI really like how Amanda had worded this. I was sitting here trying to think of a way to explain it. It may be the best idea if we totally eliminate our english in order to completely immerse ourselves in ASL language and culture but I am unsure about that too. I don't think many are willing to do such a thing, but it is possible that it may be a huge factor when trying to enhance our ASL skills. For a deaf person I am sure it is hard to do the same. I originally didn't think of it like Amanda did and that ASL should still be incorporated because it'll enhance english skills and then the opposite for a hearing person to learn sign and completely ignore english. I was thinking it would be equally hard to do it either way and in order to completely understand and improve english or ASL language, I think you have to look at both languages and strongly understand the differences between the two rather than completely obsolete English when learning ASL. I guess I don't really know what would be the best way. However, Amanda seems to be more plausible because deaf people are exposed to hearing people in the english language all the time whereas hearing people trying to learn ASL are not exposed to deaf people very often. When I took summer class this year with Monica, there was a girl in there that participated in a deaf camp for quite some time and she learned so much from it. An experience like that takes away our english and forces us to try ASL only. That is how we get better. So after arguing with myself on which way would be better, how Amanda put it is exactly how it should be done. Deaf people should not stray from their culture just to learn english, their ASL skills will only make english easier to grasp, as long as you look at it as the big picture and not just the way your culture does things.
ReplyDeleteThe question is what kinda of learner are you and what is you previous experience with english. If she know some english then jumping right in wont be hard. If you don't know any english then you need to slowly ease. This is with any language.
ReplyDeleteALSO, a deaf person learning english has experience with most of the english culture just from day to day whereas a hearing person learning sign does not so this way would make sense then I would think
ReplyDeleteI don't really know what to say either. I mean, it's kind of a proven fact that the fastest way to learn ANY language is to completely immerse yourself in the language. That's what Immersion Schools, classes, and camps do. However, I know that that can be so frustrating that a lot of people wouldn't be able to learn because they're so distracted by how frustrated they are. I know that, personally, I would like to be immersed.
ReplyDeleteNow, if they're saying that ASL is wrong or that people who only use ASl are stupid; if they're saying that they should be around "smarter" people, people who speak English...I do not agree with that. I think a person should do what works best for him or her.
Like the others I don't really know what to say to this. I agree with Morgan on the fact that the fastest way to learn a language is to immerse yourself into it. But if you are just doing this because other people tell you to or because you think you need to have another language to be smarter, you don't. Changing yourself for others isn't a good thing. People need to like you and accept you for who you are.
ReplyDeleteThe lady in the blog is talking about dropping all her asl/deaf friends and putting herself in the english speaking world. I believe she said she was doing this to learn better English and her only way was to drop what she knew and put herself in new territory and start learning. This is hard for any one, but it makes it a little easier if you have a background on what you want to learn. Immersing yourself in a new language will help you learn it faster if you drop your old language but you also want to keep your old language so you don't lose it.
I think the smart route would be to ease into the language start learning English and once you have the basic understanding of it them immerser yourself into for awhile to strengthen your new ability. Just like we are learning ASL we now know the basics of ASL and now is the time to strengthen our new ability of a new language.
I agree with the others. I think that surrounding yourself with you studies (english) will help you learn faster and better, but i don't think that she should only surround herself with hearing/speaking people. this could be very stressful and I believe that a person needs support when learning something new or challenging. Her Deaf friends could give her this support.
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I give you props for wanting to be immersed. The very thought of doing that right now just scares me. Like you mentioned some people would just get frustrated, I would be one of those people.
ReplyDeleteJosie, I like what you said about having friends around for support. I think that is so important. Dropping her Deaf friends completely would serve no purpose. Dropping ASL for a while? That may help, it may not. Like I said before, it's really up to the person.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, haha...yeah. I tend to like to throw myself into things, unprepared (or mildly so) and do what I have to to find my way out. I think that being totally immersed in ASL would be such a cool experience. Seeing and doing ONLY ASL for any amount of time would, I think, help me exponentially.
I agree with a lot of what others said. As much as I struggle with ASL, i know that completely immersing myself in the culture and language would be challenging but it would be the best way for me to learn and fully experience everything that would help me learn and better understand the language. Just by being in a silent class everyday, it is challenging me and forcing me to try to understand and use the language, which is the same with any other language which is followed by its own culture.
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I also give you a props for wanting to immerse yourself in the language. I think I would be able to do it but I'm not very confident in my signing and structure of it. If I could do it is straight english I think I would be fine but other wise like Amanda I would most likely get frustrated with my self in not being able to do as good as I want even though I would be able to understand them pretty well.
ReplyDelete