With only two weeks left, I cannot help but feel sad that I will not see Reba for a few months. She has grown to be a really incredible and kind friend and has proven to be an incredible instructor. Nevertheless, we should see each other during the fall semester of 2020, Just the other day I registered for SDLP: 111 Other courses, so Reva and I are planning to continue to meet in the fall which, I might add, I am beyond excited for (granted that school resumes after the whole “situation”). On another note, I am excited to have learned that there is an attempt/possibility that the University of Richmond will offer American Sign Language as a course for all students in the near future. Although my one-on-one time with Reba has been an amazing experience, I am looking forward to taking the course with other students! I understand that this may not happen during the fall 2020 semester, but even having this possibility for the spring of 2021 is an exciting thought. I would love to be able to practice my ASL with other students and discuss a shared passion.
In addition, I think this would be just a great opportunity! I’ve known students throughout both my high school and college careers who have expressed interest in learning ASL, but who have never been given the opportunity! If the ASL could fulfill the general education requirement of language composition, I believe ASL could be one of the most popular languages at Richmond. Reba has not talked to me much about the possibility of class expansion, but she has expressed that she believes I am learning ASL at a really incredible rate. If I continue my studies during the summer, she would like to have me come in and assist her as a volunteer with some of the courses she will be teaching through the School of continuing studies
Anyway, going back to our weekly meetings, Reba and I will meet twice a week an hour apiece. We have gotten into a pretty steady flow of when we will meet and that schedule of our one-hour meeting. What normally occurs is that we will have around a 20-minute introduction talking about what happened over the weekend and asking how our lives have been. This serves as an opportunity to warm up my ASL skills, as well as ask about signs that I may not know how to sign and that was applicable to my life recap. The next twenty minutes consists of us reviewing words and questions that we have discussed in previous classes. For example, we will talk about our family relationships with each class, breakfast foods, board games, and several other topics. With each topic, I find myself trying to expand the complexity of discussion each week-adding new phrases, words, or thoughts. Thus, these 20 minutes also serve as an opportunity to expand my vocabulary. The last 20 minutes are usually dedicated to learning 10 or so new signs, plus a review and creation of example sentences. In addition, during this time, I will ask questions about ASL in general.
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