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I am a hearing person. Me and some friends have made learning ASL one of our hobbies over the last couple years. I highly recommend it, it's very fun! It also o

by apeace 5y ago

I am a hearing person. Me and some friends have made learning ASL one of our hobbies over the last couple years. I highly recommend it, it's very fun! It also opens a window into the deaf world that I find really fascinating. There is a joke in the deaf world that hearing people are emotionally repressed. I don't think it's taken seriously, but it's because speaking ASL requires you to be so expressive with your face and body. For example, instead of raising the pitch of your voice to indicate you are asking a question, you raise or furrow your eyebrows (raised for a yes/no question, furrowed for an open-ended question). You also don't say things like "I REALLY like it", you just say "I like it" and show the REALLY part with your face and body. It's understandable how hearing people could look like a bunch of emotionless drones with that context! Learning to be visually expressive is one of the most fun parts about ASL. As with the football team in the article, using ASL around hearing people can feel like a super-power. Imagine saying to your friend, "This place sucks, let's get out of here," while the bartender is right in front of you! Probably not the most polite thing, but useful. It's also great if you're somewhere crowded and/or loud. You can really zone out the noise and have a conversation. Also, doing simple things like spelling people's names can be a fun party trick (for hearing people). Anyway, I just wanted to emphasize that as a hearing person, there was so much more to learn about ASL and the deaf community than I thought there was. I can't recommend it enough.

tbdenney 5y ago
I've been interested in learning ASL for a few years but never made the effort. Do you have some resources to suggest for getting started?
- apeace 5y ago
  Of course! Learning the alphabet is a great way to start, and only takes about 30 minutes. This video[1] should do the trick. When you spell words letter-by-letter it's called "fingerspelling". Here[2] is the sign for it. I recommend taking a class, though. I took classes at ASL NYC[3], and it was awesome. They started doing Zoom-based classes during the pandemic, I'm not sure if they still do that. It's best to learn from a teacher, and in an environment where you can practice with other people (via Zoom is perfectly fine). Even with something "simple" like fingerspelling, there is a lot of nuance that a good teacher can help you with. For example, in the alphabet video I linked, she does some letters differently than how I learned them (she shows her "C" to the side, I show it facing forward). She's not wrong, it just turns out that there are a lot of different styles and ways to do things in ASL. You don't want to learn the "wrong" way and then have to unlearn it -- your teacher will have a specific way they want you to do things in class. A class is also a natural gateway to other resources. For example, I now do an informal, monthly ASL meetup with a couple people I met in class (we go to a bar and play sign language games). You'll discover a lot of avenues to get good practice and continue learning. Hope this helps, good luck! [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BD8SjhPSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BD8SjhPSg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brp2RYS455g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brp2RYS455g [3] https://aslnyc.com/ https://aslnyc.com/
zucked 5y ago
My spouse (hearing) spent some time immersed in the Deaf community and the learnings she got from just scratching the surface was really eye opening. All of what you said is true - there's no use for many of english adjectives because body language tells it equally as effectively. The Deaf community was way more nuanced and interesting than I expected. ASL is a really cool language and it's fun and relatively easy to learn.
DoneWithAllThat 5y ago
What is a “hearing person”?
- mosen 5y ago
  A person that can hear.
  - DoneWithAllThat 5y ago
    So then someone who isn’t deaf? Why not just say that?
    - michaelpb 5y ago
      Are you asking for writing tips? I'm not OP, but for one "someone who isn't deaf" is 4 words and has a complex structure while "hearing person" is 2 words and has a simple structure, and thus is more effective writing. It seems strange to me to suggest more complicated structures to replace simpler ones! Is there another reason to use the more complicated structure?
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - xeromal 5y ago
        Deaf person is also 2 words. lol
        dylan604 5y ago
        Yes, but they were not stating they were a 'deaf person' they would be saying 'not a deaf person' which is back to 4 words. "Hearing person" is still only 2 words. The things that get nitpicked on this site confound me to the level of not being able to look away from the train wreck.
    - RavingGoat 5y ago
      Can you see or are you nonblind?

by apeace 5y ago

tbdenney 5y ago

I've been interested in learning ASL for a few years but never made the effort. Do you have some resources to suggest for getting started?

apeace 5y ago
Of course! Learning the alphabet is a great way to start, and only takes about 30 minutes. This video[1] should do the trick. When you spell words letter-by-letter it's called "fingerspelling". Here[2] is the sign for it. I recommend taking a class, though. I took classes at ASL NYC[3], and it was awesome. They started doing Zoom-based classes during the pandemic, I'm not sure if they still do that. It's best to learn from a teacher, and in an environment where you can practice with other people (via Zoom is perfectly fine). Even with something "simple" like fingerspelling, there is a lot of nuance that a good teacher can help you with. For example, in the alphabet video I linked, she does some letters differently than how I learned them (she shows her "C" to the side, I show it facing forward). She's not wrong, it just turns out that there are a lot of different styles and ways to do things in ASL. You don't want to learn the "wrong" way and then have to unlearn it -- your teacher will have a specific way they want you to do things in class. A class is also a natural gateway to other resources. For example, I now do an informal, monthly ASL meetup with a couple people I met in class (we go to a bar and play sign language games). You'll discover a lot of avenues to get good practice and continue learning. Hope this helps, good luck! [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BD8SjhPSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5BD8SjhPSg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brp2RYS455g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brp2RYS455g [3] https://aslnyc.com/ https://aslnyc.com/

zucked 5y ago

My spouse (hearing) spent some time immersed in the Deaf community and the learnings she got from just scratching the surface was really eye opening. All of what you said is true - there's no use for many of english adjectives because body language tells it equally as effectively. The Deaf community was way more nuanced and interesting than I expected. ASL is a really cool language and it's fun and relatively easy to learn.

DoneWithAllThat 5y ago

What is a “hearing person”?

mosen 5y ago
A person that can hear.
- DoneWithAllThat 5y ago
  So then someone who isn’t deaf? Why not just say that?
  - michaelpb 5y ago
    Are you asking for writing tips? I'm not OP, but for one "someone who isn't deaf" is 4 words and has a complex structure while "hearing person" is 2 words and has a simple structure, and thus is more effective writing. It seems strange to me to suggest more complicated structures to replace simpler ones! Is there another reason to use the more complicated structure?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - xeromal 5y ago
      Deaf person is also 2 words. lol
      - dylan604 5y ago
        Yes, but they were not stating they were a 'deaf person' they would be saying 'not a deaf person' which is back to 4 words. "Hearing person" is still only 2 words. The things that get nitpicked on this site confound me to the level of not being able to look away from the train wreck.
  - RavingGoat 5y ago
    Can you see or are you nonblind?