Does anyone here know ASL?
 

I'm enrolled in a class to learn sign language but I'm also looking for any online sources that may be of help to me. I've bookmarked a few but figured I'd tap into the collective.

TIA

PDX-944 (Ryan) is a ASL interpreter. He's not too active on here anymore but might respond to a PM.

Thank you

My sister suggested I learn ASL when my hearing went kaput. Probably so I can communicate better.

‘Communicate with who? I don’t think either of us nor anybody we know knows ASL.

I know Scuba Divers that learned ASL to talk underwater.

I dated an interpreter a long time ago, I had a barely usable knowledge of it but I knew lots of people in the Miami deaf community through her. Apparently I shouted a lot, because I would kinda strike each word forward with my hands, especially fingerspelling. Think of a cobra striking, that motion. Made people mad, so no one wanted me to sign to them :D

Deaf people using ASL have to really abbreviate their ideas since it's a time and labor intensive language. I learned early on that someone saying "that shirt looks bad on you" was perfectly acceptable, since they didn't want to say "oh, that's a nice shirt, do they have it it any other colors, because beige would really highlight your skintones"

I tutored at Ohlone, then a JC, and they had a very vibrant ASL community and classes. I was tutoring economics.

https://www.ohlone.edu/deafstudies/asl

Lots of info in the link. I hope it helps!

A bit of a tangent, but I find it surprising that fake sign language interpreters keep finding employment.

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Way back iin my single days, I dated a ASL school teacher. She primary taught grade school kids. One day when I was at her hose two guys in black trousers, long sleeved white shirts and skinny ties knocked on her door.

She just opened the door, and started sigining to them. One of them turned to the other as asked what do we do now? They turned and left.

I never realized how big of a handicap it is to be born deaf. To have to learn language by sight and not sound is a real challenge.

GTFOH:eek:

My wife does, I need to work on it

I remember having lunch at Ohlone, a really beautiful campus in a great setting for the first time and there were at least 10 groups of folks using ASL in the cafeteria.

It wasn't the ASL that I found fascinating, although it is, it was the facial expressions and the joy of communication in those faces I thought was just beautiful.

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I imagine that this next chapter in my education may require some "adaptation" on my part given that I have only 1 fully functional hand. However, I am quite adept at wearing my emotions on my face.