June 2017: The Talent Code

Hi Everyone! 
It's now June 2017 and I have a few goodies to share with you ASL folks (it can apply to anything that you want to learn actually). 

Some may wonder what is the missing ingredient that will help me to improve my receptive and expressive signing and/or interpreting skills? 

I want to share an extraordinary excerpt from Mr Daniel Coyle who wrote a book called "The Talent Code".  

Daniel Coyle describes how the brain reacts when a person develops a new skill.  
Performing an action involves firing an electrical signal through a neural pathway; each time this happens, it thickens the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve fibers like the rubber coating on electrical wires.  The thicker the myelin sheath around a neural pathway, the more easily and effectively we use it.  

MOTTO:
Deep practice
Visualise the skill
Try the skill and fail at first
Next analyze your errors
Now try again
"Fail better"
thetalentcode.com/


Practice requires people to feel vulnerable, and feel comfortable making goofy and sometimes funny mistakes and keep at it until perfected. 

Learning ASL or anything you wish to learn is a lot like gardening. You plants seeds and water them daily and nothing at first seems to be growing, but it is! Looks invisible now but in about 3 weeks, the cute tiny seedlings will emerge. Then a gardener may be impatient for the flowers to bloom or fruit or vegetable to grow - again, can't rush it -- but it'll grow - unripe and slowly ripen. Staring at the plant will not make it grow any faster. Same with learning American Sign Language - getting impatient and frustrated will not speed up your learning progress. Keep at it. 

How long does it take for you to reach 100% fluency in advanced ASL - it depends: 

1. How quick you can memorize new signs/concepts: 

As a Deaf person, for most of us, when we are exposed to a new sign, it's quickly absorbed, retained and utilized. 
Example in the 80's - microwave used to be a compound sign - "square" and "flash".  Then when more and more people acquired microwaves, it became a norm to use one sign "flash" with two hands. Just like a spoken language, we are learning new words all the time and automatically incorporate in our daily dialogs- few examples: wi-fi, emoji, internet, cell, etc. 

Make it a habit to memorize at least 10 new signs per day during the week. It's best to sign the new vocabulary in a full sentence and several different sentences. Take the weekend off to just review what you've memorized. 
Apply the new sign in various different sentences on purpose to help your muscle memory to retain the new vocabulary/concept. 

If you forget a few signs -- add it to your new list, where you have 13 signs to memorize in the next week.  
Use a regular ASL Dictionary and go through each page. 
Or jot down any topic that you're struggling with and go over it with me and I'll demonstrate how to apply that new concept into accurate grammatically correct ASL sentence. 


2.  How often do you need to go over a homework assignment- such as sentences or a story? 

You need to practice signing all the sentences until you're fluent. 

3.  How do I know when I am fluent? 

Being fluent means: 

A. ASL grammar 100% correct. 
B. Smooth movements with arms/hands/fingers
C. Body is relaxed & still & accurate posture
D. Keep your composure entirely
E.  All ASL Parameters Errors fixed 
1. Hand shapes
2.  Palm Orientation
3.  Non-Manuel Signals/Emoting/Mouth Morphemes
4.  Location
5.  Movement

Some students complain that a slight imperfections is not a big deal. Oh really? Si of i Was to writ liki this, wood this buther you? (Translation: So if I was to write like this, would this bother you?)

If you're aiming to be an ASL interpreter, you need to be at least 98% accurate. We're in the professional field where we handle delicate private information from Deaf customers at important appointments or at classes that requires accurate information to pass a course and so on. Some interpreter's seemingly innocent mistake can create serious hardship for both Deaf folks and the hearing person they're interpreting for. 

Thus the need to put more effort in paying attention to your ASL Parameters. This is the number one issues that puts signers in the beginner's level and an ASL Interpreter in the amateur level if you are below 98% accurate. 

F.  Strive to do your best.
What does this mean? Avoid being a perfectionist where some folks get too distracted in making sure everything is 1000% perfect. Perfectionists need not to apply. 
Wait for a Deaf person to show a puzzle facial expression to determine if your finger-talked word or signed sentence was clear. If they look passive and still nodding, it means they got your drift. If they have a "What?" Look --- then you may want to repeat that one word, try to avoid repeating the entire sentences. 
Avoid being too defensive. This is where adaptibility comes in. Copy the expert's demonstration and mimic until it looks the same. 
Avoid being lazy. Post-poning your studies will only create stress upon yourself and can lead to failing a class or failing an exam for a state certificate. 

G.  Bite-sized chunks.  
Work on what areas that you need to work on the most first. Have a lot to work on? Fine, divide the hour into 15 minutes increments. 15 minutes to work on #FT; 15 minutes for receptive ASL practice through videos; 15 for hands on interpreting practice from a video; and finally 15 minutes for ASL conversation with a skilled ASL Tutor/Mentor. Take a break and continue through out the day until all the hours that you need to study, practice, memorize and rehearse until you're looking snazzy. 


H.  But every ASL teacher teaches differently. Who is right and who is wrong? 
This drives me insanely crazy too. I don't understand why so many ASL teachers teaches the same ASL courses differently. Ego? Maybe not trained properly? Maybe the department requires different goals in what they think is appropriate to learn. Whatever... just learn whatever the teacher teaches you so you can pass the course with a good grade - A or B. Then study how Deaf individuals in your work setting signs and ADAPT. To be a skillfull ASL signer and/or interpreter - you gotta be adaptable. 


I.  How long should I study?
Studying in ASL is not just sitting down and reading books like most courses requires. With ASL, it needs to be hands-on and eyes-on (my term I just now invented, grins!) and interactive with living breathing human beings fluent in ASL. 
When I studied advanced ASL in Level 5 Course - we were studying BIrds of a Different Feather. I had to memorize one scene by heart. We had two weeks to memorize. I have the worse memory skills ever (thanks to hashimoto's thyroiditis and ADD and dyslexia). So I found out that I had to watch the video and mimic it many times. Then I had to test my memory one sentence at a time.  If I forgot, I'd rewatch the video and repeat it until I got it right. By the end of the week, I realized it took me 20 "rehearsals" to have it firmly imprinted in my mind per day. Two weeks later, I was fluent in signingly smoothly this one portion of the story. The Deaf ASL teacher has us all share our pieces of stories in order as we stood in a circle - that was so much fun. There were a few students who didn't bother to learn their part and it created an uncomfortable smooth sailing of taking our turns. They failed the assignment.
Ended up I got an "A" in that class. As a Deaf student, it was still hard for me and I had to put 20 rehearsals a day. Do what you got to do to be smoothe as butter. 

Good enough is not enough. 
You need to be FLUENT. To be fluent for some may mean many hours per day. 
Remember ASL Interpreters - if you're planning to interpret 8 hours a day for a living. You can put in at least 4 hours of practice to get you perfected so you can pass your exams. 

ASL students - if you want a Deaf person to feel comfortable around you & vice versa - you need to show sincere effort to improve your all of your skills until you're fluent. 

So put in 4 hours or more daily --- if you still find yourself still struggling- add one more hour.  

Here is a true story of my learning journey after many years of not being in college - I have learning differences - ADD, dyslexia and dyscalculia and the worse memory ever.
In order for me to pass my Social Science course - I realized I literally needed to study 7 hours per day. My learning differently brain takes longer to process and MEMORIZE information accurately. My first exam, I got a B in it while about 30 other students failed. Albeit, studying that much put too much stress on my body and I had to withdraw as with chronic fatigue and Fibromyalgia and Hashimoto's disease -- I no longer can attend college. I love learning but there's a limit my body can handle. However, at my own pace, I continue to push myself to learn certain skills (whatever they are, doesn't matter) and keep at it until I get it. 

Some of you may need to put in extra hours. So be patient with yourself and keep at it and it will gel. 

J.  I don't feel confident yet. 

You don't need confidence. What does this word mean exactly?
a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities.
(I Googled this up online)

You need patience, willingess, flexibility, adapatability and stick-to-it attitude.
Not feeling assured with yourself? Appreciate what you have already learned thus far. You got this far, you can go further. Heck, if I could do it, so can anyone else. 
Does a baby who has been crawling for many months give up when it's learning how to walk? No, they continue, all the while making huge mistakes - smacking their poor heads into furniture, falling down backwards, plopping forward, body getting all wobbly as hey almost lose balance, etc. They keep at it until they're walking - then watch them walk really fast to what they desire to explore & watch their faces light up. 

Like a doting parent, I love seeing my ASL students faces light up with recognization, "Oh! I get it now!"
​
Keep your mind and emotions blank --- and just rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. 
Learning ASL is not linear --- it's actually like a spiral as it consists of learning many multi-dimensional levels of sign language. 
Then take small actions to improve your skills. 
Don't know what you need improvement with or how?
​That is where a professional Mentor or tutor can assist. 
Then do your homework faithfully and entirely.  

I had three ASL student one year - one needed 2 years of meeting with me on weekly basis. The second one needed 1 year. The third one stuck with me for 6 months and I'm proud to say that they all pass the qualifying exam. Put in the time, and you'll shine! 

For those who are currently my ASL student now, if you read this far, you will get one DVD to rent for free in your next session! Thank you for your passion in learning ASL - for we are preserving a living language for Deaf community today and tomorrow. 

RaVen Sequoia
ASL Master Mentor/Tutor/Deaf Interpreter 
​www.ASLmasterTutor.com