|
 |
Sign language(s) | ||
Tags: Sign Language | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Collaborative writing |  | |
| Babylonia Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5731 days ago 102 posts - 102 votes  2 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Turkish | Message 9 of 15 05 September 2008 at 1:15am | IP Logged | ||
|
That is really an achievement to study a sign language on one's own! How do you note your vocabulary? This would be my biggest obstacle, because I cannot memorize anything without having written it. At the adult education centre I attended a course of the German sign language "LBG" (Lausprachenbegleitende Gebärden), but I had to quit the course, because I could not memorize the signs. What is your technique of memorizing signs?
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Autarkis Triglot Groupie Switzerland twitter.com/Autarkis Joined 5739 days ago 95 posts - 106 votes 4 sounds Speaks: German*, English, French Studies: Italian | Message 10 of 15 05 September 2008 at 3:18am | IP Logged | ||
There's a special writing system for gestures, it's called Gebärdenschrift. A similar thing exists for ASL (American Sign Language). These systems have evolved from ballet choreographers notes, it's totally baffling. :D I haven't used it yet, because I'm focusing on basic vocabulary and small sentences. Also, the grammar of a sign language is astonishingly natural. In a nutshell, I can denote a place in space before me as "My Brother" and one as "My Mother". When I then gesture to point A ("My Brother"), next "Present", and next "giving", then I just make it so that the direction I'm making the "giving" gesture to is point B ("My Mother"). It's amazing. Actually, almost everything about these languages is. Concerning the vocabulary, I always memorize 3-8 at a time, which I then gesture a few times. Writing them down won't help fluency at all, because it has to flow from you. It's like plaing the piano: If you can read or write notes, you can't play yet! Edited by Autarkis on 05 September 2008 at 3:19am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Babylonia Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5731 days ago 102 posts - 102 votes 2 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Turkish | Message 11 of 15 24 October 2008 at 11:15am | IP Logged | ||
|
Thank you, Autarkis for your explanation!
I have been so busy in the Multilingual Lounge that I couldn't keep up with the info in the English parts of the forum. I have never heard of "Gebärdenschrift", so this is new for me. What is your expectation how much time will you personally need to develop form a zero beginner of sign language to a person who can converse in this language? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Autarkis Triglot Groupie Switzerland twitter.com/Autarkis Joined 5739 days ago 95 posts - 106 votes 4 sounds Speaks: German*, English, French Studies: Italian | Message 12 of 15 24 October 2008 at 11:35am | IP Logged | ||
|
I've met a few people who are somewhat fluent, we play pen & paper role playing games together. They mostly work with handicapped kids, so there's limits to what I can achieve conversing with those guys, but let me tell you it is FUN!
We realized that a) using iconic and concrete vocabulary is easier than using non-iconic or abstract vocabulary (duh!) and that b) when spoken slowly, even non-learners can understand some words or sentences. Also, dialects and such have a huge influence on things, even when focusing strictly on SWISS German sign language! There are multiple ways of saying "man" for example. To answer your questions... I guess that in two years I'll be able to sign to my patients to lay down, to ask if they're feeling pain and other simple stuff (and understand the reply). :) I'm in no hurry, but I won't leave out chances to learn. :) Edited by Autarkis on 24 October 2008 at 11:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Babylonia Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5731 days ago 102 posts - 102 votes 2 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Turkish | Message 13 of 15 24 October 2008 at 3:11pm | IP Logged | ||
It must be interesting by means of knowledge of sign language to get access to the deaf community. So you can use your knowledge of sign language professionally, that is a useful thing. For me a disadvantage of sign language is that it is not meant for e-mail of letter correspondence, but it is more a language of personal contacts. I would be interested in getting into contact with the deaf community. But so far I have withdrawn any concrete plans to learn the DGS sign language. I am busy enough with Turkish now. Edited by Babylonia on 24 October 2008 at 3:12pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Olekander Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5670 days ago 122 posts - 136 votes Speaks: English*, French, Russian | Message 14 of 15 26 February 2009 at 1:59pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I don't think sign language has a place on these forums for a number of reasons.
1) There are so many sign languages, that it would be necessary to make a new website for them. Or at least expand this one significantly to incorperate for them. You can't just do English sign language because every decent country has a sign language. 2) It's not really a language as it misses many parts to it. All it is is 2/4 necessary traits to a fully functional language : interpreting, and communicating. whereas normal languages have reading, writing, listening, speaking. 3) speakers of sign languages can learn languages like anyone of us because they after all can still read dutch, German, English , french russian ect. So in that sense they can learn from written material like anyone of us. Sign language has a place of course, but it isn't here. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dainty Newbie United States Joined 5272 days ago 38 posts - 53 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 15 of 15 19 November 2009 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Personally, I would really like to see at least some mention of sign language on this website, even if it's just a single page. In fact, I looked for it specifically and was disappointed it wasn't here. American sign language is a language I'm very interested in learning. I've known how to fingerspell since I taught myself from a book as a 4 year old, and ever since then I've wanted to learn.
I have great difficulty understanding why sing languages would not be considered "true" languages. For one thing, the categorization as a language is part of its name. Children deaf from birth often learn a sign language as their "mother tongue", and any additional languages are learned later as a secondary language...if sign language is "not really a language" then how would you categorize this situation? Obviously a spoken language acquired at, say, the age of 7 is not a person's first language if he/she has been effectively communicating with others since birth with signs that have their own grammar and standardized precision. Here in the USA schools are beginning to recognize ASL as a language and accept it as foreign language credit. I have a friend who had a bit of a hard time convincing a college to accept his ASL credit, but in the end they approved it, and many others across the nation are following suit. So we wouldn't be able to have a "type in sign language" forum, I get that. :) But passing over the subject entirely seems out of character for this website. At the very least a language profile acknowledging that sign languages exist and some basic information on them would be helpful. Sign language isn't merely the language of the deaf; it has been said that babies can sign and understand signed communication long before they can communicate through speech, so some parents are signing with their babies during that developmental period. There are also practical advantages to signing that most hearing people never even consider, and if they were mentioned on a language profile I think it would cause others to become interested in learning it. Martha's Vineyard (a North American island) is an interesting study on some of the usefulness of it, as historically there was such a high incident of genetic deafness that basically the entire island knew and regularly used sign language in addition to spoken language. According to wikipedia: "...children signed behind a schoolteacher's back; adults signed to one another during church sermons; and farmers signed to their children across a wide field, where the spoken word would not carry." I've personally watched a hearing husband and wife stand up and sign to each other at a ball game about the well being of the children (split between them) where shouting would have been disruptive and moving to meet each other would have been inconvenient and impractical. It was simple and sweet, and obviously useful. My point is that I believe sign language(s) have a place on this website, perhaps not a very big place but a place nevertheless. I would greatly appreciate a language profile on it and the ability to add it to the languages I'm studying. Edited by Dainty on 19 November 2009 at 5:00pm 6 persons have voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
