Comparisons between ASL, JSL, and LSF.
(Video has captions)
Your daily reminder that sign language is not universal.
Anonymous asked: Hi! I'm currently a year 12 student in NSW and am considering exploring the Deaf culture through my major works for drama in the HSC. I found the play Tribes by Nina Raine and want to turn it into a monologue and learn basic Auslan (I found a course in my area for next term) so I can sign in my monologue. I was wondering your opinion on this in terms of respect for the Deaf culture and in difficulty. Thanks!
Hi there, I have never seen or read this play, so I can’t comment on the play itself other than side eye the fact that it was written by a hearing person with no real connection to a Deaf community that I can find (I won’t lie, it was a real quick search). I don’t know how difficult it would be to translate a monologue from this play as I don’t know which part you would be using. Basically there’s not enough context here for me to be able to comment.
I would say that if you were planning to translate it yourself, that it is generally fairly difficult for anyone to translate into a language they’ve only spent a few weeks learning. Like, if I wanted to translate a monologue into French (which I can’t speak or read, but have definitely had a few weeks worth of classes in) and I used like google translate and a French dictionary I think the final product would be fairly difficult to understand for a French speaker. I do understand that it might seem like Auslan is more related to English than French is to English, but this is just not true, they are completely different languages, like I’ve been studying Auslan for nearly two years, and I don’t know that I would be completely confident to translate a text for a performance.
I really can’t comment on the cultural aspects of what this would mean; I don’t know who you are and I don’t know anything about this play or which parts/angles you would be taking on it. But, I would say that when hearing people play Deaf characters it is pretty uncool.
I think that I am definitely not the person to be asking about this, like I am hearing (and grumpy), if you genuinely want to do this in a respectful way (and I have to say it might not be possible to do it respectfully and you need to be prepared to accept that and pick a different thing to do) you should talk to some Deaf folks rather than random hearing people on the Internet.
I think it’s really cool that you want to learn Auslan! Anyway, good luck with your studies, and I hope you can find someone to help you nut this out!
lifeasiknowitxx asked: Okay so I am teaching myself auslan through signplanet and my auslan dictionary. But I'm not sure when I sign sentences. Like is the structure the same as when you would talk ? Or different? Could you help me? :)
Hey there, it’s awesome that you wanna learn Auslan! If I’m being completely honest I am not too sure that learning a visual language from books and websites (or any language really but anyway) rather than from a native signer [and in my experience the best people to learn from are Deaf people, because hearing people tend to sign differently and also, don’t necessarily connect with the language in the same ways] is going to be very effective at all (See this [link] for a longer rant on this subject).
However, as I’ve sad before not everyone can afford a course, but really, you should have a look about to see if you can find anything in your area, or any people who might be willing to skillshare (I mean, I know it can be intimidating to a) meet new people b) talk to them in a language you don’t speak well at all, but I really do believe that signing with folks who are willing to correct you, or take the time and energy to encourage and teach you is the best way to learn - usually this means you need to pay for a course, or you can also volunteer about the place as well if you’re lucky and enthusiastic!)
Anyway, to answer your question (and let’s not forget that I am a hearing person, and I am currently still studying Auslan so I am really not the best person to ask about this and am probably going to point you toward some books to read and then suggest again that you do a course or ask someone more qualified than me) :
Auslan sentence structure is quite different from English structure, in fact (fun fact time!) I’ve heard that grammatically speaking it has more in common with spoken Japanese than it does with English. The simple reason for this is that they are two completely separate languages! I feel like I can’t emphasise this enough; if you are signing Auslan in English structure, it may not make sense, it won’t be easy to understand, and it definitely won’t be correct signing.
The wonderful lukraak recently posted something about Auslan structure, which may help you get an idea about how different the structure can be [link], but this is just one example, and there are many aspects of grammar which are not really easy to describe in written form (eg Non Manual Features which are things like the way you hold your body (forward/backward) and head (nodding/shaking/forward) while signing something might change the meaning from past to present continuous to future to I didn’t do that action or I won’t), I think the most comprehensive text on the subject is probably Adam Schembri and Trevor Johnston’s Australian Sign Langauge : An Introduction to sign language linguistics, which you can maybe find in some major libraries. I know that a few around Melbourne do, but I dunno where you are, so can’t tell you where to go!
My brain’s a bit gooey at the moment, so I can’t give you anything more solid, but I’ll probs post some more tips and stuff when I am less brain melty, and back in the country (so can consult teachers etc.) Hope this has been some kind of helpful!
Also, did you know that in Australia Auslan has been added to the national curriculum as a LOTE subject? If you happen to be in school still it might be worth a little research and petitioning to see if you can get it as a subject.
Anyway, lemme know if this is not enough/too much info, and if there’s anything I can do to help!
Good luck with your studies!
Got accepted into RMIT Diploma of Interpreting (Auslan)
[image is a moving gif of a silly looking white butch with a shocked expression fingerspelling OMG in the Auslan (BANZSL) alphabet. end image]
Got past first round of rejections for RMIT Diploma of Auslan Interpreting
Feeling chuffed, but also worried.
On a side note, good luck for tomoz Cole!!! You’ll be brilliant!
[image is a blue panel with white writing which reads: “You know you’re an ASL student when… you don’t even bother painting your nails during the school year because you will have to take it off for class anyways.” end image]
SO false. We all paint our nails so much. In fact on Auslan camps we set up all our polishes and even the Deafies and teachers join in.
Although once Bec did get in trouble for some super hot pink nails for her assessment when the assessor was a visitor. But Natasha always has mad acrylic nails, and half the class usually has theirs painted.
omg, at camp when everyone had wet nails and was signing like “Yeeeaaaaaarrrgh, must not touch nails or self!!” That shit was hard to understand.
(Source: aslstudents)
Lips and hands
- Hearing: Can you read my lips?
- Deaf: No, can you read my hands?
In response to the recent crazy (hearing) fanbase development of ASL interpreter Lydia Calas covering Hurricane Sandy.
Read and learn, peeps.
reblogging to read again in more depth. (forgive me father for I have skimmed)
But also, I think I read a similar takedown of this weird ass phenomenon which I feel like is kinda similar to the way many hearing people who have never really seen sign language before will all of a sudden decide they need to wave their arms about and make grotesque faces all like “what does this mean?!” (which for the record is not so much frustrating anymore as really funny, because not only do you look really weird and not at all like a person who is signing [unless they’re describing your shitty behaviour {oooh meta}], but also sometimes people do sign things like the sign for clumsy awful signing (that one happens a lot) or I once had someone accidentally sign “awful” and I was like, “That’s awful” and then they looked put out until I explained that no, it really was awful, but like actually.
Anyway, the main point of the above article (as I understand it) is that the interpreter in those clips is just doing her fucking job. She’s not making fun of whichever politician is speaking and she’s not “pulling silly faces”.
This article explains the grammatical features in ASL as expressed by specific facial expressions and is worth a read (I skim and judge and skim and judge) especially if you’re interested in learning any sign language because many (hedging bets here as don’t know all sign languages) use facial expressions in the same sort of way if not the same expressions themselves.
Edan Chapman - The Man and the Tornado
omg attn: pleaselookaftermyghost
I met Edan a while back when we were studying Deafblindness (modes of communication, how to guide, differences between Deafblind and Deaf culture etc), anyway, he’s a really awesome person, and a great photographer (most of the photos from the Australian Deaf Games in Geelong are his). We were having an assessment, the point of which was to guide a Deafblind person around which didn’t really happen for my group because Edan decided he’d much rather guide us around while we chatted and tried to use his white cane.
Point being, everyone should check out his youtube channel, he’s got some great stuff on there and lots of it has the focus of accessible signing (ie for non-signers to enjoy as well), plus his vlog which I haven’t looked at yet because I am lazy, but he’s a really good storyteller, so defs check it out.
