
I haven't written in my blog due to a very close Deaf friend of mine who recently died from brain cancer. Jimmy Cardosi was an old college friend (Gallaudet) and I poured all of my attention in being there for him in the last stages of his life. He, too, was an ASL instructor in Ohio community college and was loved by his students. His family, the Deaf and ASL community & I will miss him greatly. I love you my dear brother, may you rest in peace, Jimmy.
Now back to my blog updates, here are new things I discovered that I'd like to share with you all.
First thing I need to address is that I will be switching my days off on Fridays to Mondays starting in March 2015. The reason is that a lot of doctors, dentists, chiropractors, acupuncturists clinics are either closed or closes early. In order to better serve my clients, I'm soon to have Fridays available from 10am to 12noon and then 1pm to 5pm MST.
Since Skype has been quite problematic - I've learned a new online webcam program called appear.in. It's great and much more clearer video reception than Skype. It's compatible for Windows and Mac users.
I also look forward to switching from Century Link to fiber optic internet service from my city in Longmont but they won't install it until 2017 in my area. *groans!* If you live in an area where fiber optic internet is available, I highly recommend you switching it over - it will improve your web-cam usage tremendously.
Lots of ASL students needs help with receptive fingertalking (#FT) skills while an ASL signer is signing sentences. I highly recommend all levels to practice watching ASLPride vlogs at:
http://aslpride.blogspot.com/
This year I plan on making more videos to upload on my YouTube channel with #FT exercises, stories that uses a lot of ASL classifiers and other helpful tutorial videos. So, check often to see if I posted any up.
A current ASL student recommended me to pass around this great list of ASL DVDs for ASL students to buy and practice from home or borrow from a library.
ASL for Babies and Toddlers
ASL for Kids and Adults Vol 1
ASL for Kids and Adults Vol 2
Sign Language 101
ASL Everyday Words: Activities & Events
ASL Vocab Builder Vol 1
ASL Vocab Builder Vol 2
Emergency Medical Words and Sentences in ASL Vol 1
Emergency Medical Words and Sentences in ASL Vol 2
Idioms & Phrases in ASL Vol 1 - Teacher's Instructional DVD with Workbook
Common Expressions in ASL Vol 1
Common Expressions in ASL Vol 2
Idioms & Phrases in ASL Volumes 1-5
What Did She Say? Vol 1
What Did She Say? Vol 2
ASL Interpreter Training: Expressive Skills Practice
ASL Interpreter Training: Receptive Skills Practice Vol 1
For interpreters who need to study watching Deaf children sign - check out these cute deaf twins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXphW5AeCHU
Here's an interesting vlog about Deaf parents raising hearing children:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTLujjhkyOM
This month's ASL Tips:
People often ask me how much studying do I need to do in order to improve my ASL skills?
It depends.
Depending on your learning style, how much support system you have, how well you memorize new skills, how much effort you put into actually signing and watching signed videos either from your textbooks/workbook/YouTube videos assigned by your teacher/tutor/self... a combination of all these hands-on, active participation will speed your progress.
How many hours of actually signing a presentation, a story or dialogs do I need to apply?
Again, it depends on your ability to memorize, the ability to fix your errors quickly and deftly, the ability to self-critique from videos you filmed yourself to analyze what needs improvement and your ability to accept constructive feedback from experts.
It's suggested to physically sign at least one hour per day; I prefer 2 hours a day to really solidify things. Most people, I've noticed lately, put about 20 minutes or less! Many don't practice at all for weeks at a time and wonder why they're not progressing. I can't do the practice for you, so it's really important to be extremely patient with yourself and actively sign every single day.
Then I suggest to physically watch real life Deaf signers at Deaf events or via YouTube Deaf vloggers (just type up "Deaf Vlogger" or "ASL Story" and many variety kinds will surface), for at least one hour a day. Do not attempt to understand 100% of what signers signed. Just keep watching and slowly and steadily, more and more concepts and fingertalking words and loan signs will be fully understand.
I understand it's very difficult to sign with deaf or hard of hearing who are not superior or high-advanced hard-core ASL signers -- or worse even, that there are NO Deaf ASL signers at all to practice in your local (often small towns or small cities) areas. This is why I established an on-line ASL tutoring for individuals who need to improve their ASL skills.
If you need just practicing conversing in ASL, meet up with me and make an appointment through my front home page.
Another words, JUST DO IT!
You can do it.
You want to do it.
You'll be proud of how much you've accomplish, as a little bit on daily basis goes a long way.
Keep at it!
Cheers,
RaVen Sequoia
ASL Mentor/Tutor/Evaluator/Deaf Interpreter
www.ASLmasterTutor.com