The Art of Sign Language

          The next section of my IRP Q2 book focuses on two things. It focuses on colors in order to help with description (which were fairly basic), and also common places around town. These signs are more complicated than those previous, and required more practice to get them all down. The text gave some helpful tips, "As you expand your vocabulary, remembering words or phrases can become quite difficult. Try to remember signs by how they relate to what they are or by a part of the sign that relates to another sign. For instance, a tip to remembering colors is by remembering the first letter of that color, as many colors have signs based off of the first letter", (Brown 35). This tip was very helpful to memorization, and helped me remember signs such as "gas station", which I remember with ease as it is spoken by performing an action similar to pouring gas. Brown also provides long, often whole-page sized step-by-step pictures that help work through longer and more complex signs for words that, in English, are simple. This includes the picture guide for the difficult sign, "convenience store", (Brown 37). This particular set of images was of great help to my learning, and made the previously very tough sign seem much simpler.

• I show the colors of the rainbow, pink through purple, and then show white, gray, and then black.

• I show the signs for common town places, in order:
• Bank, clinic, convenience store, gas station, fire station, grocery store, hospital, hotel, mall.

            When it comes to being in a foreign place, whether it be across country borders or simply in a social interaction with a deaf person, how far should one's knowledge of the foreign language have to extend? Should you have just enough to communicate in an emergency, or should you be able to undergo basic conversation with a native speaker?

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

By Noah Crissey

The Art of Sign Language: Basic Phrases and Fluidity of Movement

              The Art of Sign Language goes into detail regarding a multitude of phrases and words that allow for basic conversation with the deaf or heard of hearing. These range from greetings to discussing the weather to important phrases in case of an emergency. The text helped me by providing useful information about the fluidity and speed at which one should sign, "Remember that when signing phrases or complete sentences, fluidity is key. Separating words in a sentence or phrase with a pause can be very confusing, and fluid motion is a great skill to have when signing," (Brown, 25).

• "Hello, my name is Noah. What is your name?"

• "Good Morning. How are you? I'm good, thank you for asking."

• "What is the time? Where is the hospital?"

         I found that after enough practice, I could sign these basic phrases with ease and, more importantly, fluidity. The text shows many images to go along with the various signs, and accompanying text to go along with them. For instance, the text states that when signing the word "name", one taps the fingers together twice, (Brown, 22). These little tips helped me greatly when learning, as they prevented me from missing key aspects of certain signs that cannot be effectively portrayed in pictures. 

         How do you feel about visual learning at KR? Do you learn better with a picture to help or is the written word more your style, and which way should material at KR be taught?

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

By Noah Crissey

         The Art of Sign Language

       For my IRP Quarter 2 I decided to learn basic sign language so that I can communicate with the deaf or heard of hearing. So far, I have the English ASL alphabet memorized, and I perform it in the video. The text helped, less through actual instruction and more through the many pictures of the sign of each letter. Early in the text many of these images for the alphabet are shown (Brown, 9-15). As you can see, I can now perform the alphabet. The text also helped through providing text instruction the few letters that require both a hand shape and movement, such as Z, "Make sure you make the Z in the air so that the person talking to you might read it," (Brown, 15).

How do you feel about languages being a graduation requirement at KR? Are they helpful life skills, or should the time be spent a different way?

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

By Noah Crissey