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It really helps to learn with someone else.
We had a silent study hall in high school so my friend and I learned ASL together so we could chat. We started with the alphabet.
Unfortunately (in typical high school embarrassing fashion) that's how I found out the girl in our study hall I thought was cute had a deaf cousin. At least she let me down easy. In sign. So my buddy could see. At least it's funny now.
Another aspect of difficulty for me is embarrassment. I actually have a partner for signing with, I just get very embarrassed when I learn a sign wrong or are signing incorrectly. It sounds ridiculous to me typing it out, but I think that is an actual roadblock for me.
I'm like that with my partner. when I screw up I just sign "I love broccoli" and that's enough for me to get out of my head.
It's also how I "sign-swear" in public.
I think this is a super common roadblock for people with learning pretty much anything. Your mistakes are a sign of challenging yourself to be better at something and going through that progress is something to be proud of! Especially when you’re beginning something new, the mistakes are where all the learning happens around gaining well rounded basics of a new skill, like a language system.
Mistakes are all just learning opportunities that can help reinforce the desire to do it correctly the next time.
At least, that's how I look at it.
If you can get over feeling bad and letting others make you feel bad about making mistakes or being wrong from time to time, it'll change your life for the better.
I hope you can get past it.
Foreign language is similar. Get so nervous that I’ll say it wrong that I just stay quiet. Gotta embrace being uncertain/insecure to progress though! And just laugh at the mistakes
Growing up, I was in speech therapy a lot and always self conscious about how I spoke.
Then I got braces and them being such a universal thing to cause speech issues helped me feel less self conscious about it and get over it.
Speech issues still bleed through now and then but its less of a hit to my self esteem and more just something to roll with.
Maybe try wearing gloves when you sign so whenever you feel self conscious you can just be like "oh its the gloves"m
Best way is to power through. Face all red, stressed out, exhausted after it’s all over.. keep going. All that’s gonna go away. Your brain gets used to it and prioritizes focusing on the signing.
>there's also this interactive sign language training thing : google github sign language translator
maybe easier to learn with interactve app that instantly show the trxts of what you were signing
Today we are going to learn wilderness survival.
In today’s YouTube video I will teach you how to make Insulin out of 2 quail eggs, a bumble bee and a very angry goat.
Smash that subscribe button when you get a chance.
People are more likely to subscribe if the action is mentioned in the video, by a large margin.
It's just like people will put money in a tip jar if there's already money in it. But that first dollar takes a lot longer to get. It's like it's invisible until there's money in it to draw your attention.
It's not that you wouldn't subscribe eventually, but since you were just reminded....
Knowing what you said, I don't mind it at all.
As long as it doesn't take longer than 3 seconds all things included. Like, subscribe, bell and all that.
If it takes longer than that it starts pissing me off. I don't need you to apologize for three times longer than it takes you to say "please subscribe". Just shut up, stop wasting my time and get to the video.
The only one who wastes my time is me. Oh and my employer I guess.
I never thought of the "put some money in the jar beforehand" to work because it draws attention. Usually it's argued that people are more inclined to donate if they think others have done so already. I guess both work?
> Same with calculus, Spanish, carpentry, landscaping, survival…
I changed all the watch batteries in our house. Six watches, all different. Thanks random ass Youtubers!
Depends on which YouTube channel. There are a lot of hearing people who’s taken ASL 1 and turning around to teach it. A lot of them make huge errors.
Best to learn from those who are Deaf.
This! There are a large number of hearing folks who do this just for clout/internet views. Exception would be CODAs and highly certified interpreters. Bill Vicars is a pretty legit fella on YouTube. I've also heard good things about Sign Duo. Even better is to find a local signing/deaf group in your town and get some in person immersion, just go to one of their social events with an open mind and willingness to learn.
yea i think you're right. just a normal human that's so socially awkward, their behavior is similar to that of a bot 😂 no sarcasm at all either lol. after looking through the post history, they just awkward AF
This should be the top comment!! You can learn individual signs online, but that is not sign language. You need to understand the grammar, syntax and history of the language to really be able to communicate effectively, and that can only be done by proper lessons, and is done best by people who are Deaf themselves.
Kids pick up any language so fast, it’s amazing what evolution has given us.
I wanted (was over ruled by the ex) to teach my daughter English, Tagalog (her mom’s native language), and ASL. She ended up only learning English because her mom thought it might confuse her to learn more. I provided studies to disprove it but I was overruled.
If you get the chance, continue learning ASL even after the kiddo learns to verbalize. Try to go to actual places with deaf/HoH people too.
I think languages are so interesting, and the differences between verbal and manual languages are so cool, like how with ASL you have nearly infinite pronouns, you just choose a spot in space for the person/place/thing in the conversation.
Sorry your ex didn't want to see reason, it's so much easier to learn languages at a very young age. My toddler is basically growing up trilingual: she mostly speaks English right now but she understands French and Mandarin really well.
Good point, maybe we will do that! and yes, we're planning to continue developing ASL - his daycare uses it a lot and he's starting to say some words now, but as he learns words in English we're still doing them in ASL as well to reinforce the connections. It really is incredible, we're gonna start working on Spanish too, my partner and I are both out of practice but were fluent at different points in life, so we want him to also have that
Got a book on it when my kid was born. Kiddo could start communicating with ASL well before verbal skills started to develop- even if it's only a few basic words, kids get so easily frustrated cause they really are trying to communicate stuff to you, so now with even a few basic signs, he could tell me stuff like, I'm hungry/thirsty or it's time for a diaper change. Personally my asl skills are still very basic, it's a lot of just functional language
Seems like all the Life Pro Tips lately are just "dedicate your time to learning a new skill. It's easier than it was before.".
Doesn't seem as helpful as something like "if it takes 5 minutes, just do it on the spot." I was aware I could learn sign language if I put the effort forth.
ASL can have regional dialects so a sign that you learn from some random source may not be comprehensible to actual ASL users. Even going outside of America you're going to have different signs and syntax so you're going to want to make sure your YouTube resource is a good one.
There's also a difference between 'signed English' and sign language -- ASL syntax will be different from spoken English.
American Sign Language is different from British Sign Language is different from Canadian which is different from Australian etc. Afaik much more different than the spoken English of those countries.
Also "sign language has never been easier to learn". Yeah, American Sign Language might have a lot of instructors and resources but my local sign language has maybe a couple of thousand of users.
Europe has loads of different signed languages. French Sign Language users will be able to understand Americans more as they have a common background. British sign language (BSL) users find Auslan (Australian Sign Language) easier to understand due to a shared core.
Regional variation of signed languages within a country is huge. I did my early BSL learning in the south of England then more in the midlands, and I had to re-learn a lot of colours and numbers!
Lady at my cross country is deaf.
She pinched my stomach and called me fat the other day, then said let's do another lap.
Communicating with her was really difficult. I've made it my goal to learn sign language to make talking to her easier.
Then I'll sign to her that she's old as fuck 😄
Lol yeah that's pretty universal.
We were talking about our running plans and how long we have been running. She made the mistake of telling me she's 54. I'll rub that in when I get the chance.
Pity she's fast as fuck.
I'm surprised by the popularity of this post. You could replace "Sign language" with just about any other noun or verb in the title. Not exactly a LPT lol
queerasl.com for online courses!
I was recently in an accident that damaged my teeth/jaw. Because of it, I'm unable to speak verbally, but I'm grateful that I can still communicate by signing!
Bill vicars is an amazing teacher, he has a ton of videos and lessons on YouTube. The important thing about learning sign is to make sure you’re learning it from a good source. Try to find actual Deaf people/creators
I'll tell you something, seeing the hands move somehow works better than the drawings, I don't know what it is. Maybe it's seeing the signs change or being synced up to a letter or word, or maybe it's the drawings being too detailed (do I really gotta see EVERY line in the palm?).
When I took ASL 101, our textbook included a CD where we could access videos connected to the lessons. Movement is definitely important to see, especially when trying to learn signs that are a bit more involved! Drawings can be confusing to interpret at times
We were at a restaurant yesterday that sells basically chicken fingers/fries/slaw. The employee who came around to check on us and tidy up the tables greeted us in ASL as well as speaking to us. It was refreshing and he got a really good response from everyone he interacted with. So cool! 😎
But it is difficult to master.
I found makoton easier to learn than french. Very important for any caring role with non verbal who use it.
Singing hands is great YouTube.
Makaton is much easier to learn than a proper signed language as its sign communication supports using English grammar. A true signed language like ASL, BSL or Auslan have their own grammar and syntax and is best taught by a Deaf person.
This sub isn't even pretending anymore...
Why should I bother learning sign language? I know it's easily available, but so are damn near every other language. Why is this a life pro tip?
I miss when LPT was actually doing its thing in niche fields .. something where I always thought "damn I should remember this" and safely forget it instead of this nonsense.
Facial expression is unfortunately a good portion of sign interpretation in ASL, from what I learned in a 101 class. They help to give added context to signs, such as if you’re asking a question and looking quizzical/confused. I do get the struggle with facial expressions though as someone who has a more “flat effect” (I’m not usually that expressive)
How well do you fair in your spoken language? Signed languages are complete languages, you aren’t writing with signs, you are signing entire words/concepts like you’d speak them.
It's a little easier since you don't need to conjugate verbs and shit like that, and the grammar is usually simpler because the sentences are more succinct ("hungry. you?" "yes" "food here?" "okay" etc).
I speak English as my primary language, but I'm fluent in Spanish thanks to growing up on the border and a two year stint in Mexico. Learning ASL is comparable to learning a spoken language, but there's also additional features to the language like mouth morphemes, body position, etc.
So while learning a written or spoken language you have to learn the words, with ASL you have to learn the hand shape, position, and any additional features to add context and position of the words in question.
It's really neat linguistically.
Yeah I took ten years of Spanish in school, all the way through the highest level, and I still can't speak it very well. I can get by in understanding and reading it ,and somewhat writing pretty well. I can help with some translating through using the words I know along with Google translate, but I can't have a full conversation with a fluent Spanish speaker even after all this time. Meanwhile a friend of mine never took a class but lived in Mexico for a few months and learned the language. I believe immersion is best, and that's not always easy.
Do make sure you get videos of the sign language used in your country, though: there are many different sign languages, and they're not mutually intelligible! In particular, British and American sign languages are very different, and you'll get very confused if you try to use them in the wrong countries.
I love how accessable learning sign language has become. It's a fantastic step forward! Next we just need better captioning readily available.
There's official website videos you can use to learn from also.
I took a college course and personally I think it was great for getting down a foundation but I've thought of using apps and such to progress past basic elementary level. I don't really have a deaf community since I've moved but I still want to keep up in the event I need to use ASL. It helped my teacher was also deaf and I was living with someone that was deaf- but asl should be an elective in all highschools IMO (or start letting kids learn languages in late middle school?).
Did you know many deaf people have some hearing? Some use cochlear implants and can communicate verbally even if it’s not their first choice. Some just have people talk for them or don’t talk much when out.
It bugs me when people call others out for spelling errors because most of the time, you can gather from context what the person meant (like in your case). But at first, when I read “dead people have some hearing”, I thought you were being snarky. 😂
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I always wanted to learn sign language. I might give this a shot. Maybe learn a few words or expressions but my procrastination always beat out wanting to learn.
The amount of online zoom ASL classes out there is insane! I’ve been learning for 2.5 years and most of it was online. It’s amazing and I agree with this tip!
Did you know that sign language changes from one country to another, sometimes even though both countries speak the same language ? Belgian sign language would bring you nowhere in France
I’ve been a certified ASL interpreter for almost 7 years and I don’t agree with this. A lot of students who have taken two or three semesters get on YouTube and make videos. I’ve seen videos that are signed more English and do not follow ASL grammar or structure at all. If you wanna learn ASL learn it from Deaf people and learn their culture as well. I don’t think you’d want to learn Spanish or Chinese from a white person who has taken one year of classes.
I mean, Peggy Hill taught Spanish...
In all seriousness, this is a controversial one for me. On the one hand, I understand that learning a language from native speakers of that language is significantly better than learning from later learners. I also appreciate that D/HH individuals are uniquely qualified and oftentimes underemployed.
With that said, native speaking ability does not necessarily correlate with innate teaching ability. There are a lot of great deaf people out there, but not all of them would be great teachers.
Hard agree that novices in a language should not be teaching a language, but I wish that people that are qualified (i.e. four year degree, CODA with certification, etc) were welcomed to teach ASL so that there was greater access to ASL as a language.
If we want ASL to be more generally available and signed, then we need to expand the group of people available to teach it at least at the introductory levels (i.e. high school ASL1-2, etc).
I had a class in college and can sign the basics, but can’t read other people signing very well. I learned enough to get my special ed certification. In Illinois back in the 90s, if you learned ANY part of special education, you were allowed to be the teacher for any area. I had more work with remedial and English as a Second language than with hearing impaired or deaf kids.
When I was 15 I worked at a small printing shop where a hearing impaired guy had been there for years and nobody ever took the time to learn sign language. He was such an asshole to me that I spent time every day trying to learn from the poster on the wall just so I could learn how to tell him to go F himself. He saw me standing there and he seemed so genuinely moved that we wound up getting along for the rest of my time that summer. I should’ve kept learning to sign.
You talk as if there was a single, universal, sign language. There as dozens, more than one hundred.
Make some research and learn the one deaf people near you speak, because I've find out people learning a sign language that's used at 20 000 km away, not the one their neighbours sign.
You not saying so tells me you probably speak no sign language?
This can go with literally anything. Any language, any subject. If you’re committed enough and can gather the right materials, you can make a fucking spaceship with the internet fr. but im just relearning highschool math because i guess i dont like spaceships
Wanted to learn. Then realized there are too many variants. I'm from India. And apparently we have our own which isn't international. And some of our languages have their own sign languages again. It all seemed a bit messy. So I just didn't even start.
Life experience tip: Everybody says they've "always wanted to learn to sign" but nobody puts in any effort to learn. Speaking as a hearing person who's known sign for 2+ decades, who has offered to teach plenty of people, and who has never once in 20+ years been taken up on the offer.
we did pen-pals via VHS tapes with koko in elementary school. We'd sign our question send the vhs tape for the class, and then we got one back with answers.
When I got in trouble with the law I learned the stacking alphabet which I think is just the hand alphabet but with gang signs, but worked over there lol
I want to learn a sign language at one point, but unfortunately there aren't that many resources for Finnish Sign Language. There are on ASL, but I want it to be actually useful
Bill Vicars has a great set of lessons on YouTube, his website is called Lifeprint.
Lingvano or ASL bloom are app based learning.
I've also heard good things about queerasl if you want a more class based approach.
Just learn signs and start to sign it in conjunction with or as a replacement to what you’re saying. You’ll slowly just integrate that word into your vocab
You are never going to be able to go beyond basics without being face to face and hours of practicing tbh. If you want a secret language with a friend, that is a different thing - you can arrange that yourselves. Being able to fingerspell though is worthwhile.
Interesting random fact.
There's a surprisingly large amount of mute people in VRchat that generally use sign Language.
Because of this you can find a bunch of worlds that give a whole automated course and rundown on how to learn Sign Language. and it's extra fun because you are learning it with your friends next to you.
Because there is finger tracking with the Valve Index, you can easily see if you are doing it right while you look in a mirror next to the examples.
And then you get to deploy and try it right away because you are bound to run into a bunch of mute people in VRchat
I took ASL in high school as my "foreign language" it was probably the easiest A ive ever had next to baseball. I dated a deaf girl while I was in high school and my signing got REALLY good for a while. I haven't used it in 20+ years but I still can understand it better than I sign
I spent a few days cooking up a feast with the deaf community last year, it remains one of my fondest memories. I still need an interpreter but I learnt so much from the community and appreciate their sense of humour. They gave me a signed nickname and made me feel so welcome.
I look forward to visit them again when I'm in their town and will learn more of their language as I spend more time with them.
Not only is sign language silent, but my family used it to communicate across the grocery store.
Also, I remember my mom would be having a conversation with someone, and if I tried to interrupt, she would sign "wait" to me while she continued talking.
I mean it’s not about how easy. It’s about time. People have limited time between work, chores, spending time with loved ones, etc. You also got to fit in time to relax.
Sure you may be able to squeeze in ASL lessons. But you may have other things that are also a priority like working out, learning a language that’s more prevelant where you learn, or other skills that may be important or interesting to you.
Teaching your kids starting from as young as infancy, even if they can hear just fine, is such a gamechanger.
If they're hurt beyond belief, you don't have to wait for them to calm down and speak clearly to say what's wrong. They can sign whatever they need even if crying or screaming at the top of their lungs at the same time.
On the phone? Can also sign with them in the middle of your phone conversation, especially if they are the impatient type.
Far distances, loud places, etc., signing can be used in so many ways outside of just communicating with a random Deaf person you may come across
YouTube is not consistent as almost every country has their own sign language. You could look for how to say a phrase and it be completely different in another signs region (ASL-BSL)
However if you type 'BSL' (British) followed by the phrase or words you want to learn into Google or YouTube, you'll more often than not be taken to the right signs.
However THEN you get into regional sign territory, where the word 'purple' can have SEVENTEEN different signs depending on region (Britain).
It's difficult to learn in some ways, but very rewarding.
Most internet videos for ASL I've seen don't teach the grammar, that thing (I forget the term for this) where you kinda create your own signs that are space and context sensitive, or regional differences.
I understand. The subscription is quite pricey and the free trial isn't really long enough if you aren't super-committed in that period. So it might look like I'm a shill.
This is particularly true in the context of a thread on free material on YouTube
But, the pedagogy is really good (for BSL at least) compared to pretty much every other language learning app I've seen.
Yes its not too expensive for what it is, it's just that it can seem like a lot to commit to in the context of the world of free/freemium (and not very good) apps for learning diverse skills that exist.
My ASL teacher in high school straight up told me that unless I went deaf, and HAD to learn out of necessity, I was never going to get it. I could not understand how the language worked, at all.
### This post has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect. --- Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by upvoting or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I have been trying to get into learning sign. I am inconsistent at best, but still trying
It really helps to learn with someone else. We had a silent study hall in high school so my friend and I learned ASL together so we could chat. We started with the alphabet. Unfortunately (in typical high school embarrassing fashion) that's how I found out the girl in our study hall I thought was cute had a deaf cousin. At least she let me down easy. In sign. So my buddy could see. At least it's funny now.
Another aspect of difficulty for me is embarrassment. I actually have a partner for signing with, I just get very embarrassed when I learn a sign wrong or are signing incorrectly. It sounds ridiculous to me typing it out, but I think that is an actual roadblock for me.
I'm like that with my partner. when I screw up I just sign "I love broccoli" and that's enough for me to get out of my head. It's also how I "sign-swear" in public.
Sign swearing. I hadn't thought of swearing in sign before. Neat!
You've never flipped someone off?
I have been cutting back on that particular sign! So touché!
https://preview.redd.it/c2q7b6d6o2ad1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b82889f90c9c3495e185511efb3846eaf6b83f69
Oh my sweet summer child...
Cringe
I think this is a super common roadblock for people with learning pretty much anything. Your mistakes are a sign of challenging yourself to be better at something and going through that progress is something to be proud of! Especially when you’re beginning something new, the mistakes are where all the learning happens around gaining well rounded basics of a new skill, like a language system.
Mistakes are all just learning opportunities that can help reinforce the desire to do it correctly the next time. At least, that's how I look at it. If you can get over feeling bad and letting others make you feel bad about making mistakes or being wrong from time to time, it'll change your life for the better. I hope you can get past it.
I will work on it! Thank you for the kind words
this is a real thing for learning ANY foreign language, even signed ones. your fear of looking silly can really hold you back
Foreign language is similar. Get so nervous that I’ll say it wrong that I just stay quiet. Gotta embrace being uncertain/insecure to progress though! And just laugh at the mistakes
Growing up, I was in speech therapy a lot and always self conscious about how I spoke. Then I got braces and them being such a universal thing to cause speech issues helped me feel less self conscious about it and get over it. Speech issues still bleed through now and then but its less of a hit to my self esteem and more just something to roll with. Maybe try wearing gloves when you sign so whenever you feel self conscious you can just be like "oh its the gloves"m
Keeping it playful and silly can really help, so can finding ways to make puns
Puns by sign language. What. Is it like regular jokes or is there some extra take-away you get through the use of sign?!
"The sign for “birthday” in ASL is like blowing out invisible candles. It’s really a breeze!"
Action puns!
Best way is to power through. Face all red, stressed out, exhausted after it’s all over.. keep going. All that’s gonna go away. Your brain gets used to it and prioritizes focusing on the signing.
Just tell people you have an accent.
That’s the key to learning any language, having someone to converse with
You wrote your comment in sign language but I was able to read it just fine. Dont be down on yourself you’re pretty good!
I just understood you perfectly you’re doing great!
>there's also this interactive sign language training thing : google github sign language translator maybe easier to learn with interactve app that instantly show the trxts of what you were signing
Same with calculus, Spanish, carpentry, landscaping, survival…
Today we are going to learn wilderness survival. In today’s YouTube video I will teach you how to make Insulin out of 2 quail eggs, a bumble bee and a very angry goat. Smash that subscribe button when you get a chance.
Huh? I can't see your hands so no idea what you just said
Why, oh why, does everyone use this format?! I’m so tired of it, especially the “subscribe” bit…like, thanks, I know how fkn YouTube works already.
People are more likely to subscribe if the action is mentioned in the video, by a large margin. It's just like people will put money in a tip jar if there's already money in it. But that first dollar takes a lot longer to get. It's like it's invisible until there's money in it to draw your attention. It's not that you wouldn't subscribe eventually, but since you were just reminded....
Knowing what you said, I don't mind it at all. As long as it doesn't take longer than 3 seconds all things included. Like, subscribe, bell and all that. If it takes longer than that it starts pissing me off. I don't need you to apologize for three times longer than it takes you to say "please subscribe". Just shut up, stop wasting my time and get to the video. The only one who wastes my time is me. Oh and my employer I guess.
I never thought of the "put some money in the jar beforehand" to work because it draws attention. Usually it's argued that people are more inclined to donate if they think others have done so already. I guess both work?
Sounds like a fascinating crossover of the YouTube channel NileRed and Alone. 😂
Bushcraft terracotta mansion with infinity pool.
I don't know why, I read that with a very Indian accent
> Same with calculus, Spanish, carpentry, landscaping, survival… I changed all the watch batteries in our house. Six watches, all different. Thanks random ass Youtubers!
...minecraft
But why calculus…?
Depends on which YouTube channel. There are a lot of hearing people who’s taken ASL 1 and turning around to teach it. A lot of them make huge errors. Best to learn from those who are Deaf.
This! There are a large number of hearing folks who do this just for clout/internet views. Exception would be CODAs and highly certified interpreters. Bill Vicars is a pretty legit fella on YouTube. I've also heard good things about Sign Duo. Even better is to find a local signing/deaf group in your town and get some in person immersion, just go to one of their social events with an open mind and willingness to learn.
Do you know any specific channels that are good?
Bill Vicars.
Cheers, I've always wanted to learn
Bill Vicars is a pretty legit fella on YouTube. I've also heard good things about Sign Duo.
Did you just copy and paste this comment?
Yep word for word copied and pasted from a larger comment above. Weird ass behavior lmao
probably a bot. that's usually the easiest way to tell. stealing comments in the same thread.
ehh OP was probably repeating it to be like "they already told you..." > Shoulda made it a quote though.
probably a bot. that's usually the easiest way to tell. stealing comments in the same thread.
Post history looks normal.
yea i think you're right. just a normal human that's so socially awkward, their behavior is similar to that of a bot 😂 no sarcasm at all either lol. after looking through the post history, they just awkward AF
It's ironic that you made the exact same comment twice lol
This should be the top comment!! You can learn individual signs online, but that is not sign language. You need to understand the grammar, syntax and history of the language to really be able to communicate effectively, and that can only be done by proper lessons, and is done best by people who are Deaf themselves.
For sure, and it’s not just signed English. It’s it’s own language with its own sentence structure and culture associated with it.
Yup.
Got any recommendations?
I've been learning sign language with my toddler, kids pick it up so fast especially before their verbal skills develop, it's so useful!
Kids pick up any language so fast, it’s amazing what evolution has given us. I wanted (was over ruled by the ex) to teach my daughter English, Tagalog (her mom’s native language), and ASL. She ended up only learning English because her mom thought it might confuse her to learn more. I provided studies to disprove it but I was overruled. If you get the chance, continue learning ASL even after the kiddo learns to verbalize. Try to go to actual places with deaf/HoH people too. I think languages are so interesting, and the differences between verbal and manual languages are so cool, like how with ASL you have nearly infinite pronouns, you just choose a spot in space for the person/place/thing in the conversation.
Sorry your ex didn't want to see reason, it's so much easier to learn languages at a very young age. My toddler is basically growing up trilingual: she mostly speaks English right now but she understands French and Mandarin really well.
Good point, maybe we will do that! and yes, we're planning to continue developing ASL - his daycare uses it a lot and he's starting to say some words now, but as he learns words in English we're still doing them in ASL as well to reinforce the connections. It really is incredible, we're gonna start working on Spanish too, my partner and I are both out of practice but were fluent at different points in life, so we want him to also have that
That’s adorable! Did you learn sign language for any reason yourself or just did this for fun yourself and want to pass it on
Got a book on it when my kid was born. Kiddo could start communicating with ASL well before verbal skills started to develop- even if it's only a few basic words, kids get so easily frustrated cause they really are trying to communicate stuff to you, so now with even a few basic signs, he could tell me stuff like, I'm hungry/thirsty or it's time for a diaper change. Personally my asl skills are still very basic, it's a lot of just functional language
That’s so cute, I’m definitely doing/learning this for my kids one day
Seems like all the Life Pro Tips lately are just "dedicate your time to learning a new skill. It's easier than it was before.". Doesn't seem as helpful as something like "if it takes 5 minutes, just do it on the spot." I was aware I could learn sign language if I put the effort forth.
LPT: do things, and then you will have done them!
Woah! No way!
Not everybody is a good/credible teacher. I appreciate your post and agree.. but I can't here hoping you had some links...
Bill Vicars on YouTube.
The deaf "can't here" either
ASL can have regional dialects so a sign that you learn from some random source may not be comprehensible to actual ASL users. Even going outside of America you're going to have different signs and syntax so you're going to want to make sure your YouTube resource is a good one. There's also a difference between 'signed English' and sign language -- ASL syntax will be different from spoken English.
American Sign Language is different from British Sign Language is different from Canadian which is different from Australian etc. Afaik much more different than the spoken English of those countries. Also "sign language has never been easier to learn". Yeah, American Sign Language might have a lot of instructors and resources but my local sign language has maybe a couple of thousand of users.
Oh course Europe speaks British Sign Language with us very different.
Europe has loads of different signed languages. French Sign Language users will be able to understand Americans more as they have a common background. British sign language (BSL) users find Auslan (Australian Sign Language) easier to understand due to a shared core. Regional variation of signed languages within a country is huge. I did my early BSL learning in the south of England then more in the midlands, and I had to re-learn a lot of colours and numbers!
Sorry? Catalan here. As far as I know we are still in Europe and deaf people here DO NOT speak BSL but Catalan Sign Language.
Im wrong sorry
Lady at my cross country is deaf. She pinched my stomach and called me fat the other day, then said let's do another lap. Communicating with her was really difficult. I've made it my goal to learn sign language to make talking to her easier. Then I'll sign to her that she's old as fuck 😄
Everyone understands this sign:🖕
Lol yeah that's pretty universal. We were talking about our running plans and how long we have been running. She made the mistake of telling me she's 54. I'll rub that in when I get the chance. Pity she's fast as fuck.
LPT: this guy just discovered YouTube and the internet
I'm surprised by the popularity of this post. You could replace "Sign language" with just about any other noun or verb in the title. Not exactly a LPT lol
And yet learning sign language is basically useless unless you live with a deaf person.
LPT: The Internet makes everything easier to learn
Brb. Learning heart surgery.
I wish we had a culture of learning/teaching sign. My stepfather is hard of hearing and it would make things so much easier.
Did OP just discover YouTube? It's been around for 20 years.
pro tip you can learn almost everything on youtube.
This is true of almost anything, why should we care
queerasl.com for online courses! I was recently in an accident that damaged my teeth/jaw. Because of it, I'm unable to speak verbally, but I'm grateful that I can still communicate by signing!
Thanks for posting, I've been meaning to start learning ASL for a while now and today seems like a good day to start
Bill vicars is an amazing teacher, he has a ton of videos and lessons on YouTube. The important thing about learning sign is to make sure you’re learning it from a good source. Try to find actual Deaf people/creators
I'll tell you something, seeing the hands move somehow works better than the drawings, I don't know what it is. Maybe it's seeing the signs change or being synced up to a letter or word, or maybe it's the drawings being too detailed (do I really gotta see EVERY line in the palm?).
When I took ASL 101, our textbook included a CD where we could access videos connected to the lessons. Movement is definitely important to see, especially when trying to learn signs that are a bit more involved! Drawings can be confusing to interpret at times
We were at a restaurant yesterday that sells basically chicken fingers/fries/slaw. The employee who came around to check on us and tidy up the tables greeted us in ASL as well as speaking to us. It was refreshing and he got a really good response from everyone he interacted with. So cool! 😎
But it is difficult to master. I found makoton easier to learn than french. Very important for any caring role with non verbal who use it. Singing hands is great YouTube.
Makaton is much easier to learn than a proper signed language as its sign communication supports using English grammar. A true signed language like ASL, BSL or Auslan have their own grammar and syntax and is best taught by a Deaf person.
So true. I got the most respect for anyone who can learn and use sign languages.
This sub isn't even pretending anymore... Why should I bother learning sign language? I know it's easily available, but so are damn near every other language. Why is this a life pro tip?
I miss when LPT was actually doing its thing in niche fields .. something where I always thought "damn I should remember this" and safely forget it instead of this nonsense.
Is it true you have to make facial expressions when doing sign language? I always look angry even when I'm not...
Facial expression is unfortunately a good portion of sign interpretation in ASL, from what I learned in a 101 class. They help to give added context to signs, such as if you’re asking a question and looking quizzical/confused. I do get the struggle with facial expressions though as someone who has a more “flat effect” (I’m not usually that expressive)
Yes, facial expression is part of the sign (in BSL anyway). It needs to be used consistently and correctly to make the meaning clear.
Yep, it's a big part of ASL
I did it with my boy when he was in preschool. The kids videos are a good place to start.
As someone who can't spell. How well will I fare with sign language?
Eh, usually you just have to fingerspell unusual words and names, most common ones will have a single gesture or two.
How well do you fair in your spoken language? Signed languages are complete languages, you aren’t writing with signs, you are signing entire words/concepts like you’d speak them.
How does it compare to learning a new (non-sign) language in general? Is it about as difficult? Also, is there an international one?
It's a little easier since you don't need to conjugate verbs and shit like that, and the grammar is usually simpler because the sentences are more succinct ("hungry. you?" "yes" "food here?" "okay" etc).
I speak English as my primary language, but I'm fluent in Spanish thanks to growing up on the border and a two year stint in Mexico. Learning ASL is comparable to learning a spoken language, but there's also additional features to the language like mouth morphemes, body position, etc. So while learning a written or spoken language you have to learn the words, with ASL you have to learn the hand shape, position, and any additional features to add context and position of the words in question. It's really neat linguistically.
Download the app pocket sign. Its a great translator if you want to learn your own sentences.
This is like saying learning is easier.
You can learn the phenomes, words, and the syntax, but learning the language is still hard.
Yeah I took ten years of Spanish in school, all the way through the highest level, and I still can't speak it very well. I can get by in understanding and reading it ,and somewhat writing pretty well. I can help with some translating through using the words I know along with Google translate, but I can't have a full conversation with a fluent Spanish speaker even after all this time. Meanwhile a friend of mine never took a class but lived in Mexico for a few months and learned the language. I believe immersion is best, and that's not always easy.
Do make sure you get videos of the sign language used in your country, though: there are many different sign languages, and they're not mutually intelligible! In particular, British and American sign languages are very different, and you'll get very confused if you try to use them in the wrong countries.
YouTube isn’t a pro tip
ASL sure, but how transferable is it to other sign languages?
The app Lingvago is like duolingo but for ASL. I have enjoyed it. I agree ASL is awesome for having private conversations in public.
I love how accessable learning sign language has become. It's a fantastic step forward! Next we just need better captioning readily available. There's official website videos you can use to learn from also. I took a college course and personally I think it was great for getting down a foundation but I've thought of using apps and such to progress past basic elementary level. I don't really have a deaf community since I've moved but I still want to keep up in the event I need to use ASL. It helped my teacher was also deaf and I was living with someone that was deaf- but asl should be an elective in all highschools IMO (or start letting kids learn languages in late middle school?).
I can honestly say I've never met a deaf person.
Never met a deaf person...so far
Did you know many deaf people have some hearing? Some use cochlear implants and can communicate verbally even if it’s not their first choice. Some just have people talk for them or don’t talk much when out.
It bugs me when people call others out for spelling errors because most of the time, you can gather from context what the person meant (like in your case). But at first, when I read “dead people have some hearing”, I thought you were being snarky. 😂
Autocorrect got me. Thanks :-)
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Learned the semi-correct version when I was locked up. Haven't had to use it since
I wanted to take an ASL class when I was in college, but the class sadly filled up before I could snag a spot.
I always wanted to learn sign language. I might give this a shot. Maybe learn a few words or expressions but my procrastination always beat out wanting to learn.
The amount of online zoom ASL classes out there is insane! I’ve been learning for 2.5 years and most of it was online. It’s amazing and I agree with this tip!
Isn't this applicable to basically every skill?
Did you know that sign language changes from one country to another, sometimes even though both countries speak the same language ? Belgian sign language would bring you nowhere in France
My mates and i use it to order drinks across the bar.
I’ve been a certified ASL interpreter for almost 7 years and I don’t agree with this. A lot of students who have taken two or three semesters get on YouTube and make videos. I’ve seen videos that are signed more English and do not follow ASL grammar or structure at all. If you wanna learn ASL learn it from Deaf people and learn their culture as well. I don’t think you’d want to learn Spanish or Chinese from a white person who has taken one year of classes.
I mean, Peggy Hill taught Spanish... In all seriousness, this is a controversial one for me. On the one hand, I understand that learning a language from native speakers of that language is significantly better than learning from later learners. I also appreciate that D/HH individuals are uniquely qualified and oftentimes underemployed. With that said, native speaking ability does not necessarily correlate with innate teaching ability. There are a lot of great deaf people out there, but not all of them would be great teachers. Hard agree that novices in a language should not be teaching a language, but I wish that people that are qualified (i.e. four year degree, CODA with certification, etc) were welcomed to teach ASL so that there was greater access to ASL as a language. If we want ASL to be more generally available and signed, then we need to expand the group of people available to teach it at least at the introductory levels (i.e. high school ASL1-2, etc).
I had a class in college and can sign the basics, but can’t read other people signing very well. I learned enough to get my special ed certification. In Illinois back in the 90s, if you learned ANY part of special education, you were allowed to be the teacher for any area. I had more work with remedial and English as a Second language than with hearing impaired or deaf kids.
When I was 15 I worked at a small printing shop where a hearing impaired guy had been there for years and nobody ever took the time to learn sign language. He was such an asshole to me that I spent time every day trying to learn from the poster on the wall just so I could learn how to tell him to go F himself. He saw me standing there and he seemed so genuinely moved that we wound up getting along for the rest of my time that summer. I should’ve kept learning to sign.
You talk as if there was a single, universal, sign language. There as dozens, more than one hundred. Make some research and learn the one deaf people near you speak, because I've find out people learning a sign language that's used at 20 000 km away, not the one their neighbours sign. You not saying so tells me you probably speak no sign language?
This can go with literally anything. Any language, any subject. If you’re committed enough and can gather the right materials, you can make a fucking spaceship with the internet fr. but im just relearning highschool math because i guess i dont like spaceships
Wanted to learn. Then realized there are too many variants. I'm from India. And apparently we have our own which isn't international. And some of our languages have their own sign languages again. It all seemed a bit messy. So I just didn't even start.
Life experience tip: Everybody says they've "always wanted to learn to sign" but nobody puts in any effort to learn. Speaking as a hearing person who's known sign for 2+ decades, who has offered to teach plenty of people, and who has never once in 20+ years been taken up on the offer.
If you have a VR headset, like a Quest 2, VRChat has sign language classes and communities. There is hand and finger tracking built in, so it works.
Sign language, the world’s least spoken language
It’ll probably keep getting easier, so I’ll wait
we did pen-pals via VHS tapes with koko in elementary school. We'd sign our question send the vhs tape for the class, and then we got one back with answers.
Sign language is the best! My friends and I learned in HS so we could communicate during classes 😂
If I want to communicate with someone silently, I text them.
It seems like teaching sign language would be a good use for AI visual identification.
there's also this interactive sign language training thing : google github sign language translator
When I got in trouble with the law I learned the stacking alphabet which I think is just the hand alphabet but with gang signs, but worked over there lol
I once wanted to learn sign language, just to learn that it's not an international language and you have to learn it country by country
LPT: the internet exists!
I want to learn a sign language at one point, but unfortunately there aren't that many resources for Finnish Sign Language. There are on ASL, but I want it to be actually useful
What’s a good and credible YT channel for this?
Bill Vicars has a great set of lessons on YouTube, his website is called Lifeprint. Lingvano or ASL bloom are app based learning. I've also heard good things about queerasl if you want a more class based approach.
Just learn signs and start to sign it in conjunction with or as a replacement to what you’re saying. You’ll slowly just integrate that word into your vocab
You are never going to be able to go beyond basics without being face to face and hours of practicing tbh. If you want a secret language with a friend, that is a different thing - you can arrange that yourselves. Being able to fingerspell though is worthwhile.
Interesting random fact. There's a surprisingly large amount of mute people in VRchat that generally use sign Language. Because of this you can find a bunch of worlds that give a whole automated course and rundown on how to learn Sign Language. and it's extra fun because you are learning it with your friends next to you. Because there is finger tracking with the Valve Index, you can easily see if you are doing it right while you look in a mirror next to the examples. And then you get to deploy and try it right away because you are bound to run into a bunch of mute people in VRchat
I learned with a family who's children taught themselves sign language and talked to each other during classes with it constantly.
I took ASL in high school as my "foreign language" it was probably the easiest A ive ever had next to baseball. I dated a deaf girl while I was in high school and my signing got REALLY good for a while. I haven't used it in 20+ years but I still can understand it better than I sign
I feel like with all of today's technology blind people should just learn to talk.
I spent a few days cooking up a feast with the deaf community last year, it remains one of my fondest memories. I still need an interpreter but I learnt so much from the community and appreciate their sense of humour. They gave me a signed nickname and made me feel so welcome. I look forward to visit them again when I'm in their town and will learn more of their language as I spend more time with them.
Not only is sign language silent, but my family used it to communicate across the grocery store. Also, I remember my mom would be having a conversation with someone, and if I tried to interrupt, she would sign "wait" to me while she continued talking.
This post gives me the similar vibe of SLPT sub, lol
I mean it’s not about how easy. It’s about time. People have limited time between work, chores, spending time with loved ones, etc. You also got to fit in time to relax. Sure you may be able to squeeze in ASL lessons. But you may have other things that are also a priority like working out, learning a language that’s more prevelant where you learn, or other skills that may be important or interesting to you.
Teaching your kids starting from as young as infancy, even if they can hear just fine, is such a gamechanger. If they're hurt beyond belief, you don't have to wait for them to calm down and speak clearly to say what's wrong. They can sign whatever they need even if crying or screaming at the top of their lungs at the same time. On the phone? Can also sign with them in the middle of your phone conversation, especially if they are the impatient type. Far distances, loud places, etc., signing can be used in so many ways outside of just communicating with a random Deaf person you may come across
YouTube is not consistent as almost every country has their own sign language. You could look for how to say a phrase and it be completely different in another signs region (ASL-BSL) However if you type 'BSL' (British) followed by the phrase or words you want to learn into Google or YouTube, you'll more often than not be taken to the right signs. However THEN you get into regional sign territory, where the word 'purple' can have SEVENTEEN different signs depending on region (Britain). It's difficult to learn in some ways, but very rewarding.
Why would I want to learn it though I don't know anyone deaf. Btw most of the things are easier to learn now days not only sign language.
Most internet videos for ASL I've seen don't teach the grammar, that thing (I forget the term for this) where you kinda create your own signs that are space and context sensitive, or regional differences.
Learning about deaf culture is also very cool, which is hand in hand in learning their language. 😏😉
Not just YouTube, Lingvano is quite a good app for learning to sign.
Not sure why you caught a down vote, Lingvano is a good one
I understand. The subscription is quite pricey and the free trial isn't really long enough if you aren't super-committed in that period. So it might look like I'm a shill. This is particularly true in the context of a thread on free material on YouTube But, the pedagogy is really good (for BSL at least) compared to pretty much every other language learning app I've seen.
I've liked their ASL format. It's like $120 for the year, which honestly for learning a second language isn't bad at all.
Yes its not too expensive for what it is, it's just that it can seem like a lot to commit to in the context of the world of free/freemium (and not very good) apps for learning diverse skills that exist.
It has also never been more useless, seeing as everyone has a phone and can type in notes
I would expect it to always get easier, or at least stays the same. I'm not sure why it would get harder to learn as time passes.
Thank you Ms.Rachel!!!
I know ONE sign from my Pakistani colleague and it’s the most useful sign I’ve seen. You know which sign, I don’t have to tell y’all
If you've traveled in enough foreign countries you actually get kinda good at conveying your message without a word
My ASL teacher in high school straight up told me that unless I went deaf, and HAD to learn out of necessity, I was never going to get it. I could not understand how the language worked, at all.