This past semester has been amazingly awesome in regards to my ASL journey. I originally wanted to learn terminology and phrases revolving around emergency medical situations such as anatomical and physiological terminology and symptoms. I wanted this specific skill set because I am an Emergency Medical Technique and if I encountered anyone who was deaf or hard of hearing in the field, I wanted them to be able to communicate their information, symptoms, and the preceding events of the situation to me. However, looking back on this semester, Reba and I barely covered medical terminology. We actually focused on other topics such as numbers, relationships, food, furniture, houses, places, sports, spelling practice, and emotions. Nevertheless, I am not sad or regretful that we did not cover the medical terminology. In fact, I am proud and thankful for the information I have learned, despite the fact that it did not entirely follow my learning plan. I do not think my understanding of ASL would be as strong if we solely focused on medical terminology and phrases. My understanding of the language would be limited and I do not think I would have a great comprehension of how the language actually functions and its essential components.
In order to effectively be able to interpret ASL in an emergency situation, I need to have a strong understanding of the basics of the language. I need to improve my ability to read signs and increase my exposure to reading spelled out words. I need to have an understanding of the sentence structure and how to indicate tenses. All of these components were imperative to learn for understanding ASL, and I believe this past semester, I have gained at least some amount of exposure to these concepts. By no means am I an expert, but I do have the confidence to say that I have a strong beginning grasps on these concepts. I do not expect my ASL language journey to end after this semester as I plan to take the Self-directed Language Learning II course in the fall of 2020. During the fall, I will continue to increase my understanding of language’s grammar and increase my vocabulary. Until then, I will be using italki.com over the summer to practice my conversational skills and I will be using the books Reba has given me, along with
Reflecting upon this past semester though, my favorite part of the course was interacting and building a relationship with Reba. For the most part, it was just the two of us meeting together at least twice a week and I think I can say after four months, we have become friends. It was really interesting to learn about Reba’s upbringing as she is completely deaf – to hear about her family, her time at Gallaudet University, and her work with ASL champs. I had always been curious about different aspects of deaf culture, deaf interactions, and what it is like to be deaf in a world full of sound, and, although she does not represent the entire deaf community, Reba showed me a snapshot of her upbringing, experiences and how she handled such things.
If I had to find one part of the course that I thought could use improvement or I could change, I would try to recruit at least one other student to take the course with me. The one-on-one interaction with Reba was great, but I do wish I had a fellow classmate who I could connect with on-campus and practice our ASL together.
The most impactful article/piece of literature we had read this year for me was during the first week, the article “How to Successfully Learn a New Language This Year.” After reading the article, I was not shocked by any of the information, but it was somewhat of a waking call for how I should be approaching not only my ASL journey but also my Mandarin Language journey. I need to practice speaking with others and be specific about the goals I have for my languages. Simply just making flashcards and memorizing vocabulary is helpful to an extent, but it is through interactions and conversation that my language skills really solidify and my vocabulary usage transfer from short-term to long term memory. If I were to have another student on campus who was taking an ASL course with me, the two of us could really strengthen our understanding and usage of the language in a setting outside of the classroom and we could practice through fun, adventures modalities, such as playing bored games, going to the dining hall, or simply just walking around campus.
I have absolutely loved learning ASL this past semester and I look forward to continuing to improve my signing skills.
Comments
I completely agree that the best and most effective way to learn a language is through consistent interaction where you can make, recognize, and correct mistakes. Your goal in being able to communicate with the Deaf community in case of an emergency is so vital. When I first thought about this course and learning a new language, I had not thought about ASL at all. When I heard you say that was the language you wanted to learn, I was intrigued. I know the people who you will serve will be so appreciative and grateful for your efforts.