Hello! It is good to be back after a few months away from school and people in general. I am excited about this school year because for the second semester now, I will be taking American Sign Language (ASL). I am still fairly new to the language and, unfortunately, I was not able to practice ASL as much as I would have hoped due to jobs and another online schooling. Thus, my ASL skills have regressed a bit. However, there were several weeks over the summer where I ended up having more free time than expected and it was during those weeks that I looked for ASL lessons online at https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/lessons/lessons.htm! These lessons were great at teaching new words and practicing sentence structure, but throughout the summer, I was craving to actually practice ASL with another human.
Although this post was designed to have been posted on August 30th, I am several days late to the game because it was only yesterday that I had my first lesson with Reba, my ASL community partner/instructor. It was wonderful to catch up with her and discuss what happened during our lives during a pandemic filled summer. We also discussed a generalized teaching plan for the semester including what words to learn, which days we will meet, and homework to practice outside of our general meeting times.
On a super exciting note, two other students have joined the SDLC program for ASL! Last semester, Reba and I were the only individuals present in our course. This was a wonderful opportunity to start learning ASL because of the one on one attention; however, I had wished other students on campus were taking the course with me. To have an ASL community on campus, even if small, would be extremely beneficial recourse as it would provide individuals the opportunity to practice ASL with one another as well as promote deaf awareness on an even greater scale. One day, I would like to see ASL offered at the University of Richmond and following the current growth trend, I believe it may be possible!
I am curious to see how the ASL classes will change and adjust with the addition of two other members. As of now, all our lessons will be remote via Facetime or Zoom. Because the other two new students do not have any previous experience with ASL, I wonder if many of the lessons we have together will be repetitive of the signs I learned last semester? Regardless of if they are, I think it would be good to relearn and strengthen my understanding of the ASL basics as well as refresh my understanding of sentence structure and other grammar.
Nevertheless, my goal for this semester is to continue building my vocabulary with an emphasis on the medical terminology of emergency situations. My primary resource of learning will be through Reba, but with the addition of students to the class, I hope to strengthen my knowledge by conversing with one or both students. Additionally, I have the resources iTalki.com and lifeprint.com for additional lessons, plus the sign language dictionary app – SignSchool.
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