Posting #3: Chapters 14 and 15 plus review of the Quiz on Chapters 1-15

Ch.14:

                This chapter on fingerspelling really helped me. I have been feeling the same way that Roger Mindel described in his letter. I feel that I am slow at fingerspelling but I know that it will also take lots of practice. I agree with the authors when they said that, “It’s important to know how to form your letter correctly and clearly…” (pg.105). I knew my alphabet coming in to ASL, and I thought that the quicker you were at it the better you were. I was proven wrong the first day of class. I realized that a left handed person had taught me when I was right handed so I ended up having to learn to switch over to my dominate hand. I also had been trying to work on my speed and I hadn’t been forming the letters correctly. I am so glad we ended up going over the correct way to fingerspell in class.

                 I found the paragraph on practicing your fingerspelling during “captive time” very ironic. They suggested that “You can use any duration of ‘captive time’ (such as a bus or taxi ride, solo waiting, watching a boring TV program or a string of commercials, a visit to the Laundromat, or finding yourself at the tail end of a long checkout line) to run through the alphabet a few times” (pg.106).   I had learned the alphabet from a friend when I was in middle school while on a bus ride to a field trip.

                I also had never heard of doing exercises to strengthen your fingers. I didn’t know that you could check out physical-therapy books or could improve by “using a spring-tension gizmo specifically made for strengthening the hands” (pg.106). That idea had never occurred to me.

                In the very last part of the chapter I read that, “As always, the best advice is to get real-life practice- with others. If you have any friends who are native or veteran ASL users, and who are patient, go for it” (pg. 107). I have found this to be very true. I have learned this by attending the Deaf Culture Events. Not only is it real-life practice but I find that I am always learning new signs just from our casual conversations.

Ch.15:

The opening sentences of this chapter really hit home for me. It says, “We believe that all children should learn how to fingerspell, at the very least while they’re preschoolers or in first grade” (pg. 109). One of the many reasons that I wanted to learn ASL was to teach my own kids someday later on. I use to babysit two kids who were taught some signs when they were toddlers. I always found that super helpful as a babysitter because it was a way for them to clearly communicate with me even before they could really talk.

I found all the different reasons why fingerspelling is helpful very interesting. Such as using it underwater! That really could save your life. Also being able to use it when you’re supposed to be silent like “at a play, movie, assembly, or religious ceremony where whispering isn’t convenient” (pg.110).This is true for quite the opposite circumstance as well like loud concerts. There are more ways to apply fingerspelling than just in a classroom.  What I learned from this chapter was just how applicable fingerspelling can really be.

Ch. 1-15 Quiz

I ended up missing two questions on the quiz. I missed number 6 on if various writing systems besides textbooks were used in ASL and I said false because I wasn’t thinking about all the books written on ASL I was thinking of just like an ASL dictionary. I also missed number 10 asking if the ILY sign had been widespread since WWII and I said yes because I knew it had been around for quite some time but I should have remembered that President Jimmy Carter used it and that is when it began to grow in popularity. Overall I think that I comprehend the reading and I have found that I enjoy reading the book.