Week 6 – American Sign Language is different than English. It is not just taking English words and representing them on your hands-that’s called Signing Exact English  )S.E.E. and SEE is used primarily as a tool to teach English to deaf children. American Sign Language is a unique language with its own syntax, grammar, and structure. It doesn’t follow the general rules of English. Just to reiterate: American Sign Language is not English. When we say that we saw a black cat, we simply say “I saw a black cat.” But in ASL, it’s different.

When talking about American Sign Language, one way that I like to explain the language is to compare it to the stage. Drama. Performance. If any of you have ever taken drama, you know how important blocking and set building are to the story. It’s fine that we know who the characters are, but it’s more important to know where they are going to stand; how they feel, what they are going to say….what does the stage look like? How is it set up? This is all just a long introduction to the idea of setting up the noun or subject first, and then having the action (verb) or description (adjective) following the subject. CAT + BLACK…..

Lots of new information today…

Here are the notes from our first class about the syntax and structure of American Sign Language.

To review the conversational phrases, click here