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My name is Jasman Nagra and I am currently in the Concurrent Education Program at Brock University. My teachables are biology and chemistry. I don't think I have ever written a blog before so this is pretty new to me, but it seems interesting and fun so I am excited to see where this blog will go!


The topic I have chosen for my Genius Project is to learn sign language. I remember trying (where I would try for a day and give up) to learn it in elementary and middle school. I was interested in learning sign language when I was younger  because I remember that in the agenda's that we were given, there would be a page dedicated to showing the alphabet in sign language. I always thought it would be cool to learn it, but it was difficult as some of the signs looked the same. My interest was peaked again when I watched A Quiet Place and The Silence. It would be a very useful skill to know in case we have aliens that are sensitive to sound or some brave scientists goes and explores an unknown cave and ends up releasing some killer species that are sensitive to sound (knock on wood that this never happens).

It would also be useful as I currently work in customer service, so if a customer communicates through sign language, it would be cool to communicate with them in sign language rather than with pen and paper. I remember seeing a video from a YouTube couple, Sign Duo, where the man (who is deaf) tries ordering food at a fast food drive thru and they threw away his food because they didn't believe that he was deaf and was "faking it". I understand that they didn't know what the man was signing as they didn't know sign language but it was still sad to see what he has to go through and face just to order food. Another inspiration was from the Drag Queens known as Deafies in Drag, their videos are hilarious and shed some light to some of the struggles that affect the deaf community.

My goals for the project are to know the sign language alphabet, and to be able to communicate through sign language in some way (For example; communicate a song in sign language). The way I am thinking to measure my progress is to first understand what sign language is and how to use it properly. One of the most important parts is to find strategies on how to learn sign language effectively (as what I have tried before clearly was not working). After I find a strategy that works for me I will try my best to actually learn sign language. I want to try showcasing my skill in learning sign language by maybe communicating a song through sign language. It might end up being me signing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but that to me would still be an accomplishment.

I guess the question I would be asking is: How do you learn to communicate in sign language? It always looks natural and effortless, but I have a feeling this is going to be very hard. Especially since I already like to express myself with my hands. 

<--- How I look when I am speaking. I love to express myself with my hands that at this point I hardly notice it :)



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Comments

  1. Joy KirrFebruary 12, 2021 at 4:05 AM

    You asked - How do you learn? I learned sign language because I wanted to work with Deaf people in some fashion. I first learned it from video tapes at my local library (there are probably videos online now that you could use). I then took a community college course over the summer when I was still in high school. This helped me learn more about Deaf culture (and ASL instead of Signed English). Because my teacher was Deaf, she taught us a TON about respect for the language word order, and she also taught us how to interact with Deaf people without putting them down in any way. (I'm not sure about what she'd say about the flailing arms I see above.) I then took one more class at the community college (while still in HS), and then lived on a floor in college (Northern Illinois University) with Deaf students. THAT was the best learning I could have. I started my career in Deaf Education (seven years). I hope you stick with it this time, and practice, practice, practice. It's the only way to get better.

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    1. Jasman NagraFebruary 12, 2021 at 1:59 PM

      The flailing arms above was an exaggerated representation of how I like to use my hands to express myself when I am speaking, I definitely did not mean to disrespect the deaf community (or imply this is how they look like when they are signing). I have found that Bill Vicars is AMAZING at teaching sign language, I love his repetition in his videos! I am still working on learning the sentence structure, but I'm sure with time I will finally get the flow of it. Thank you for sharing your experiences in learning sign language, and it is honestly amazing that you now have a career in Deaf education! Thank you for all the tips! I will continue to practice and this time for sure I will stick to learning this to the end :)

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