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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Bildung
- Sprache: Englisch
Grasp the rich culture and language of the Deaf community To see people use American Sign Language (ASL) to share ideas is remarkable and fascinating to watch. Now, you have a chance to enter the wonderful world of sign language. American Sign Language For Dummies offers you an easy-to-access introduction so you can get your hands wet with ASL, whether you're new to the language or looking for a great refresher. Used predominantly in the United States, ASL provides the Deaf community with the ability to acquire and develop language and communication skills by utilizing facial expressions and body movements to convey and process linguistic information. With American Sign Language For Dummies, the complex visual-spatial and linguistic principles that form the basis for ASL are broken down, making this a great resource for friends, colleagues, students, education personnel, and parents of Deaf children. * Grasp the various ways ASL is communicated * Get up to speed on the latest technological advancements assisting the Deaf * Understand how cultural background and regionalism can affect communication * Follow the instructions in the book to access bonus videos online and practice signing along with an instructor If you want to get acquainted with Deaf culture and understand what it's like to be part of a special community with a unique shared and celebrated history and language, American Sign Language For Dummies gets you up to speed on ASL fast.
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Seitenzahl: 197
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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American Sign Language For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016953540
ISBN 978-1-119-28607-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-28609-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-28610-3 (ebk)
American Sign Language For Dummies®
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “American Sign Language For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Table of Contents
Cover
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: American Sign Language and You
Chapter 1: You Already Know a Little Sign
Discovering Signs That Look like What They Mean
Building on the Basics of Sign: Gestures and Expression
Chapter 2: Signing Grammar Basics
Explaining the Parts of Speech
Talking Tenses
Structuring Sentences
Exclaiming in Simple Sentences
Signing Conditional Sentences
Personification: The Secret of Agents
Clarifying with Classifiers
Chapter 3: Starting to Sign Basic Expressions
Initiating a Conversation
Getting Acquainted
Acting the Part: Constructed Dialogue and Constructed Action
Chapter 4: Getting Your Numbers and Times Straight
Counting on Numbers
Talking about Time
Chapter 5: Signing at Home
Handling Signs about Your Home
Hanging Out for the Holidays
Teaching the Tots
Keeping Track of Your Subjects in Space
Part 2: Refining Your ASL
Chapter 6: Asking Questions and Making Small Talk
Signing Key Questions: Six Ws, One H
Discussing Family, Friends, and More
Using Possessives and Pronouns When Chatting
Chapter 7: Asking for Directions
Finding Your Way
Looking to Natural Landmarks
Searching the Streets
Transporting Yourself
Directing Your Sentences with Conjunctions
Chapter 8: Dining and Going to the Market
Eating Three Square Meals a Day
Dining Out
Attention, Shoppers!
Chapter 9: Shopping Made Easy
Clothes for All Seasons
All about Money
Shopping Superlatives and Comparisons
Chapter 10: The Signer About Town
Making Plans
Selecting Your Social Station
Chapter 11: Takin’ Care of Business
Occupying Yourself with Occupations
Sorting Office Supplies
Getting to Work
Chapter 12: Recreation and the Great Outdoors
Exercising Your Right to Recreate
Playing Indoor Games
Having Fun with Hobbies
Seeing the Night Sky
Getting the Weather Report
Asking Rhetorical Questions in ASL
Chapter 13: Here’s to Your Health
Going to the Doctor
Describing Ailments and Treatments
Pointing to Body Parts
Handling Emergencies
Part 3: Looking at Life through Deaf Eyes
Chapter 14: The Deaf Community and Deaf Etiquette
Digging into Sign’s Past
Examining When and How ASL began
Facing the Challenges of the Deaf Community
The Deaf as an Ethnic Group
Being Sensitive to Being Deaf
Participating in the Deaf Community
Interpreting for the Deaf Community
Chapter 15: Soliciting Social Justice
Oralists and Manualists Meet in Milan
The Deaf Have It
Rejecting Language Oppression
Movers and Shakers
Chapter 16: Using Technology to Communicate
Using Videophones: Can You See Me Now?
Using Other Communication Methods
Calling through Captioning
Part 4: The Part of Tens
Chapter 17: Ten Tips to Help You Sign like a Pro
Watch Yourself and Others Sign
Discover Multiple Signs for Communicating One Thing
Practice Your Signing — with Others
Always Fingerspell a Name First
Adjust Your Eyes; Everyone’s Signing Is Different
Use Facial Expressions like Vocal Inflections
Journal Your Progress
Get Some Signing Space
Don’t Jump the Gun
Watch the Face, Not the Hands
Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Pick Up Sign Quickly
Volunteer at a Residential School for the Deaf
Volunteer at Local Deaf Clubs
Attend Deaf Social Functions
Make Deaf Friends
Assist Deaf Ministries
Attend Conferences for Interpreters
Work at Camps for the Deaf
Attend Silent Weekends
Go to Deaf Workshops and Deaf Conferences
Watch Sign Language Videos
Chapter 19: Ten Popular Deaf Expressions
Swallowed the Fish
Train Gone
Pea Brain
Rats!/Darn!
I Hope
Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
Cool!
Oh No!
That’s Superb!
That’s Pretty Straight-Laced
Wow!
About the Authors
Advertisement Page
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
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Introduction
American Sign Language is one of those fascinating forms of communication. As you walk through a grocery store, a restaurant, or a park, you might see some people moving their hands in the air as they look at each other. We know that they are communicating because they are responding to each other with gestures and facial expressions. There is meaning to the movement. How often have you thought that you would love to know how to do that? Well here is your chance.
About This Book
American Sign Language For Dummies is designed to give you a general understanding of how to communicate in American Sign Language, as well as a general understanding of Deaf culture and Deaf history. As you’ll soon see, the language and the culture go hand in hand and can’t be separated, and an understanding of both makes you a better signer. As you go through this book, you will see that ASL has rules about how to shape the hands, how the hands move, and how to put signs in order.
To clarify, this book focuses solely on what’s known as American Sign Language (ASL) because it’s pretty much the only form of communication for the Deaf community in the United States.
This book is categorized according to subject. You can use each chapter as a building block for the next chapter or you can skip around wherever you please. Just find a subject that interests you and dig in, remembering that the most important thing is to have fun while you’re figuring out this stuff. It never hurts to have a study buddy. Having a friend to watch you sign, bounce off your questions, and applaud your progress may be just the thing. And if you like to fly solo, that’s ok too. Whichever way you go, the construct of the book is simple enough to follow.
After you understand a concept, we strongly recommend that you practice with those who are already proficient. Conversing with Deaf people is highly recommended as they are the experts. Doing so helps reinforce the knowledge you obtain from this book and allows others to help you hone your skills. If others understand you, you’re probably on the right track. And if you don’t understand something, don’t despair. People all over the world learn how to sign. You'll get there with practice.
Here are some conventions we use to help you navigate this book:
We capitalize the word
Sign
when we use it as another name for American Sign Language. We don’t, however, capitalize it when we use it as a verb
(to sign)
or a noun (referring to a person — a
signer
— or to a specific sign).
We always capitalize
Deaf
because it means culturally Deaf (whereas lowercase “deaf” simply means that someone has an audiological hearing loss and communicates in spoken English rather than ASL).
Whenever we use Sign in lists, examples, and dialogues, we print it in ALL CAPS to show that it’s the closest equivalent to its English counterpart.
When we introduce a new sign, we
bold
it in the text so that you know you’re about to learn a new sign.
ASL doesn’t use punctuation, so we add hyphens to show slight pauses in Sign translations.
The text (Sign and its English translation) always comes before the illustration.
To save space, manual numbers and words that are fingerspelled don’t have illustrations. See
Chapter 1
if you need help remembering how to sign a particular letter or number.
A
Q
in a line of ASL indicates that you need to sign the manual question mark (flip to
Chapter 6
for more on the manual question mark).
Don’t think of the translations of English sentences into ASL as word-for-word translations. In fact, many signs have no English equivalents. Throughout this book, you find English equivalents that are close in meaning to Sign but not exactly the same. Remember that ASL is a completely different language from English. Fortunately, many gestures that hearing people use are also used by Deaf people in ASL, so you already have a head start that you can build on.
Foolish Assumptions
We hate to assume anything about anyone, but when writing this book, we had to make a few foolish assumptions about you. Here they are (we hope we were right):
You have little or no experience in this type of communication, but you’ll try anything once. Fair is fair.
You don’t expect to become fluent in Sign after going through this book. You just want some basic vocabulary, and you want to see what particular signs look like by themselves and in simple sentences. There is nothing like intellectual curiosity.
You aren’t interested in memorizing grammar rules; you just want to communicate. However, for you grammar gurus,
Chapter 2
is written for you. There are rules and concepts sprinkled throughout the book.
You want to know a few signs to be able to communicate with Deaf friends, family members, and acquaintances. There is strength in thinking of others.
Because ASL satisfies a foreign language requirement at your college or university. Good for you!
You met an interesting Deaf girl or engaging Deaf guy, and knowing some Sign will really help out. At least you’re honest.
Icons Used in This Book
To help you find certain types of information more easily, we include several icons in this book. You find them on the left-hand side of the page, sprinkled throughout:
This icon highlights tips and tricks that can make signing easier.
This icon points out interesting and important information that you don’t want to forget.
To avoid making a blunder or offending a Deaf friend, pay attention to what these paragraphs have to say.
This icon draws your attention to information about the culture of the Deaf community.
This icon indicates “Signin’ the Sign” dialogues and other elements that are featured in video clips online. You can see Sign in action and practice with the signers.
Beyond the Book
This book comes with an online Cheat Sheet that contains helpful reference information. To get the Cheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type “American Sign Language For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Your purchase of this book also gives you access to lots of online videos. Many of the dialogues in this book are shown online (as indicated by the Play This icon), and you'll also find a handy mini dictionary of common terms. You can access all of the videos at www.dummies.com/go/aslvideos.
Where to Go from Here
The beauty of this book is that you can begin anywhere you want. You may find it helpful to start with the first few chapters to get down the basics, but if that’s not your thing, feel free to jump in wherever you want. Use the table of contents and the index to point you in the right direction (no pun intended). Find a subject that interests you, start signing, and have fun! Just remember, you’re going to make mistakes, but don’t let that discourage you. Instead, use those mistakes as opportunities to solidify and strengthen what you now know to be right. Nothing worthwhile comes easily.
Part 1
American Sign Language and You
IN THIS PART …
Trying out the signs you already know.
Structuring what you know and adding to your foundation.
Learning some basic expressions, numbers, and new vocabulary.
Building on your base of knowledge with things you know from home.
Chapter 1
You Already Know a Little Sign
IN THIS CHAPTER
Knowing some of ASL’s iconic signs
Managing the manual alphabet
Creating compounds
Handling handshapes
Communicating using gestures and facial expressions
Signing isn’t difficult, although moving your hands, body, and face to convey meaning instead of just using your voice may seem odd at first. But with time, practice, and interaction, you’ll see that hand movements can be meaningful. Your goal and reward is being able to meet and communicate with a whole new group of people — people who share your opinions, hobbies, and more. That’s definitely worth the initial awkwardness!
This chapter illustrates the manual alphabet in American Sign Language and talks about hand and body movements. Here, we show you the basics of making handshapes and using facial expressions and body language to get your ideas across. And we start off by reassuring you that you already know some signs. Trust us — you do.
For example, Sign is interwoven in your gestures when you use your index finger to motion to someone to “come here,” when you shake your head “yes” and “no,” and when you give someone the “evil eye.” When you put these in signing context, you convey volumes of information.
Discovering Signs That Look like What They Mean
Iconic or natural signs look like what they mean — the up and down motion of brushing your teeth that means toothbrush, for instance, or the right and left punches that mean boxing. Iconic signs always show action. Here are some examples:
BOXING: Looks like you’re “putting up your dukes.”
DRIVE: Pretend that you’re steering a car.
EAT: Act like you’re putting food in your mouth.
MILK: Have you ever seen a cow being milked? That’s how you sign milk.
SWIMMING/POOL: Think of when you walk through the shallow end of the pool and extend your arms out in front of you to clear the water.
TOOTHBRUSH/BRUSH TEETH: If you’ve ever brushed your teeth with your finger, you made the sign for toothbrush and for brushing your teeth.
Like the sign for boxing, many sports signs are iconic. Check out Chapter 12 for more sports signs.
BEING A WINNING RECEIVER
If you have trouble reading someone’s signs, check the context and then ask yourself, “What could this person mean?” Remember that it’s okay to ask someone to repeat something, just like you do when you don’t understand someone speaking to you. You can show a signer you’re “listening” by nodding your head. If at any time someone is signing something to you and you begin not to understand, stop the person and let her know what you did understand and where you stopped understanding. This is perfectly acceptable. Don’t wait for the person to finish a long, drawn-out thought and then say, “I don’t understand.”
Remember not to watch the signer’s hands primarily. You want to watch the signer’s hands through your peripheral vision. Keep your eyes on the whole picture, from the signer’s abdomen on up to her head. The eyes, face, hands, and body movements tell the whole story.
Building on the Basics of Sign: Gestures and Expression
You already know that “speaking” ASL is mostly a matter of using your fingers, hands, and arms. What you may not understand yet is that facial expressions and body language are important and sometimes crucial for conveying and understanding signs and their meaning. If you’re focused only on a signer’s hands, you can easily miss the slightest rolling of the eyes, a raised eyebrow, or the signer “pointing” at something with the eyes. So expect to see hands on hips in frustration, eyes open wide in shock, and hands on mouths covering a hearty laugh. You know these gestures already and are off to a good start.
The following sections explain how you get nearly your whole body involved in ASL.
Spelling with your fingers
Signers use the manual alphabet (shown later in this section) all the time, especially beginners. Signers fingerspell — spell using the manual alphabet — certain words and, at first, people’s names. So as a beginner, feel free to fingerspell any word you don’t know the sign for. If you want to fingerspell two or more words in a row, such as a title or someone’s first and last name, pause for just a second between each word.
In this book, any word that you fingerspell is shown in hyphenated letters. For example, mall is written as M-A-L-L. We usually don’t take the space to show the hand signs for each letter; we leave it to you to find the appropriate letters here in this chapter.
Don’t worry about being slow at fingerspelling. Remember, clarity is the goal, not speed. Silently mouth the letter sounds as you fingerspell the letters. Doing so helps you control your speed because you concentrate more on the letters. Don’t pronounce each letter individually; pronounce the sounds as you fingerspell. If you’re fingerspelling P-H-I-L-L-I-P, for example, mouthing “P-H” is incorrect. You want to mouth the “F” sound.
You may encounter Deaf people who fingerspell everything, even words that have a sign. This is called the Rochester Method,
