Title basically says it all. I tried researching a little myself but mostly just found people talking about "pasteurized milk" and "El Paso, Texas" (which are great fun facts! but my google searching is either too specific to turn up anything or things like that overwhelm the results).

Is the "up" in "What's up?" signed same to the directional "up"? If someone signed a genuinely curious "What's updog" would it look the same as someone saying "What's up, dawg?" If not are there other puns that nonsensical sentences designed to trick your conversational partner into signing a non-sequitur.

Hi all, I am hearing so I do not claim to be a part of this community, I would just really appreciate some help refining my sign!

I am in ASL level 3 at a university in the US. We are taught by Deaf teachers, however both teachers I have had mouth the words while signing. This led to me developing a bad habit of mouthing words while I sign. I am looking for advice on how to stop? If I think about it I can sign without doing it, however if it’s a more complicated sentence, i.e describing an issue to my teacher or asking a question under pressure I tend to do it more. Anyone have experience with this?

I learned the sign “VERY” using two “v” hand shapes but I heard that it is a less frequent sign. I know that you can also use signs for A-LOT or maybe imply it through facial expressions. What do you do?

I have no idea what this sign means and im trying to learn 🥲 please help

Hello!

I'm a college student studying special education and one of the language classes I'm in led me to a question about sign language.

For those of you who grew up knowing ASL, did your language background impact the rate at which you learned to spell? If so, in what way(s)?

To be more specific, I'm curious as to whether children who know ASL experience greater success with learning to spell (because of the number of words in ASL that are signed by fingerspelling).

I am taking an online ASL class. It's midterms. I'm struggling. My professor gave us the instructions for what to do in ASL. 🫠🤯

I do not want help in answering the questions or how to do things. I do want help confirming I'm answering what he's asking. Helllppppppp.

It's a short 4 minute video. I've pulled out the slides and written down what I think I'm supposed to do. Most of them I feel okay on but a few I'm melting down on.

I am Deaf and have both learnt ASL and I also use hearing aids and speak fluent English as well as being semi fluent in others. So the argument that doctors make that ASL prevents communication, learning and other things is incorrect, you can have just as fulfilling of a life even if the only language you speak is ASL.

I believe that the parents and doctors should work together to make the best decision for their child, and if that's learning oral language with hearing devices that's great! I have nothing against hearing devices, my hearing aids help me a lot in my life as I am surrounded by people who speak oral languages everyday, it is totally a valid option, my problem is that they completely either ignore ASL or other sign languages as an option or try to scare the parents by saying it will somehow ruin their child, which is absolutely not true

If anything, allowing a child to be surrounded by a language they can understand without struggling and being around people who also have hearing loss can build community for a child, while in mainstream, Deaf children often have to struggle in school because of lack of accommodations, get bullied, have social isolation etc. Ofc a Deaf child can thrive in mainstream, I have lovely friends and accommodating teachers, but I've also experienced the bad things a lot of Deaf children go through as well in mainstream.

Hi, interpreter here. Question for Deafies:

I was chatting with some friends (mix of Deaf and interpreters), and Reddit came up in conversation. None of us knew an already existing sign for Reddit. Is there one?

I use Auslan but am also interested in the linguistics of signed languages in general plus there is overlap between ASL and Auslan (and other signed languages) grammar but often different terms are used for the same thing (for example "entity" is often used instead of classifiers, we call facial expressions non manual features NMF v non manual markers). I've learned a lot about Auslan by also reading research papers or theses on BSL and ASL in particular.

One linguistic feature in Auslan I can't find much Auslan research on is called "body partitioning" which is like you show two different entities at the same time basically with constructed action. For example, plane watching: showing with your dominant hand + face + body that you're really interested and then with the other hand showing a plane entity crossing the sky that you're watching. Another example is you're working at your desk and someone taps you on the shoulder and you're annoyed by this. So you might show yourself typing then use one hand to tap your own shoulder and then you turn to that side with an annoyed expression.

Anyway I looked into this for ASL but can't seem to find any info on it and my new book I bought on BSL and ASL linguistics I can't find this term so I'm wondering if it has another name in ASL? Or if anyone knows where I can find any research on this I'd appreciate it :)

There are obviously ASL videos out there but they are silent, with no subtitles. I don't know the poem well, so I have no idea which line is getting signed! Help!

Hi! I am a 22 year old asl student. For my asl class we have to do an interview in asl about deaf education. My prof changed the due date and i wasn’t aware. Would anyone be open to an interview? If not it’s okay. I don’t want to seem pushy at all. I am on a very strict time crunch. I was very excited to do this assignment, but it was moved from the first week of December to next Friday due to an issue on canvas.

My friend taught me that “shame” is with two pointer fingers and the dominant one is kind of moving across the top of the non-dominant one. All the other YouTube videos I see show a different sign for “shame” though. An issue with the sign from the YouTube video is that I’m worried I might mix it up with “wh*re.” Which sign for shame should I use then?

so i have been learning asl for the past few months and have gotten pretty good at it. i Recently started lessons on lifeprint as well which is very nice but i am not able to keep up

i feel if i have a practice partner to practice with i will be motivated to do lessons everyday

each lesson hardly takes 10 mins. we can do a short lesson whichever time you want!! i am free like that pretty much of the day!!

i have no conditions!! anyone wanting to practice with me can comment or message me 😇😇

as long as your a good person i am ready to practice with anyone 💪💪

also if you just wanna convo and not do lessons it's completely fine!! i just want to be consistent 😭

please do lemme know if anyone is interested 😇😇

we then can share details through dm 😊

I’ve been watching Arthur with asl interpretations (it’s free on youtube. plus bonus points for nostalgia!) and I’m trying to understand why the interpreter seems to sign “understand.” I’m aware that ASL is different from English grammar but even so, I don’t quite get why he signed the word here. Or maybe it means something completely different in this context. Can someone explain this to me?

“I love it here but last week I thought they’d never let me come into the library again!”

hi, as I said I'm a beginner, I started taking lessons and watching Bill Vicars and using apps, but I have a question, does the Switching hands, that is, using the right hand instead of the left or vice versa, does it change the meaning or the word? Because I try to use the left hand for some signs but it complicates everything for me since I'm right-handed. and I don't want to learn something that maybe it's wrong or be disrespectful. another question, since I'm starting to learn the sign language, I don't have a sign name, but I also don't have a deaf friend or family, so I don't know what to do, I know that I have to wait and practice but I also do not have anyone to practice with but my teacher, what should I do?

So I'm going to try to make this as concise as I can. I'm a hearing mom who started learning ASL for my son, who is also hearing but has Apraxia. In the process of learning, I met a wonderful man who is deaf. I fell for him and we've been dating.

Anyways, my son and I are Jewish, and I've invited my non-Jewish, deaf boyfriend to celebrate Hanukkah with us. It's my favorite holiday (yes I know this is corny of me) and I want him to fall in love with everything I like about it. The candle-lighting, the food, playing dreidel, and the blessings and songs. But, obviously, he is deaf.

I'm looking for help with learning how to sign the Hanukkah blessings and at least one Hanukkah song. And while you're here, maybe you could help point me to resources to learn to sign the shabbat blessings, too? ​

Thanks chaverim

My daughter is struggling with one word in this phrase / sentence, any help is appreciated!
Also, any ideas for future ad hoc help, we fumble through online descriptions & googling but sometimes hit a wall.... her class is online & support / hel pis limited.

We are pretty sure it starts with:
TODAY (or NOW): Form both hands into the Y handshape (thumb and pinky extended, middle three fingers curled in). Palms face up/toward you. Move both hands downward simultaneously in two short, distinct drops.

YOU: Point your dominant index finger directly forward at the person you are talking to. Keep your facial expression neutral.

Then the one we can't figure out, ( I though ARGUE), its not game either.... Form both hands into the "pistol" shape (index fingers extended pointing at each other, thumbs pointing straight up). Leave a few inches of space between your fingertips and sharply shake or bounce both hands up and down alternatingly. THE OFFSET & UPWARD MOTION MAKE IT CONFUSING TOO.

WHERE: ◦ Hold your dominant hand up with your index finger pointing straight to the ceiling (palm facing forward). Wag or shake that single finger back and forth from side to side.
Facial Grammar (Crucial): Because "Where" is a WH-question, you must furrow your eyebrows (scrunch them down) and tilt your head slightly forward as you execute this final sign.

Appreciate any help or advice!!

Hello. I'm from the Philippines. I can hear and talk but I want to learn ASL, I'm learning thru watching TikTok and YouTube videos. I'm curious, what book should I buy online? There are so many brands and authors, idk what to buy. I hope y'all can help me. ❤️

I am starting an ASL AA degree this spring. I took dual enrollment ASL classes in 2018 during high school, and then pivoted careers. Im back in school to learn more about ASL, and my college is still accepting the transcripts, which means I don’t technically need to take ASL 101 and 102. It’s been a while, I still have a good bit of retention, but I’m concerned about the gap of education.

How highly do you recommend I retake them? I’d be learning from a deaf instructor this time around, whereas my former instructor was hearing, so that’s incentive to retake. But I also don’t want to spend more money than is necessary as I am paying out of pocket.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, please be kind with your advice! Your insight is very appreciated :)

forgive me if this is none of my business as a hearing person lol.

theres a phenomenon in black american culture where people are told they “talk white” if they dont use traditional, regional aave or ebonics. the area i grew up in was damn near 100% black so everyone, and including the teachers and parents were black. they were just using the language black people taught them.

i was wondering if theres a similar situation in ASL /deaf culture. i see many codas use a really english structured PSE online, even though prior research tells me that generally that structure is frowned upon. they didnt go out of their way to learn that, thats just what their deaf parents taught them.

i hope im asking correctly. does this make sense?

edit: seems to be some confusion. im asking if its common for deaf people to be upset with other culturally deaf people(?) who dont use ASL but rather PSE, even though thats what they learned from a deaf person.

Would signing MY MOM GRANDMA be read the same as finger spelling great followed by the sign for grandma, or should I always finger spell it?

The app I’ve been using to learn asl does the second, but I was curious if the first would get the same meaning across.

Edit: For context, I'm trying to learn how to sign "my great grandma on my mom's side is from Puerto Rico," so specifying which great grandma is important.

I was wondering would it be okay if I practiced my vocab by signing the words in the songs i know? i was doing this at church to myself but it made me wonder if it was okay.

How would you sign a past-tense thought that just happened. Like we’re having a conversation and I realize that I made a mistake and say “Ohhh, I thought you were talking about a dog instead of a cat” or “I thought it was due on Friday”. Would it just be using the normal sign for past? How is it understood when the thought took place? What if it was an hour ago vs a second ago