Hello everyone and welcome back. The month of March has flown on by and we just have a little over one month until my last, official ASL class at the University of Richmond!
Nevertheless, my ASL classes during March have been spectacular. Reba and I are meeting one on one, twice a week. Although I enjoyed having additional students in the class, the individual one-on-one sessions have been much more helpful as the teaching is targeted to my own ASL level, and Reba and I have direct communication with each other for the full hour.
Our primary focus has been reviewing and practicing the material from the red ASL book, “. This book has been extremely helpful as it goes into greater depth in regards to ASL grammar and sentence structure. Oftentimes, Reba and I will begin a conversation following an example sentence from the book. However, the two of us will then elaborate on the story. I think this method to be great practice as it allows us to imagine likely scenarios and practice how to communicate in said situations. For example, Reba and I had a conversation the other day that involved me having to justify why and that I did not steal a cookie from her. In such conversations, I also notice that my ASL speed has increased and I do not have to think as deeply about what sign is what.
Another key skill the two of us have been focusing on is the use of facial expressions. I have talked about the importance of facial expressions in ASL in the past, but I do not feel as though it was until recently that I started really getting the hang of facial expression incorporation. When I first began ASL, and throughout my first few semesters of ASL, I would often forget to incorporate facial expressions since I was heavily focused on remembering which signs to use and the order to place them in. Since my vocabulary and sentence structure have begun to improve, I am gaining a greater ability to sign with my face while still being able to sign ASL.
One aspect I am still struggling with within ASL is finger dexterity, flexibility, and mobility. Many of the signs that involve specific finger manipulation leave my hands feeling tired, sore, and uncomfortable. I have never played an instrument, and besides typing, I have little experience using my fingers for fine motor skill activities. Although, now, ASL seems to be a chance to improve such dexterity, especially when signing numbers. Depending on the shape, arc, and position of the hand, numbers change between single, double, and triple digits. It can be frustrating seeing as how something so “simple” as numbers could prove to be one of the most difficult aspects of ASL thus far.
In terms of topics, Reba and I are primarily just working on strengthening the vocabulary I do have and relay focusing on improving my ASL sentence structure. I would rather fix my grammar and sentence structure now and then learn additional terminology later than vice versa.
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