SignWriting List Forum| Message 550 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] | Message Index |
|
SignWriting List Forum |
|||
|
|
From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Thu Nov 5, 1998 4:53 am Subject: Re: A general ASL question | |
|
November 4, 1998 All languages have several different ways to say the same thing...not only does every language have synonyms, but there are also different sentence structures one can use correctly within each language. For me, moving to Denmark and learning to speak Danish by living with Danes had a profound effect on my understanding of learning languages. I "experienced" language with the natives. A terrific experience I wholeheartedly recommend if you truly want to become fluent in a language. But fluency takes years, even under those circumstances. There are several layers of fluency. I noticed that in the beginning I was insecure and therefore memorized certain phrases and I clung to those phrases like a person who feels they are drowning...clinging to a life preserver. I became rigid in my thinking. One day, a Dane corrected a mistake I made, and I argued with them! And suddenly I realized what I was doing - I was arguing with a native speaker and of course I was wrong! So I learned to become flexible and accept the fact that I would never be native and that was OK and to expect surprises when I spoke with Danes and assume that I did not know everything. My fluency went way up when I became flexible. So my suggestion to all those new to learning ASL or any signed language...take your children and your family to Deaf events and Deaf gatherings and start conversing with the natives...and absorb everything Deaf people teach you. And every time you bump into a synonym you did not know, just accept it as one more step towards fluency. But now...on to SignWriting. Today I received a question about a sign written in one of our documents on our web site. The sign was the sign for "recently", which is at the beginning of this page on the web: Fond Memories by Paulette Sottak https://www.SignWriting.org/fond01.html Paulette is Deaf and native to ASL. Her sign for "recently" is not the standard one that beginning students learn in ASL class. In other words, Paulette used a "synonym". The sign she wrote was tapping on her shoulder - I remember back when Paulette wrote the article ...I commented to Paulette that she had taught me a new sign for "recently". No question it is not the "standard" sign, but it is most definitely correct ASL. Sometimes students of SignWriting think that there is only one way to write something and they ask me why something is written that way - when actually it has nothing to do with SignWriting. It was the author's choice of vocabulary :-) Valerie :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valerie Sutton at the DAC Deaf Action Committee for SW SignWriting https://www.SignWriting.org Center For Sutton Movement Writing an educational nonprofit organization Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|