I think my progress to date has been pretty good. I've learned a lot of basic words recently and one of my favorite activities is just walking around campus and trying to figure out if I know the sign for the things I'm seeing. Learning about religion is probably the hardest part so far, mostly because most of the words are ones I would typically not use in everyday life. I have been watching religious videos where there is an ASL interpreter, so that has helped me pick up a few signs. So far, I think my learning plan is going well and as of right now, I do not plan on making any changes to my learning plan.
Whenever I meet with my language partner, she always brings her roommate along, who is hard of hearing, so watching them have conversations is really helpful and I am occasionally able to pick up what they are saying just by guessing what the signs mean and watching their facial expressions. I am also getting comfortable with signing in public, even though I normally get a few strange stares.
I wish there was a website where I could sign something and have it tell me what the sign meant. There are a few signs that I can recognize, but I am still unsure exactly what they mean and I typically forget to ask my partner when I see her. This is one instance where ASL can be harder than learning a spoken language, because I cannot just text my language partner and ask her what a word means.
Comments