Here’s another thrilling episode of Signing Saturday with your hostess, Dory!

Well, we’re not getting any younger; let’s dive right in.

First, one of the things you need to understand about signing is this: a sign is NOT equal to a word. A sign is a concept. For example, the sign most commonly known as FINISH can also mean ‘done’ or ‘already’ or ‘complete’ or… well, I could go on, or you could consult a thesaurus. Guess which I’m going with? Good guess.

Next, in sign, there is no am, is, are, was, were, the, a, an… and a whole bunch more. Well, actually, let me clarify that; in most kinds of sign language that’s true. There is one kind that uses those, plus special endings for -ed and -ing and a whole bunch more, but that’s more likely to be used in schools while they’re teaching English.

We’re always going to be talking about two forms of sign here. We’re going to talk about ASL (American Sign Language) and PSL (Pidgin Sign Language) and they do NOT use those signs.

Then, word order… it’s weird. ASL and PSL use the same signs, but different word order. ASL starts a sentence with a topic and moves from there (there’s a whole bunch more nuances to ASL grammar, but this is the key one). PSL uses mostly English word order.  So take this sentence, “Do you want a pop?” In ASL, you’re going to sign POP – WANT – YOU with your eyebrows raised through the whole sentence. In PSL, you’d sign YOU – WANT – POP with raised eyebrows. Most Deaf folk sign ASL. PSL is used mostly by people learning to sign. People who use ASL will usually switch easily to converse with someone using PSL. Then as you start to get the hang of it, you can gradually change your word order. 

Ok, last… you earned a naughty sign. 

You know that sign you use for ‘whatever’ where you make a W with your hands? Sure, you’ve seen it. Lots of hearing people use it. Well, a variation that you probably haven’t seen is pretty commonly used in the Deaf Community. Do your ‘whatever’ sign.

Now, instead of your index fingers up, put them down and put up your tall fingers.

Congratulations– You just signed ‘what the f**k ever’!

Alright, that will conclude the fourth episode of “Signing Saturday.” I’m taking suggestions for what signs you want to learn, as well as any ideas to make this more interactive.

If you really like it, take a badge and put it on your blog by copying and pasting the code in a widget or post.

The little badge is 89px by 100px
`<a href=”http://www.cantrememberdiddly.com/2008/10/25/signingsaturday/” title=”Signing Saturday with Dory”><img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2971907832_993f05c211_t.jpg” width=”89″ height=”100″ alt=”signing saturday” /></a>`

The bigger badge is 200px by 219px
`<a href=”http://www.cantrememberdiddly.com/2008/10/25/signingsaturday/” title=”Signing Saturday with Dory”><img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2971907832_d896a8fe17_o.jpg” width=”200″ height=”225″ alt=”signing saturday” /></a>`

Want to know more signs but you can’t wait for the next episode? This is my favorite ASL site.

Want more about Deaf culture? Google Deaf Culture.

Rip it, roll it, and punch it, dude. Word. T’yaw mutha. In sign, of course.

Back because I said so by popular demand, it’s another episode of Signing Saturday! (Filmed live before a studio audience.)

Let’s get started with some Deaf culture!

Let’s say you want to meet some Deaf folk. And why the hell wouldn’t you; they’re fantastic people!

When you’re introduced, the first question is going to be, “Are you Deaf or Hearing?” and then they’re going to want to know your life story, the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version. Deaf folk are rilly rilly big on sharing stories. What brought you to a Deaf event? Where did you go to school? Are you single or married? Do you have any kids? How old are you?

Which brings me to the next Deaf culture point. Deaf folk are BLUNT. They’re going to ask how old you are, if you’ve gained weight, if your significant other broke up with you, and they’re going to want an answer and be a little put off if you’re not forthcoming with the goods. In the Deaf community, everybody knows everybody’s bidness.

And get ready for some physical touch. Deaf folk are touchy. There’s more physical expression than Hearing people are used to; hugging, patting on the arms and shoulders, and tapping on the leg. Hearing people can sometimes be uncomfortable with how much you touch yourself when you’re signing. You’re just going to have to get over that, because you have to touch yourself a lot to sign properly.

Don’t stare at a conversation you’re not involved in. That’s the Deaf equivalent of eavesdropping.

The first time you go to a Deaf event, you might be surprised by how loud it is! Signing is noisy! When you’re signing, your hands make sound when they hit each other or other parts of you. Deaf conversations are punctuated by grunts and other sounds you won’t be used to. Someone else’s attention is attained by slapping on the table, or stomping on the floor, or really loud outbursts. Laughing can get very enthusiastic. It can be kind of overwhelming the first time.

Want to find Deaf events in your area? Google “Deaf [your town]” and see what pops up. If your local community college has an interpreter program, contact them to find out where the Deaf events are.

I’ve got more flashcards for you! I picked out what I think are really basic words that you need to carry on a conversation. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t start you out with colors and farm animals. I want you to be able to sign with Deaf adults right away, not a roomful of Deaf pre-schoolers.

You’ll find the ‘W’ question words in there; who, what, when, where, why, and how. Here’s a tip: when you ask a ‘w’ question, scrinch your eyebrows down. When you ask a yes/no question, arch your eyebrows. It’s like punctuation but with your face!

Download an eight page PDF for your flash cards here. Page one looks like this:

The most important thing is to print it double sided so you end up with the sign on one side and the answer on the other. Then you can use the flash cards with your signing buddy either way; one holding up sign side and other naming the sign, or one holding up the word side and other doing the sign. So you’re going to have to print this double sided. If your printer only does one side at a time, load only one page at a time so it doesn’t zip through them all one sided. Put one blank page in, let it print. Here’s the tricky part: when you flip the paper to the other side, flip it like you’re turning a book page, NOT like you’re turning a calendar page. So, load a blank page, print, flip (like a book not a calendar!), load, print; do this until you have printed four double-sided pages. Next, cut the pages. Here’s page one with cyan colored cut lines on it.

So cut the page in half, in half again, etc. until you’ve got 16 flash cards from one page. Repeat for other three pages. You’ll end up with 64 flash cards total.

I’m going to be watching who’s downloading the PDFs, and don’t be surprised if those people end up getting an email with some naughty signs! Who’s the coolest signing teachah evah?!

I ran into a little snag. Rocky took my camera outside to take video of him and his friends skateboarding and DROPPED IT. So I have no way to make you video of the new signs. And no extra money whatsoever for another point and shoot. And my dSLR doesn’t have video, of course. I’m extremely bummed. Rocky better get a freakin’ ROCKIN’ band together and get big QUICK because Mister Man owes me a damn camera.

Alright, that will conclude the third episode of “Signing Saturday.” I’m taking suggestions for what signs you want to learn, as well as any ideas to make this more interactive.

If you really like it, take a badge and put it on your blog by copying and pasting the code in a widget or post.

The little badge is 89px by 100px
`<a href=”http://www.cantrememberdiddly.com/2008/10/25/signingsaturday/” title=”Signing Saturday with Dory”><img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2971907832_993f05c211_t.jpg” width=”89″ height=”100″ alt=”signing saturday” /></a>`

The bigger badge is 200px by 219px
`<a href=”http://www.cantrememberdiddly.com/2008/10/25/signingsaturday/” title=”Signing Saturday with Dory”><img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2971907832_d896a8fe17_o.jpg” width=”200″ height=”225″ alt=”signing saturday” /></a>`

Want to know more signs but you can’t wait for the next episode? This is my favorite ASL site.

Want more about Deaf culture? Google Deaf Culture.

Rip it, roll it, and punch it, dude. Word. T’yaw mutha. In sign, of course.

Alright, people, how are you doing with your ABCs and 123s? Groovy? Because my stat counter says that ZERO people downloaded the PDFs! Tsk, tsk, tsk… better get on that, because only people who are downloading the PDFs and working on it get to learn the naughty signs!

Okfine. Let’s say you’ve been practicing your ABCs and 123s. The next step is to start mixing them up and actually spelling things with them. A great way to do this is just to dive right in and start fingerspelling anytime. Driving down the street, see a sign, spell it out. “Dry Cleaners” “Grocery” “Dealership” “Plumbing” “Brothel” etc. Making dinner? Start fingerspelling any words you see while you’re cooking. “Paprika” “Flour” “Whole wheat” “Methamphetamine” etc. You see where I’m going here? Ok, good.

A couple tips on good fingerspelling practice:

1- Don’t bounce your hand while you’re spelling. Do you want to have to hand out barf bags? Keep your hand comfortably positioned and still, moving mostly only from the wrist up.

2- Double letters. You have your choice– when fingerspelling, for instance, SLEEP, when you need to do the double E, make your hand sign for E and either nod your hand like it’s nodding, or slide it a little to the right. Whatever feels more comfortable.

3- Practice, practice, practice. My favorite fingerspelling practice site is here. You can set how many words you want to do and then the speed of the fingerspelling and speed it up as you get better. It’s most hawsum.

That’s it for this week. Work rilly rilly hard at fingerspelling every single day as you go about your normal routine, fingerspelling any word that might appear in front of you. Next time we’ll learn some signs to acually carry on a conversation and learn a little more about Deaf culture.

Keep practicing, kids! Let me know if you have any problems downloading or need me to add more video!

Rip it, roll it, and punch it, dude. Or at least fingerspell it.

I’ve been kicking this idea around in my brain for awhile, so I thought I’d just throw it out on the stoop and see if the cat licks it up.

What do you think of Signing Saturday?

Would you be interested in reading about American Sign Language?

Cool? Lame? Hawsum? Interesting? Boring?

What if I told you to say it in your head like an announcer for Monster Trucks? Like… “signing Signing SIGNING saturday Saturday SATURDAY!!!”

How about I just dive right in, and you let me know? Okfine.

The best place to dive into learning American Sign Language is where learning ANY language (Yes, it’s a language; that’s another lesson for another day.) and that would be your ABCs and 123s!

Grab a signing buddy to learn with you. This helps you to learn a lot easier. Plus, you each have a personal cheering section to encourage you; bonus plan, baby!

This is going to get a little graphic intense so I’m gonna cut here for the feed reader peoples. Click over for some pages I made you with the ABCs and 123s on them, some flashcards, and a little bit about Deaf culture and probably waaay more than you really wanted to know about me and my hearing loss. Read the rest of this entry »