Good afternoon everyone!
So here is my first update for my #learningproject where I have committed to learning American Sign Language (ASL). In my first post, I mentioned that I planned on learning ASL in a similar way that children would learn to speak English (in my experience). In order to construct a tall building, we need a solid foundation and so I began with the basics: the alphabet and numbers 1-20.
The alphabet was first and I was very excited to refresh my memory on the letters that I had learned long ago (ah the good old days of middle school!). Honestly, it was less of a refresh and more of a re-learning. The only letters that I remembered were those that spelled my name and that wasn’t going to get me very far. I was able to find many valuable tutorials on YouTube all of which were useful, however, I chose one titled “ASL Alphabet Lesson and Slow Alphabet Song” posted by My Smart Hands. I found that this young lady did an excellent job at slowly going through each move and providing little tips and hints along the way to help learners like myself get the signs just right! She was very easy to follow and I was able to pick it up right away! One difficulty I had while learning the alphabet was knowing exactly how to place my hands for each sign. Certain signs, for example, the sign for the letter “G” would occasionally throw me off because I would misplace my thumb. With some practice, I am able to get it right but in addition to knowing the sign itself, I will mention that it is tiring on the hand muscles! I never thought about having to “workout” one’s hand but for ASL you sure do! I have now discovered that there are muscles in my hand that I never knew about! After a while, it does get better!
For learning my numbers, I chose to stick with the same channel that I used for the alphabet. Now, in full honesty, I thought learning the numbers was going to be a breeze! I mean, how many times have I counted on my fingers since I was little (and I still occasionally have to use my fingers to do math, try not to judge me too harshly, haha)? By golly was I wrong! Signing the numbers is not the same as the typical counting we do! There are certain ways that you need to position your hands and you do not use both hands to sign, you instead use your dominant hand only! Once I watched the videos and signed along with my teacher, I was able to get the hang of things and made it all the way from 1-20. I chose not to go farther than that for now, but there may be more numbers in the future. If you would like to begin learning how to sign numbers as well, please check out the video linked below and check out the channel “My Smart Hands” for more great lessons!
“ASL Numbers 1-10” – My Smart Hands
Next Week: Colours and Days of the Week.
Sounds like you have a great start! Are you going to post videos and pictures in future posts of you signing? Or is that more the goal for the end of the learning project? Good luck!
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Hi Katie!
I do plan to vlog more often than blog, just because this is a very visual language. Although, perhaps I should alternate it much more in order to keep it a surprise at the end!
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as it is a very visual language maybe an idea would be to reach out to someone who speaks ASL and learn from them? just a thought
I learned from a friend who was partially deaf and found I learned better when he showed me face to face. as it was a very kinesthetic way of learning which I enjoyed.
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Great project! I just watched a great Ted Ed video that may encourage you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2O6mQkFiiw&feature=share
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Hi Di!
Thank you for that resource! That is very interesting to think about. Sometimes my biggest problem is being distracted also, so I’ll especially be taking that piece of advice from the video!
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Hello Kayci,
I just wanted to first off tell you what a great idea learning ASL will be for a final project. When I did my EDTC 300 final project I chose computer coding. But what a benefit to your teaching career it will be in you can learn ASL. I also just wanted to say how nicely organized and easy your blog is to navigate. Keep up the great work! I will enjoy following your EDTC 300 journey throughout the semester.
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Kayak, this is a great thing to do for the learning project. You have learnt so much in so little time! I know how hard it is! I have my ASL BabySign Certificate. I teach a weekly baby signs class. I have a binder of resources, some lesson plans, CDs of children songs with the lyrics and signs on paper to follow along when listening, as well as some children’s books that incorporates many different signs with pictures throughout the book. If you want to stop by a class or look through what I have just let me know!
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Sorry Kayci, just realized my typo on your name.
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