Having difficulty in ASL class
Has anyone else here taken an ASL class before and struggled?
I've never struggled so much in a university class before. I go to my professor's office hours a lot and ask him a lot of clarification, because it's very difficult for me to follow what is going on in class sometimes. The class has been fully taught in ASL since day one, with no spoken English usage whatsoever. I considered taking ASL outside of university just so that it doesn't affect my GPA, but I decided to take a Uni class because it would serve a dual purpose, in both fulfilling my electives requirement and in allowing me to learn the language, with the added bonus of being on campus more, which is convenient because I do so many other things there. The last exam really freaked me out... it was a dialogue with a classmate in ASL in front of a camera. I have no clue how I did on that, and I've been trying to email my prof to no avail. I just want to find out how he's going to mark it. I realized how my short-tern memory difficulties really impacted me on that exam, because we had to read questions of a sheet of paper and we also had to remember which signs our partner used and repeat the same sign. It was very, very nervewracking. I even had a nightmare about this exam last night. I'm beginning to consider dropping the course, despite really enjoying the language, but can't do so without further information as to how I did on the exam.
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Leading a double life and loving it (but exhausted).
Likely ADHD instead of what I've been diagnosed with before.
btbnnyr
Veteran
Joined: 18 May 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,359
Location: Lost Angleles Carmen Santiago
I have never taken an ASL class, but I have no doubt that I would struggle with ASL. There is too way much going on during ASL use for my brain to integrate. Seeing the signs. Interpreting the signs. Hearing and speaking words at the same time. Doing the ackshul signing. My brain doesn't work well that way.
ayra
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 177
Location: My invented world, ie Kalia (kuh-lee-uh) or just stuck in Texas rollercoaster weather
Hmm, do you practice often? I have been taking ASL classes for the past 3 semesters, and I have found that it is easier for me signing to other people than actually talking! I think the reason why is because I have to think of what I'm going to say, translate it into ASL, then sign it. It allows me to feel like I actually make sense when I talk. I never ever feel comfortable talking/asking questions in my "normal" classes, but in ASL class I joke and tease the professor quite a bit. I feel comfortable coming out of my shell in that class. Of course, I am no good at math, and I love languages. I have also found that practicing with one or two other classmates makes it sooo much better, when I started I did have problems, but 2 other classmates invited me to join them and practice with them and that helped me understand them, and others along with improving my signing. My favorite websites that I use to practice are: ASL Pro - Dictionary and ASL Fingerspelling Practice
PM me if you need anything else, including practice, I don't mind helping you.
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I'm not crazy, err, not yet. I'm just on the wrong planet!
My cat is the only one lately to try and distract me from this world.
Yeah, the receptive skills thing is troubling me the most. I actually try to avoid the dictionary because I don't want to encourage myself to translate ASL into English. The fingerspelling practice page I found very helpful. I have been using it for a few months now. That's just fingerspelling, though. With receptive language itself, I feel like I need more practice. No one ever invites me to things to begin with, not sure why other people get so easily invited. I find it strange because I tend to make friends really easily otherwise, but not ever in school. I was thinking of renting some Deaf movies to watch at home, but I'm not sure where. I'll probably phone the local Centre for the Deaf and ask them where I can get some. I hired a tutor to help me outside of class time and I also go to ASL meetup groups sometimes, but I find that is still not enough. Our teacher teaches us to sign in a very particular way and some of the questions on my exam were actually about our university campus (an overwhelming place for me, a place I usually try to escape as quickly as possible, let alone being able to know it well). Perhaps it's not ASL itself but the way the course is structured that just doesn't suit my social and processing capacities. Plus, it is in a room with fluorescent lights, which bother my eyes a lot. I am looking into getting tinted contacts that would make it more bearable and still enable eye contact, as being able to see each others' face fully is required in ASL.
_________________
Leading a double life and loving it (but exhausted).
Likely ADHD instead of what I've been diagnosed with before.
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