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ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes) ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)

ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)    

ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)

ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)
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ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes) ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes) ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)  ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)


ASL 101:  Lesson 2
ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes) ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes) ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes) ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)


Lesson 2 Checklist:
I am able to recognize and use the "yes/no" non-manual marker
I am able to recognize and use the "wh" non-manual marker
I am able to recognize and produce each letter of the fingerspelled alphabet
I am able to use Indexing to sign personal pronouns
I am able to name several (3 or more) methods of Pluralization 
I am able to show  Possession and I know the sign for "have."
I can show who did what to whom by using Directionality
I am able to recognize and use head-nod for affirmation
I am able to recognize and use head-shake for negation
I am able to recognize and sign numbers 6-10
I am able to recognize and use the "agent" affix
I understand the basics of asking for clarification of a sign
I am able to recognize and sign the vocabulary for this lesson
I am able to recognize and sign the practice sentences and story for this lesson
I have taken the Lesson 2 Quiz
I am done with Lesson 2

Vocabulary: 

GIRL-[woman, lady]
BOY-[male, man]
BROTHER
-[boy, male, man, same, right]
CHILD-[short, children]
DAD-[parents] [grandpa]
DIVORCE
HEY
HOW
HOW-MANY-[MANY]
LIVE-[life, address]
MARRIAGE-[husband, wife, marry, married, spouse]
MOM [grandma]
SINGLE-[alone, something, someone, JUST, ONLY, SOMETHING]
SISTER [girl, female]
SLOW
SPELL-[fingerspell]
WORK
Possession: [have, own, her, his, its, mine, my, our, their, your, yours]

Practice Sheet: 2.A
1. "YOUR NAME B-O-B?"
(Is your name Bob?)

2. "YOU MARRIED?"
(Are you married?)

3. "HOW-MANY BROTHER YOU?"
(How many brothers do you have?)

4."YOUR BROTHER/SISTER SINGLE?"
(Is your brother / sister single?)

5. "SPELL YOUR DAD NAME SLOW."
(Spell your dad's name slowly.)

6. "YOUR DAD DEAF?"
(Is your dad deaf?)

7. "WHERE YOU WORK?"
(Where do you work?)

8. "WHERE YOU LIVE?"
(Where do you live?)

9. "THIS HIS?" [point at any object]
(Is this his?)

10. "HOW YOU SIGN "W-E"?" [spell "we"]
(How do you sign "we?")

Practice Sheet: 2.B

1. "'HEY,' NAME YOU?"
(What is your name?)

2. "YOU DIVORCED?"
(Are you divorced?)

3. "CHILDREN YOU?"
(Do you have children?)

4. "HOW-MANY SISTER YOU?"
(How many sisters do you have?)

5. "YOUR MOM NAME 'HUH'?"
(What is your mom's name.)

6. "You-MEET MY BROTHER?"
(Have you met met my brother?)

7. "WHERE YOU LIVE?"
(Where do you live?)

8. "WHERE YOU WORK?"
(Where do you work?)

9. "THIS YOUR?" [point at any object]
(Is this yours?)

10. "HOW YOU SIGN T-H-E-Y?"
(How do you sign "they?")

STORY 2.A

HELLO
I B-I-L-L V-I-C-A-R-S [first and last name].
DEAF I
WIFE B-E-L-I-N-D-A, SHE DEAF
FOUR CHILDREN
[Left hand hold up a "four" handshape, palm back, arm held at a comfortable angle, keep it there. Sweep the tip of the right index finger along the tips of the first three fingers of the left hand. ]
HEARING
[Touch the tip of the pinkie finger of the left "four" hand with the pad of the right index finger of the right "one" hand.]
DEAF [nod, and touch the pinkie finger again, then,]
TWO BOY
[Touch the tip of the index finger of the left "four" hand with the pad of the right index finger of the right "one" hand, then touch the tip of the ring finger of the left hand.]
GIRL, [Touch the tip of the middle finger and then the pinkie]
[Touch the tip of the index finger of the left "four" hand with the pad of the right index finger of the right "one" hand.]
L-O-G-A-N (normally you'd indicate the age here, but we'll learn that in a later lesson)
[Touch the tip of the left, middle finger.]
K-E-L-S-E-Y
[Touch the tip of the ring finger.]
B-E-N
[Touch the tip of the pinkie finger.]
S-A-R-A-H

Story 2.B

HELLO
I KELSEY VICARS
HEARING I
MOTHER FATHER DEAF
FATHER NAME BILL
MOTHER BELINDA
HAVE TWO BROTHER ONE SISTER 
[Hold up your left hand in a "four" handshape, palm facing back, arm held at a comfortable angle, keep it there.]
[Touch the tip of the index finger of the left "four" hand with the pad of the right index finger of the right "one" hand.]
BROTHER, L-O-G-A-N, HEARING, MARRIED, 2 CHILDREN 
[Touch the tip of the middle finger of the left "four" hand with the pad of the right index finger of the right "one" hand.]
ME, SINGLE
[Touch the tip of the ring finger of the left "four" hand with the pad of the right index finger of the right "one" hand.]
BROTHER, FRED, DIVORCED, ZERO CHILDREN
[Touch the tip of the pinkie finger of the left "four" hand with the pad of the right index finger of the right "one" hand.]
SISTER, S-A-R-A-H, DEAF, SINGLE



Disscussion

Head nodding, head shaking, and no "be-verbs"

Discussion:  When signing a sentence in ASL you don't use "state of being verbs," (is, am, was, were, are, be, being, been...).  For example:  "I am happy" would be signed, "I HAPPY" while nodding my head and smiling.  If I wanted to sign "I'm not happy," I'd sign "I HAPPY" while shaking my head negatively and frowning a bit or pursing my lips. 

To affirm that a thing or state exists in ASL you nod your head.
When negating the existence of a state or thing in ASL you shake your head.

While ASL doesn't use signs for "be verbs" there "are" signs for "be verbs," but in ASL these signs are used only in situations where you are talking about English. For example, a teacher in an English class at a deaf school might use signs for "is, am, was, were, be, being, been..." to teach about the English language.  But the rule is ASL doesn't use "be verbs."  Most ASL instructors will tell you ASL doesn't use "be verbs"--and they are right in that the grammar of ASL doesn't establish a "subject"+ "be- verb"+ "adjective" type of sentence.  Instead ASL uses a "subject" + "predicate" type of structure. ("Predicate" is just a fancy word for "say something about.") You might call that a "topic" + "comment" sentence structure.  Some people say that ASL doesn't use a "SVO" or "Subject-Verb-Object" sentence structure.  Hogwash. ASL does indeed make use of SVO sentence types. For example:  "I GO STORE" uses a "subject-verb-object" structure.  

Don't let the gloss fool you, ("gloss" is what you call it when you write one language in another.) Just because I didn't type the words "am" and "to" doesn't mean that the function of "am" and "to" aren't being taken care of.  The function of these words is to indicate "affirmation or existence."  The function of "AM" is replaced by a slight nod of the head; and "to" is incorporated in the movement and direction of the sign for GO.  The sign "GO" actually means, "go to."  There is much more to ASL than can be easily reduced to paper.

Let's get really clear on this--if someone asks you, "Does ASL have 'be' verbs?" you should answer "no." If I ask you on a quiz in this curriculum, "Does ASL have 'be' verbs?" you should answer "no."   


Lesson 2:



ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes) ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)

ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)    

ASL American Sign Language (42 bytes)

© Lifeprint Institute

 
Optional Reading:
Other questions (not part of the quiz):
What is gloss?  A way to write another language.
What is a predicate? A statement about a topic.

Another variation on Story 2:

STORY 2

HELLO
I J-a-c-k S-a-l-e-s-s-e-s.
Hearing I
FAMILY ALL HEARING
FATHER NAME John
MOTHER Barbara
HAVE One BROTHER, M-I-K-E (insert real name if you want)
I MARRY, S-a-n-d-y,
One CHILD, V-A-L


Hi Bill: I am really enjoying your online sign language course. I have a question. How would you sign a story about a family and show them having 6 children, 2 boys and 4 girls the oldest a boy, the next a girl then a boy the rest girls. What I am getting at is how can you sign 6 children do you use two hands to show this? I know in lesson 2 you used one hand to show 4 children (yours) please explain. Thank you. Wendy Feldman


Wendy,

You would still just use one hand. On children 1 through 5 you tapped or touched the tip of the thumb, then the tip of the index finger, then the tip of the middle, then the tip of the ring, then the tip of the pinkie. When you got to the sixth child you would change the left hand into a "six." As you know, the "six" handshape brings the thumb and pinkie tips together. For the sixth child you would use the right index fingertip to touch or tap the combined tips of the left thumb and pinkie to indicate that you are referencing a sixth child.

This is not a hard and fast system. But that is one way to approach it.

Bill