The phrase “… it was decided that we took four days…” is grammatically incorrect. Do you know why?
In Spanish, el pezón—a masculine noun—is the woman’s nipple, and la tetilla—a feminine noun—is the man’s nipple. #gender #español
1. It takes patience and creativity to sign with people who know little sign language.
I have a new respect for Deaf people who take the time to sign with ASL students. Having more respect for Deaf people and more creativity in how I express myself is making me a better Deaf community member.
2. I’ve been doing it wrong.
Well, maybe not wrong, but there are things I never knew, such as that Y is considered a down letter; that is, Y is made by tilting the palm downward. I’m sure this is not a hard and fast rule; in fact, I can see even on the Signing Naturally DVD the language models do not always sign Y that way. Still, I never knew it ever tilted down at all. Now I see it in the way I and other signers spell the lexicalized #style and #yes. I also never knew that the sign WHEN meant what day, not what time. Again, I’m sure this is not a hard and fast rule, but I never knew it was a rule at all. Those are just two examples of several. Learning how to refine my signing is making me a better interpreter.
3. Now I see what my students have learned.
Since many of the interpreting students and working interpreters I teach have learned ASL with the Signing Naturally curriculum, I have a better idea of what they were taught. Knowing what my students have learned is making me a better interpreter trainer.
As an interpreter, I go to many places where people call typographical symbols by the wrong names. It irks me, but I can’t say anything about it while I’m interpreting, so please hear me now as I correct some common errors.
- This is an at sign, a.k.a. at symbol or simply at when spoken in an email address. It is not an ampersand.
- This is an ampersand.
- This is a slash. It is not a backslash.
- This is a backslash.
- This is an asterisk. If you don’t pronounce the s before the k, you risk offending Rick.
This is Rick. Unfortunately for him, there is no asterick.