As I write this, I have not had any further formal education on the topic at hand since leaving Reba Poole's introductory ASL course at the end of the spring semester. Instead, I intended and partially achieved my goal of having a relaxing and work free summer where I did no studying whatsoever and caught up on my sleep. However, I found myself presented with the unique opportunity to practice my foundational skills and thus renew my interest in the language.
I have experienced many deaths in my family this year and met, by chance, at a funeral the widow of the event. Both parties were deaf and had attended the same deaf school in Staunton, Virginia. The widow and her hearing daughter spent a good deal of time with my immediate family in their period of mourning. It was during these three meetings that I realized I had absorbed a good deal of information in my elective class and that I had a long way to go to achieving fluency.
I chose to study ASL because I generally enjoy learning languages. My goal is to be thoroughly conversational by the end of the semester so I may communicate with my few deaf relatives. In order to achieve this, I intend to partner with an iTalki tutor and meet with them twice a week to immerse myself in the language. My relatives will serve as a resource, also, whenresearching the deaf community and deaf culture in Virginia.
