Genius’s of sign language

Hi i’m Ashley, i currently go to Cathedral High school and i’m in grade 12 and are preparing to become a veterinarian for a future career. I enjoy working with animals and when I go to school, for a vet i want to become a wildlife vet. I am a third year Ranger and if you don’t know it is the highest level for youth in girl guides. I love to be outside and really enjoy playing baseball, soccer, swimming and i love to Rollerblade. I recently started working at Food Basics and met a very nice gentlemen that is deaf and he inspired me to learn sign language. I am now planning to learn sign language over the next couples months till i can have a conversation with someone who can not speak but they can sign.

I decided that i wanted to learn how to sign because I’ve met many deaf people who sign and I would like to have a conversation with them when they come in line at work. I also wanted to learn sign language because i want to learn a second language. Lastly i wanted to learn to sign because when i was younger i didn’t start talking till i was four so it would have been cool to learn how to sign to others because i couldn’t talk.

One goal that i would like to work towards is being able to have a conversation with someone that is deaf and to be able to understand others tha speak sign language. My plan to reach my goal is to learn sign language from others, books from the library and i plan to learn by pages online and apps on my phone.

This week i learn that learning sign language isn’t the easiest language to learn or easy at all. After trying to learn sign language for two weeks, i have learned the alphabet and some of the numbers. I am working on some simple words which i have notice take longer to learn then the alphabet, but i have learn how to finger-spell.

This week i have worked on a sign language app, i have learned a few words which some i have remember and some i have not. So far i have learned this week is mother, father, friends, and sign. I have made some attempt at the five w’s but can’t remember all so well.

This week i have still worked on the five W’s and still i can not remember them. I plan to continue to try to remember them as i continue to work on sign language over the summer and continue to write about it. I have learned five new words over the last week which are my, you, your, I, and time. I plan to continue working on new words and to try using sign language into sentences in the near future as I am speaking. Once i learn how to talk and sign at the same time, I plan to sign and slowly stop speaking while i am having a conversation with others who understand sign language. To continue on with learning sign language I am looking into summer program at Mohawk college to learn more sign language.