Unit 18

Unit 18 was the first unit that we did in ASL 2010 this fall. (The textbook series starts with unit 1 back in ASL 1010 and counts up through three books. Hence why 18 was the starting point!) We covered different body and body-part classifiers, role-shifting and reactions. At the end of the unit we were assigned to video ourselves telling a story to show the skills we learned. We worked from a list of requirements and different ideas for our story. The story I wound up choosing to tell was the day I fell flat on my face at church. It was a great "falling" story and also is one of the more embarrassing moments of my life (and it's the embarrassing story I mind telling the least because it wasn't my fault!).

This is the link to my video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIP0OW43emk

Btw, the facial expressions are a key part of the language. A lack of facial expressions is somewhat equivalent to a lack of inflection in English.

Now we're on to unit 19, "Sharing Interesting Facts."

Tomorrow is our second processing test in Cognition and Discourse Analysis. I'm not really looking forward to it and our 2 hour lab. But tomorrow also marks the halfway point in the semester!! I can't believe time has flown so fast. Christmas is only two months away? When did that happen??

TLR Conquered!

I sat down this afternoon determined to finish the target language retell and I got it done! I think I did well... the only issue is that you can hear my guinea pigs making noise in the background. :sigh: I can't win for losing. I tried to redo it but my patience is about gone for this particular project.

To record myself I am using the i-Sight camera on my Macbook Pro that I purchased specifically to make recording myself during the interpreter program easier than using a regular digital camera. I throw a large black cloth over my bunk bed and achieve a professional looking background that is simple to set up and take down!

We will actually interpret this dentist clip tomorrow in class, then celebrate completing our first discourse analysis! This time we started in ASL and worked our way to English. Our next discourse analysis will start in English then we will work our way to ASL. I'm not quite which direction (ASL to English or English to ASL) is one is more challenging for me at this point; I think it's a matter of the vocabulary used.

I'm so thankful to have now completed all three major homework assignments which are due Monday and Tuesday! :)

TLR = trouble

Right now I'm working on completing my target language retell, the second to last step in an 11 step analysis process that we're doing for one 4 minute video clip. The topic is "your child's first dentist visit" and I am thoroughly tired of everything dentist related! This particular assignment seemed to be easy as all I needed to do was retell the story (that we saw in ASL) in English. I don't need to actually interpret it (yet) and I get to do it at home which means I have as many tries as I need to get it done the way I want it done.

Well, I think I'm on take nine or ten right now and I can't get past the first 30 seconds. I don't know what it is with this one project but I keep messing up. With my speech and debate background I would have assumed I could do this in one shot, not unlike an impromptu speech. But it's not working out that way. At all. Maybe this is my perfectionist side coming out?

I have to have this done by Monday at 10. I'm hoping something clicks and I'm able to retell this story that I have practically memorized by now!

The good news is that I finished Tuesday's main homework assignment earlier today. :)

Introduction

My name is Sarah and I'm a first semester American Sign Language interpreting student. I am enrolled in a two year program at the local community college and am loving every minute of my classes, even when the homework gets up to my eyeballs.

The purpose of this blog is to be a place for reflections and comments on what I am learning in school these next two years, then my experiences as I start my career. Perhaps even an occasional video of my work. I lead a busy life and have several different hobbies and interests but I hope to keep this blog primarily focused on My Journey to a Different World; the Deaf World. I don't promise that my English will be perfect, nor my grammar impeccable as there might be times when I need to write, but cannot take the time and/or effort to edit.

I welcome you to join me on my Journey.