ASL: Talking About Actions

ASL: Talking About Actions



The final chapter I read out of Christopher Brown's The Art of Sign Language was about actions. How to use them, and common signs associated with them. I show a small handful of the signs I gathered from this Chapter below.

1. "I want to wish you a good visit."
2. "Where do you live?'
3. "Please try to continue working."
4. "Remember to pay for your laundry."

Brown provides helpful little bits of information throughout his text related to general ASL proficiency. These have been of great help throughout my IRP. One of these helped greatly, and helped me realize a lot about body language in ASL, "Remember that when signing, you are engaged in a conversation, just like normal speaking. Use expression and body language to portray your point. This gives your signs more meaning." (Brown 115).  She continues on, speaking about things like moving your body with your hands, and mouthing your words (Brown 115-116). This knowledge has been of great help. As I have gotten more familiar with my signs, I can slowly improve to sign like someone skilled in the language.

How does body language translate from ASL to normal speaking, and how important do you think body language is?

Brown, Christopher. The Art of Sign Language: Phrases. Vol. 2, Thunder Bay Press, 2003.

By Noah Crissey

ASL for School and Home






In Christopher Brown's The Art of Sign Language, many examples and common phrases are given for a number of different scenarios and situations. In the next chapter, Brown delves into common phrases used around the house or at school. I can be seen performing a few of the many gestures learned from this chapter below.

1. "Would you like a toothbrush, toothpaste, or towel?"
2. "The telephone is on the table under the window."
3. "The paper, pencil, scissors, and crayons are in the basket."
4. "The letter came in the mail today."

I have stated in previous posts how Brown has provided a number of step by step pictures for each of the signs he shows. However, in this chapter, as the signs got more complicate, he began providing arrows on this images. This helped me greatly for sign like "Fire Alarm", where the arrows greatly aided me in understanding the sign (Brown 112). In addition, the instructions below each step that previously had little impact have grown to be a valuable asset in this chapter. For example when understanding the word "came" for the sign "The letter came in the mail today", Brown's instruction helped clear up something that could not be portrayed through motion arrows, "Index fingers rotate around each other in motion towards the body." (Brown 110). This is just one example of how the instructions were of great aid.

Muscle memory played a big roll in learning a lot of ASL. How big of a role do you think muscle memory has in numerous other things, like playing instruments of engaging in sports?

Brown, Christopher. The Art of Sign Language: Phrases. Vol. 2, Thunder Bay Press, 2003.

By Noah Crissey