<< In a message dated 4/12/2012 10:50:06 P.M. Pacific Daylight
Time, jennitry92@live.co.uk writes:
Hi, my name is Jennifer and I am hearing. I've always been really
interested in learning in other languages and I'm interested in
learning ASL. Your site is the one that pops up the most when I
search for signs online. I really like it and it's been helpful so
far. I really would enjoy the opportunity to sign with someone who
is deaf or hard of hearing because it's generally the best way to
actually learn a language. I'm so used to English that it is hard
for me to leave out filler words and get the grammar right. I was
thinking about it today and I was wondering how to sign "How was
your day?" After reading through someone your practise questions to
get a feel for the grammar, the 'translation' I came up with was
'YOU DAY, HOW?', signing it by pointing to the person, signing DAY
and then signing HOW and attempting to use proper facial expressions
(which is hard for me, partially because I tend to smile at the most
inconvenient times). I was just wondering if there was a better way
to sign that sentence.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my e-mail and I'd be
grateful for your opinion.
Jenn>>
Jenn,
The phrase "How was your day?" is more of a Hearing World
phrase than a Deaf phrase.
Usually in English there is an unspoken aspect of the phrase "How
was your day?" For example:
The word "work" as in: "How was your day at work?"
The word "school" as in "How was your day at school?"
Or some other word such as "beach" as in "How was your day
at the
beach?"
In such situations in ASL you instead ask something to the effect
of:
1. WORK PROCESS GOOD? (Did work go well?)
2. SCHOOL ALRIGHT? (Was school alright for you? Where
there any problems?)
3. YOU ENJOY BEACH
YOU? (Did you enjoy going to the beach?)
Cordially,
-- Dr. Bill
You can learn American Sign Language (ASL) online at American Sign Language University ™
ASL resources by Lifeprint.com © Dr. William Vicars
