American Sign Language: My Progress
Since I was young, I have been an artistic and extremely passionate individual. I have always been a person who expresses herself through artwork and music. This creative side of my personality has led me to be compassionate, as well as open minded. Throughout my education I have always admired the beauty and expressive style of American Sign Language (ASL), which rooted a desire in me to learn this underappreciated and under recognized language. Only to build on my desire for this language, I met the man who is now my husband and decided on a career in nursing. With hearing damage since childhood, my husband only further confirmed my interest in ASL and I could also see the benefit it would have in my career. It is my progression in ASL that will bring me to be more prepared for further hearing loss in my family, have a higher skill set in my career, and will add another aspect of creativity and expression to my life.
As I began my college education, I immediately enrolled in an ASL 101 course. Knowing only the manual alphabet, I had much to learn. During the initial stages of learning ASL it was simple to remember the mechanics of signs. Also, finger spelling became a more comfortable part of ASL; however, it was difficult for me to comprehend what other people were signing. I understood all of the parts (arbitrary signs, classifiers, things that were finger spelled, etc.), yet I was having trouble taking all the information in a once. The first year that I studied ASL gave me a decent vocabulary base and a great understanding of Deaf culture. Unfortunately, I felt unqualified in forming proper phrases to sign and I was not confident that I knew what other people were signing to me.
It has been the full immersion of the ASL 201 series that has allowed me to push away my nerves and gear up my mind for learning. Attending an ASL class in which only signing is used, has forced me to form better sign phrases when I need to communicate, as well as taught me to understand what other individuals are signing. It is the skill of overall comprehension in signed conversations that I feel is the best part of my progress in ASL. Even when I do not understand every sign, I am able to identify familiar signs and use the context of any conversation to understand, as well as, expand my ASL vocabulary.
Without developing the ability to comprehend what others sign, I would not be able to properly use or understand this language. It would be the equivalent of memorizing all the parts to an engine, but having no knowledge of how to assemble them and make the engine run. I am proud that I can finally understand what others are signing, even if I get lost in the process on occasion. Comprehension is the best aspect of my progress, because it is what will allow me to continue to better my skill level in ASL. Ultimately this will lead to my becoming fluent in ASL, which will positively impact my life in many ways. My family’s preparation for hearing loss, my career, and a creative outlet, are only to name a few of the sectors in my life that ASL will positively influence.
Recent research has shown that approximately one in every twenty Americans is deaf or hard of hearing, amounting to millions of people nationwide who depend on visual language for communication. This number is only on the rise. While my husband may not be considered deaf or hard of hearing, I consider him becoming part of this statistic a possibility. While he has only a small amount hearing damage in his left ear, he has lost more than 50% of his hearing in the right ear due to a ruptured his ear drum during his childhood. In addition, his job in both farming and iron working require him to be around loud and heavy machinery. While he takes measures to protect his remaining hearing, I believe learning ASL is invaluable in case of more unexpected inner ear damage, or extensive age related hearing loss. Being fluent in ASL will prepare me to have a way to communicate with my husband if he undergoes more severe damage to his hearing.
Furthermore, being fluent in ASL will be a unique quality in the medical field. As our Hispanic and Russian communities grow larger, many nurses study these languages to help them prepare for a career. But as larger numbers of nursing students study these languages, it will ‘flood the market’ and their abilities will no longer set them above another applicant for a job. Being fluent in ASL on the other hand, is not common and is extremely valuable. This will help to set me apart in terms of career skills and I will be able to communicate with the deaf who are often not the first community of people thought of in terms of foreign languages.
Lastly, I can already see myself using ASL as a creative outlet and I am sure that my use of it will only increase. Currently, I help teach songs to children in ASL at church, translate my own songs to sign at home, and when I am excited I find that signing while I speak is far more expressive than just using regular hand gestures. Ultimately, I am delighted with my advancements in ASL. My ability to comprehend conversation in 100% ASL has opened a new door to learning. It is the best aspect of my progress thus far in my ASL education and I am excited to further my knowledge and skill base in this language.
