Just a quick entry.
I am appalled by what is happening in Italy. The government is refusing to acknowledge that LIS (Italian Sign Language) is a real language. Instead the government is wanting to classify it as a subgenre of mime.
This is extremely insulting to the deaf community. It completely undermines a very complex language and undermines the community at large. It insults the history of sign language, and ignores the hardships that deaf people have had to go through. In most countries, at one point or another, signing was illegal. Deaf people have had to fight to be given fundamental rights and be taken seriously. If LIS isn't recognised as a language, it will have serious social, educational and political implications that will be damaging to the deaf community.
As Alison Bryan (a UK blogger) said; "Deaf people still need to fight to be listened to, without interference from those people who think they know what is best for them".
Showing posts with label sign language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sign language. Show all posts
Friday, 1 July 2011
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Sign of the times
I had a friend from highschool stay over for the last few days of university. I'll call her Peanut. It was great seeing her - hadn't seen her in over a year. And in that year she's started to learn BSL. Which I think is fantastic! I always get really excited and pleased when a hearing person learns BSL.
The day that Peanut arrived, my college at university was having a small music festival. Nothing big or fancy, just a chance for student bands to be heard. It gives everyone an excuse to just relax and have a drink (then again, we're students - no excuse is needed!). It was a lot of fun - I love listening to live music. The only problem is that I can't hear anything except the music. A spoken conversation is out of the question - my lip-reading isn't quite good enough to hold a long conversation.
On the other hand, I can hold a reasonably decent BSL conversation. Nothing deep or meaningful, but a decent conversation none-the-less. Usually there's just no one else around that can have a conversation in BSL. In comes Peanut. It didn't matter that I couldn't hear a word she was saying and that I wasn't focusing on lip-reading, we were signing away to each other. I could enjoy the music and have a conversation - it was fantastic!
At one point, the band that was playing took a little break between songs. It was at this time that all the conversation in the hall fell silent. Peanut and I were still signing away to each other. So the entire hall was silent. Until... 'Summer of 69' came blasting out. For a split second I wondered where on earth the music was coming from, as did everyone else in the room. Then I realised. It was my phone. With reddening cheeks, I fumbled in my bag to silence it (I was cursing the fact that I wasn't wearing my bluetooth necklace!). By this time everyone else had realised the music was coming from me, and a huge round of applause filled the room, along with some questioning looks 'wasn't she just signing? Isn't she deaf? How can she talk on the phone?' After what seemed like an age, I finally found my phone and answered it with a weak 'hi', which was met with a burst of laughter from everyone in the room. I think my face resembled that of a tomato. Then the band started playing again (they kindly waited for me to answer my phone before they started - which just made me more embarrassed and aware that every single eye in the hall was watching my every move).
The phone call, in case you're wondering, was a friend asking for a lift. So off Peanut and I went to pick them up. We then returned to my college to listen to some more music. At this point we decided to sign along to the music. Some people sing to it, we signed to it. The best song to sign to was definitely a cover of 'Bad Romance'. We got a few odd looks, but mostly people seemed amused by us signing the chorus. It's something I usually do to myself in clubs (like I said, some people sing, I sign), so sharing it with a friend was brilliant.
One thing Peanut and I did notice was the differences between our sign language. She lives down South, whereas I live up North. Just as there are different accents for different parts of Britain, there are different signs for different parts of Britain. Most of the signs are the same, there are just a few noticeable differences. Numbers being one of them. The differences weren't too big though - we had no problem understanding each other.
It was also great being able to sign to each other in the club later on in the evening and on the bar crawl the next night. Most of my hearing friends are pretty awesome in that they go above and beyond to make me feel included and to make sure that I'm not excluded too much because of my lack of hearing. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of friends. But sometimes I do feel like I'm asking too much from them, that my being deaf is a nuisance to them. (They've never done anything to make me feel this way - I'm just conscious of the fact that I don't want to be a burden to anyone). So being able to sign with a friend was just brilliant. Although I didn't want to sign too much as I didn't want to exclude all my non-signing friends. It was difficult - finally, I could hold a conversation without asking 'what?' every 5 minutes or just smiling like an idiot if I didn't hear something, but in doing so I excluded everyone else. I hope I didn't upset my non-signing hearing friends - if I did, I'm very sorry!
Seeing Peanut again was great fun - we had a lot of catching up to do. The fact that she could sign to me was an added bonus. Definitely looking forward to her next visit.
Deaf Girl
The day that Peanut arrived, my college at university was having a small music festival. Nothing big or fancy, just a chance for student bands to be heard. It gives everyone an excuse to just relax and have a drink (then again, we're students - no excuse is needed!). It was a lot of fun - I love listening to live music. The only problem is that I can't hear anything except the music. A spoken conversation is out of the question - my lip-reading isn't quite good enough to hold a long conversation.
On the other hand, I can hold a reasonably decent BSL conversation. Nothing deep or meaningful, but a decent conversation none-the-less. Usually there's just no one else around that can have a conversation in BSL. In comes Peanut. It didn't matter that I couldn't hear a word she was saying and that I wasn't focusing on lip-reading, we were signing away to each other. I could enjoy the music and have a conversation - it was fantastic!
At one point, the band that was playing took a little break between songs. It was at this time that all the conversation in the hall fell silent. Peanut and I were still signing away to each other. So the entire hall was silent. Until... 'Summer of 69' came blasting out. For a split second I wondered where on earth the music was coming from, as did everyone else in the room. Then I realised. It was my phone. With reddening cheeks, I fumbled in my bag to silence it (I was cursing the fact that I wasn't wearing my bluetooth necklace!). By this time everyone else had realised the music was coming from me, and a huge round of applause filled the room, along with some questioning looks 'wasn't she just signing? Isn't she deaf? How can she talk on the phone?' After what seemed like an age, I finally found my phone and answered it with a weak 'hi', which was met with a burst of laughter from everyone in the room. I think my face resembled that of a tomato. Then the band started playing again (they kindly waited for me to answer my phone before they started - which just made me more embarrassed and aware that every single eye in the hall was watching my every move).
The phone call, in case you're wondering, was a friend asking for a lift. So off Peanut and I went to pick them up. We then returned to my college to listen to some more music. At this point we decided to sign along to the music. Some people sing to it, we signed to it. The best song to sign to was definitely a cover of 'Bad Romance'. We got a few odd looks, but mostly people seemed amused by us signing the chorus. It's something I usually do to myself in clubs (like I said, some people sing, I sign), so sharing it with a friend was brilliant.
One thing Peanut and I did notice was the differences between our sign language. She lives down South, whereas I live up North. Just as there are different accents for different parts of Britain, there are different signs for different parts of Britain. Most of the signs are the same, there are just a few noticeable differences. Numbers being one of them. The differences weren't too big though - we had no problem understanding each other.
It was also great being able to sign to each other in the club later on in the evening and on the bar crawl the next night. Most of my hearing friends are pretty awesome in that they go above and beyond to make me feel included and to make sure that I'm not excluded too much because of my lack of hearing. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of friends. But sometimes I do feel like I'm asking too much from them, that my being deaf is a nuisance to them. (They've never done anything to make me feel this way - I'm just conscious of the fact that I don't want to be a burden to anyone). So being able to sign with a friend was just brilliant. Although I didn't want to sign too much as I didn't want to exclude all my non-signing friends. It was difficult - finally, I could hold a conversation without asking 'what?' every 5 minutes or just smiling like an idiot if I didn't hear something, but in doing so I excluded everyone else. I hope I didn't upset my non-signing hearing friends - if I did, I'm very sorry!
Seeing Peanut again was great fun - we had a lot of catching up to do. The fact that she could sign to me was an added bonus. Definitely looking forward to her next visit.
Deaf Girl
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Communication
I was quite nervous today. I had a woman come round to assess me to see whether I could sign up and start lip-reading classes. Because there aren't that many teachers, classes get full quite quickly. Not just anyone can join either - you have to be assessed to see if it's something you genuinly need and would benefit from.
So the woman came round and we chatted for a bit. She asked me questions about my hearing loss, whether anyone else in my family has it etc. Knowing that no one in my family can sign and that my hearing is gradually getting worse, she has approved me!
Wahey! Classes start next Wednesday.
Can't tell you how thrilled I am. Being able to lip-read will help me immensly. It means that I will be able to communicate with my hearing friends and family. I'm just thinking about all those situations where my hearing aids can't be used - swimming, night clubs etc. Once I can lip-read, things will be a lot better and I won't just have to stand there smiling and nodding like an imbecile because I can't hear what people are saying.
And of course, I'm learning BSL as well. I want to be able to communicate in the deaf world as well as the hearing world. To be able to communicate with other deaf people will be fantastic.
It will be nice to be able to function in both the hearing and the deaf world, as opposed to living on the edge of both.
Am thrilled.
Deaf Girl
So the woman came round and we chatted for a bit. She asked me questions about my hearing loss, whether anyone else in my family has it etc. Knowing that no one in my family can sign and that my hearing is gradually getting worse, she has approved me!
Wahey! Classes start next Wednesday.
Can't tell you how thrilled I am. Being able to lip-read will help me immensly. It means that I will be able to communicate with my hearing friends and family. I'm just thinking about all those situations where my hearing aids can't be used - swimming, night clubs etc. Once I can lip-read, things will be a lot better and I won't just have to stand there smiling and nodding like an imbecile because I can't hear what people are saying.
And of course, I'm learning BSL as well. I want to be able to communicate in the deaf world as well as the hearing world. To be able to communicate with other deaf people will be fantastic.
It will be nice to be able to function in both the hearing and the deaf world, as opposed to living on the edge of both.
Am thrilled.
Deaf Girl
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Q&A
Whilst on holiday, I met a woman who has a deaf son. We were talking and comparing ASL (American Sign Language) and BSL. There are quite a few differences - for example, in BSL you use both hands for the alphabet, in ASL you use one hand, the signs for most words are different etc. Although there were some similarities - for example, the signs for 'I need help' and 'do you want help?' were the same. I'm sure there are other similarities as well.
That brings me to questions I'm frequently asked about sign language and myself.
Q: Why is sign language different in each country?
A: Most countries have their own spoken language, it's the same for signed language. There isn't one universal spoken language that everyone speaks, it's the same for sign language. Having said that - it's a lot easier for people that sign to understand each other when signing in a different language, than it is for people that are speaking different languages to understand each other.
Q: Why is the sign language for American English, English and Australian english different?
A: AUSlan (Australian Sign Language) and NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) are similar to BSL, as they evolved from 19th century BSL - the deaf schools set up in Australia were run by deaf people from London, Dublin and Edinburgh. So AUSlan developed from those three sign languages but is most similar to BSL. Auslan, BSL & NZSL have the same grammar.
ASL on the other hand is quite different and very similar to the sign language used in Zimbabwe, Haiti, Singapore, Kenya and many other countries. It is also similar to SLF (French Sign Language). In 1817 a man named Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clarc opened a deaf school in Connectict. At this school SLF was taught and most students brought in their own sign language that they had used at home. These all combined and eventually formed ASL.
Q: Is BSL the same all over the country?
A: There are slight differences in the South and North and other parts. Just as people speak in different accents in England, BSL also has different accents.
Q: Why do deaf people feel so passionately about sign language?
A: For a long time, it was illegal to teach BSL in schools and parents were told to stop their children from using signs or gestures as it would interfere with their deaf children to learn lip-reading and speech skills. It was only about 30 years or so ago that it finally became legal to teach BSL. Until then, the language was kept alive by deaf children of deaf parents teaching other deaf children the language. For a long, long time deaf people have been surpressed and discriminated against. Very few people realise that during World Wat 2, deaf people, alongisde Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, were put in to concentration camps and killed. After facing so much persecution, it is only natural to feel strongly about fighting for our rights and the right to have our language accepted.
Q: Why do you overemphasize your facial expressions when you sign?
A: Hearing people use vocal emphasis, pitch and volume to speak. You can't do that in sign language - instead you use facial expressions and the speed of your signs etc to bring points across. You don't talk in a monotone voice, it's a similar thing in sign language.
Q: Why doesn't every deaf person learn how to lip-read and speak?
A: Why doesn't every hearing person learn how to sign? Some deaf people do learn how to lip-read and speak so as to be able to live in the world, but a lot of deaf people don't feel the need - the deaf world is a very nice place - it isn't necessary to for many deaf people to leave that world, so why should they?
Q: Why do you personally know more swear words than normal words?
A: I do know more normal words than swear words... but when learning a new language I always think it's fun to learn the rude words first! Not practical, but fun.
If there's anything else anyone would like to know, just ask and I'd be happy to answer if I can.
Deaf Girl
That brings me to questions I'm frequently asked about sign language and myself.
Q: Why is sign language different in each country?
A: Most countries have their own spoken language, it's the same for signed language. There isn't one universal spoken language that everyone speaks, it's the same for sign language. Having said that - it's a lot easier for people that sign to understand each other when signing in a different language, than it is for people that are speaking different languages to understand each other.
Q: Why is the sign language for American English, English and Australian english different?
A: AUSlan (Australian Sign Language) and NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) are similar to BSL, as they evolved from 19th century BSL - the deaf schools set up in Australia were run by deaf people from London, Dublin and Edinburgh. So AUSlan developed from those three sign languages but is most similar to BSL. Auslan, BSL & NZSL have the same grammar.
ASL on the other hand is quite different and very similar to the sign language used in Zimbabwe, Haiti, Singapore, Kenya and many other countries. It is also similar to SLF (French Sign Language). In 1817 a man named Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clarc opened a deaf school in Connectict. At this school SLF was taught and most students brought in their own sign language that they had used at home. These all combined and eventually formed ASL.
Q: Is BSL the same all over the country?
A: There are slight differences in the South and North and other parts. Just as people speak in different accents in England, BSL also has different accents.
Q: Why do deaf people feel so passionately about sign language?
A: For a long time, it was illegal to teach BSL in schools and parents were told to stop their children from using signs or gestures as it would interfere with their deaf children to learn lip-reading and speech skills. It was only about 30 years or so ago that it finally became legal to teach BSL. Until then, the language was kept alive by deaf children of deaf parents teaching other deaf children the language. For a long, long time deaf people have been surpressed and discriminated against. Very few people realise that during World Wat 2, deaf people, alongisde Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, were put in to concentration camps and killed. After facing so much persecution, it is only natural to feel strongly about fighting for our rights and the right to have our language accepted.
Q: Why do you overemphasize your facial expressions when you sign?
A: Hearing people use vocal emphasis, pitch and volume to speak. You can't do that in sign language - instead you use facial expressions and the speed of your signs etc to bring points across. You don't talk in a monotone voice, it's a similar thing in sign language.
Q: Why doesn't every deaf person learn how to lip-read and speak?
A: Why doesn't every hearing person learn how to sign? Some deaf people do learn how to lip-read and speak so as to be able to live in the world, but a lot of deaf people don't feel the need - the deaf world is a very nice place - it isn't necessary to for many deaf people to leave that world, so why should they?
Q: Why do you personally know more swear words than normal words?
A: I do know more normal words than swear words... but when learning a new language I always think it's fun to learn the rude words first! Not practical, but fun.
If there's anything else anyone would like to know, just ask and I'd be happy to answer if I can.
Deaf Girl
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Preferred language
It's been a long day today. I travelled back from the States with my parents. All in all, we travelled for 24 hours, on one train and 3 planes. And a hell of a lot waiting around in airports. I do have difficulty with planes - I find the change in pressure and all the noise (the airco, people talking etc etc) messes with my hearing aids and I can hardly hear a thing.
I was sitting a few seats away from my Mum. She tried to ask me something. No matter how hard I concentrated, I just could not hear her. And my lip-reading isn't good enough to be able to understand full sentances - at most I can pick out one or two words and generally figure out what is being said. But, being so tired from travelling, I just couldn't understand what she was saying.
Eventually, a lovely air-hostess acted as a go-between. We explained that I'm deaf and she was fine. She said she had had no idea. Since I was born hearing and have lived most of my life hearing, my voice sounds 'normal' and not the kind of voice people expect a deaf person to have. This air hostess was lovely, and for waking me up she touched my arm - when I'm asleep no amount of shouting at me will wake me up. I just don't hear it. So I need physical contact to wake me up.
Anyway, before the air hostess helped us, we were both getting frustrated. I couldn't hear. So I tried signing to my Mum. I've been teaching her some signing - we mostly fingerspell to each other. However, Mum was tired so couldn't concentrate on the signing, and I was tired so couldn't concentrate on lip-reading. Very frustrating.
Another thing which most people don't understand is that I prefer signing. I still have a long way to go before I'm fluent in BSL, but I know a lot of basic signs, and what I don' t know I fingerspell. My parents, and most people, find it hard to understand why I prefer this. After all, I grew up hearing and talking, so surely it should be my preferred method of communication?
But it's not. Even with my hearing aids in, I have difficulty judging the sound of my voice, whether I'm speaking too softly or too loudly. I'm very conscious that because I can't hear, I sometimes talk too loud. Or I think that I might be talking loud so speak quietly. It's very hard to find the normal range. It's probably an adjustment period and with practice I'll get used to it. I know people that have been deaf from birth or early childhood and have speech that have no problem with speaking in the normal sound rage. So it probably is because I am gradually losing my hearing that I have a problem with it.
But I do find it slightly embarrassing. So I prefer signing. Especially when I'm tired and don't have the energy to lip-read or try and judge whether I'm speaking too loud or too quiet. Of course, for my Mum it's the other way round - when she's tired, she doesn't like to sign. This is something we need to work on - we both need to adjust.
Of course, amongst my hearing friends that can't sign, I talk. But some of them know a few signs and again, I prefer signing those as opposed to talking.
Perhaps my parents are afraid that I will revert completely to signing and stop functioning in the hearing world. This will never be the case. I am more at ease at signing the few words I know as opposed to speaking them, but I don't expect everyone I know to learn BSL. So I will always speak - even if I go completely deaf, I will still have speech and lip-reading.
Some people prefer to talk in spanish or french or dutch - I prefer to sign.
But again, it's all about adjusting and finding a way to accept changes. I will always talk. But I will also sign.
Deaf Girl
I was sitting a few seats away from my Mum. She tried to ask me something. No matter how hard I concentrated, I just could not hear her. And my lip-reading isn't good enough to be able to understand full sentances - at most I can pick out one or two words and generally figure out what is being said. But, being so tired from travelling, I just couldn't understand what she was saying.
Eventually, a lovely air-hostess acted as a go-between. We explained that I'm deaf and she was fine. She said she had had no idea. Since I was born hearing and have lived most of my life hearing, my voice sounds 'normal' and not the kind of voice people expect a deaf person to have. This air hostess was lovely, and for waking me up she touched my arm - when I'm asleep no amount of shouting at me will wake me up. I just don't hear it. So I need physical contact to wake me up.
Anyway, before the air hostess helped us, we were both getting frustrated. I couldn't hear. So I tried signing to my Mum. I've been teaching her some signing - we mostly fingerspell to each other. However, Mum was tired so couldn't concentrate on the signing, and I was tired so couldn't concentrate on lip-reading. Very frustrating.
Another thing which most people don't understand is that I prefer signing. I still have a long way to go before I'm fluent in BSL, but I know a lot of basic signs, and what I don' t know I fingerspell. My parents, and most people, find it hard to understand why I prefer this. After all, I grew up hearing and talking, so surely it should be my preferred method of communication?
But it's not. Even with my hearing aids in, I have difficulty judging the sound of my voice, whether I'm speaking too softly or too loudly. I'm very conscious that because I can't hear, I sometimes talk too loud. Or I think that I might be talking loud so speak quietly. It's very hard to find the normal range. It's probably an adjustment period and with practice I'll get used to it. I know people that have been deaf from birth or early childhood and have speech that have no problem with speaking in the normal sound rage. So it probably is because I am gradually losing my hearing that I have a problem with it.
But I do find it slightly embarrassing. So I prefer signing. Especially when I'm tired and don't have the energy to lip-read or try and judge whether I'm speaking too loud or too quiet. Of course, for my Mum it's the other way round - when she's tired, she doesn't like to sign. This is something we need to work on - we both need to adjust.
Of course, amongst my hearing friends that can't sign, I talk. But some of them know a few signs and again, I prefer signing those as opposed to talking.
Perhaps my parents are afraid that I will revert completely to signing and stop functioning in the hearing world. This will never be the case. I am more at ease at signing the few words I know as opposed to speaking them, but I don't expect everyone I know to learn BSL. So I will always speak - even if I go completely deaf, I will still have speech and lip-reading.
Some people prefer to talk in spanish or french or dutch - I prefer to sign.
But again, it's all about adjusting and finding a way to accept changes. I will always talk. But I will also sign.
Deaf Girl
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