Ooops - He doesn't know ASL

[DottyG]

Oh my lord. I just realized my lovely typo!! I've read this a couple of times today, but thought you meant something else. I'm such a dork!    hee hee hee

I kept waiting for you to respond!

[rashea]

I totally agree.  Why couldnt they speak as they were signing? I know plenty of people who do this.

Actually, I am taking ASL now and we are told not to do this. The word order is different, and it can be hard to do both at once, at least at first. If they were practicing, or just new to it, they might not be able to do it. It might be possible for one person to sign, and another to try to translate, but doing both at the same time is tricky.

[Shoo]

I totally agree.  Why couldnt they speak as they were signing? I know plenty of people who do this.

Actually, I am taking ASL now and we are told not to do this. The word order is different, and it can be hard to do both at once, at least at first. If they were practicing, or just new to it, they might not be able to do it. It might be possible for one person to sign, and another to try to translate, but doing both at the same time is tricky.

Yes, it is very tricky.  I studied interpretation in college and had to learn ASL as well as regular sign language.  ASL is the language of the deaf community, so it is preferable to the other.  But it doesn't correlate all that well to spoken English.

[ettacat]

My 24 yr old niece is fluent in ASL and is pursuing a career in teaching the deaf. That is great. However, I find it to be rude when she and her mother, my SIL, do it around those of us who don't understand. None of the family is deaf.