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Deaf and hard-of-hearing learning langs

  Tags: Handicap | Resources
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
40 messages over 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5  Next >>
Zireael
Triglot
Senior Member
Poland
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Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, Spanish
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 Message 1 of 40
06 March 2012 at 7:31pm | IP Logged 
Some time ago, I spent a week googling in Polish and English both, looking for any materials on it. I finally managed to piece together a short essay (2 pages long), that barely skimmed the problem [I was to present it to people who had no idea about hard-of-hearing and D/deaf aside from stereotypes] due to the sparsity of source materials. I mostly used my own experiences and hearsay.
When I posted the essay on LJ comm, I was informed the situation in other countries differs a lot, so... what's the situation of HoH and D/deaf regarding learning foreign languages in your countries?

Edited by Fasulye on 08 March 2012 at 3:26pm

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Cabaire
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Germany
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 Message 2 of 40
06 March 2012 at 7:53pm | IP Logged 
Do you mean learning sign languages of other countries? Or the oral languages (lip reading, reading of written texts)?
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Arekkusu
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Canada
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 Message 3 of 40
06 March 2012 at 8:00pm | IP Logged 
I wear hearing aids because I'm hard of hearing, but I have no idea how others deal with this in terms of learning foreign languages. With the exception of the deaf community, I think every person is his own case.
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Zireael
Triglot
Senior Member
Poland
Joined 4411 days ago

518 posts - 636 votes 
Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, Spanish
Studies: German, Sign Language, Tok Pisin, Arabic (Yemeni), Old English

 
 Message 4 of 40
07 March 2012 at 3:39pm | IP Logged 
Cabaire wrote:
Do you mean learning sign languages of other countries? Or the oral languages (lip reading, reading of written texts)?


Oral languages, mostly. But other sign languages are an interesting topic in itself.

@ above: I guess you are right. But... how do teachers react to a hard-of-hearing person learning a foreign language? Are there any ways to make such learning easier? Do you know other HoH people who learn languages?
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Arekkusu
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Canada
bit.ly/qc_10_lec
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 Message 5 of 40
07 March 2012 at 3:59pm | IP Logged 
Zireael wrote:
@ above: I guess you are right. But... how do teachers react to a hard-of-hearing person learning a foreign language? Are there any ways to make such learning easier? Do you know other HoH people who learn languages?

Teachers don't usually know that a person is hard-of-hearing unless they come forward with that information. Usually, the person knows how to deal with such situations (and are responsible for doing so); for instance, I try to sit closer to the front. I'll miss some of what the students are saying in the back, or sometimes some of what the teacher says, but there isn't much I can do about that. Still, I wouldn't go as far as say that that actually hinders learning.

If you explain clearly that you have hearing issues, I've never found any teacher not to comply and try to speak louder or use available amplification. It only makes sense that a teacher would try to speak clearly when teaching a foreign language anyways.

Outside of class, there are some other implications for me as a HoH learner. For instance, watching tv in another language is very frustrating unless I use headphones. It's also impossible for me to use regular headphones for language learning in loud environments like the bus, so I use noise-cancelling headphones that cover the whole ear (and hearing aids). On the upside, strangely perhaps, I tend to be better at picking out what one person is saying in busy environments, maybe because I'm relying on other clues like reading lips or because I've gotten better at filling in the gaps.

Despite my hearing problems, I'm a perfectionist when it comes to pronunciation and I absolutely need to hear pronunciation perfectly or I'll give up any method or setting that doesn't allow that.

Edited by Arekkusu on 07 March 2012 at 4:02pm

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Zireael
Triglot
Senior Member
Poland
Joined 4411 days ago

518 posts - 636 votes 
Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, Spanish
Studies: German, Sign Language, Tok Pisin, Arabic (Yemeni), Old English

 
 Message 6 of 40
08 March 2012 at 11:01am | IP Logged 
Then you're much better than me. Listening to anything (music, CDs, radio) is horrible. I do better if I watch TV, since I can lip-read (not that I can lip-read much, but seeing a person's face helps me a lot.
As for sitting in the front - that's what I do too.

Did you have any exams? Did these exams have a listening part? How did you fare? I had to be excluded from a listening portion of Poland's Matura exam (equivalent to UK's A-levels, I don't know what's the equivalent in Canada)...
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Arekkusu
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Canada
bit.ly/qc_10_lec
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 Message 7 of 40
08 March 2012 at 4:07pm | IP Logged 
Zireael wrote:
Did you have any exams? Did these exams have a listening part? How did you fare? I had to be excluded from a listening portion of Poland's Matura exam...

I'm not in school anymore, and we didn't really have listening exams from recordings. However, in 2009, I did a Japanese standardized test and I did indeed fail the listening part because all I heard was people around me making noise. However, it seems that they can accomodate people with special needs, so I might take advantage of that if I do it again. If I had to do any sort of listening exam now, I would mention my hearing problems ahead of time.
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Serpent
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Russian Federation
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 Message 8 of 40
08 March 2012 at 4:17pm | IP Logged 
Yeah, when I signed up for my Finnish YKI exam, the form had a question about special needs. A letter/confirmation from your doctor was required, and you also had to state yourself what exactly you request.


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