Learning ASL

I began taking an ASL course over Zoom through the Sign Language Center in November, and completed the course over six weeks. I had expected to merely be taught ASL, but was surprised at the amount of culture that is behind the Deaf community as well.

In my classes, I learned basic vocabulary needed to communicate, such as pronouns, directions, colors, etc. I also learned the basic grammatical structure of ASL, which differs from spoken English. For example, ASL does not use words such as 'is' or 'are' when it is implied in the sentence. For example, one would not say "Jane is a girl," but one would instead say "Jane girl."

I learned about the Deaf community and Deaf culture, which I barely knew existed before taking my classes. I learned that words such as hearing 'impaired' are considered offensive to much of the Deaf community. I learned about Gallaudet University, which is the only university in which all programs are designed for Deaf and hard of hearing people. I learned about the community that has been built around Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and the many inequities they continue to face today.