American Sign Language and the Ukulele

IamNoMan

IamNoMan

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As I write this I am in the early enthuiasm stage of my UU experience. Read and respond to lots of threads, you know the routine. Anyway I notice a lot of use of ASL, (American Sign Language), in pictures, graphics and videos. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me why a music making site would appeal to hearing impaired folk. ASL jokes I understand. Not this though. I'm just a Appalachian Mountain boy. I may be behind the times. Might be a West Coast thing or Hawaiian? Youth? Ukulele thing?
Would you'all clue me in please?
 
IamNoMan said:
Thats one of then yes. In ASL it means telephone.
Click to expand...
LOL
In Hong Kong it means telephone as well.:shaka::cheers:
However, I still use this hand sign with respect to Aloha spirit, when greeting in ukulele events.
 
My daughter is currently earning a degree in ASL though she is not hearing impaired. She is fascinated by their culture. I haven't asked her yet but we talk about ASL and the culture often. I would think that songs are like poems or have a story to tell. Why wouldn't you want to "listen". If you by chance get to feel the song on the stereo you'll know what it's talking about and those vibs will mean so much more than just a feeling on the outside. I've thought of asking her to sign some of my originals but haven't done so yet.
 
Hearing impaired doesn't equal deaf. And all people can feel musical vibrations.
 
A nephew that speaks ASL was on a tour of Vietnam and visited a deaf orphanage. He was delighted to learn that he could speak to the residents there. I never thought of ASL as being a full language but it is.
 
@ bonesigh:
Tell your daughter to learn some jokes from the hearing impaired community. They are great jokesters and there is nothing like a good joke to start a Signing Gig with.
 
ASL is NOT a complete language when compared to Signing Exact English. A relative has been deaf since birth yet plays the piano for the feeling rather than the hearing. How was Beethoven able to compose his music with a hearing loss?
 
TheCraftedCow said:
ASL is NOT a complete language when compared to Signing Exact English.
Click to expand...

I guess we could quibble on the definition of 'complete language', but I disagree with that statement. ASL doesn't include all parts of the English language; articles, exact pronouns, etc, but that doesn't mean it is not a complete language. The Inuit have like 50 words for snow, but I wouldn't use that as an argument that English is somehow lacking. ASL relies on more emotive signing to communicate than SEE. In some educational or legal settings, SEE is preferred by many HoH or Deaf folks, but not all of them. The Deaf community is fiercely proud of their culture and language and have always had to fight the perception that their methods of communication were in some way inferior.
 
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