So you want to learn sign language?
Contrary to public perception, American Sign Language (ASL) is not related to English. ASL, a manual language that relies on movement rather than sound to denote meaning, actually grew out of French Sign Language in the early 1800s. Though deaf people and communities have been communicating in sign languages for a long time, ASL was formally born at the American School for the Deaf in 1817. Like any spoken language, ASL has a unique sentence structure and symbols for different words and ideas. ASL is not like Charades, a simple pantomime of meaning. Many signs are impossible for a non-ASL user to understand, just as a spoken language sounds meaningless to someone who does not speak it. The central features of ASL are hand shape, palm orientation, hand movement, and hand location, in addition to gestural features like facial expression and posture. Emphasis can be added to by changing the facial expression, such as raising your eyebrows or pursing your lips.
This is a wonderful opportunity to learn sign language and be exposed to the wonderful items and novelties associated with sign language at the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center.
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center has had sign language classes for a long time and we now have the time and staffing to do starter sign language classes again in our Santa Ana, California office.
We can do it in a private appointments or semi-private sessions of 3 students in our Santa Ana office. The fees will be $15.00 for each 1-hour semi-private session or $20 for one-to-one private sessions.
Bobby Fleener who has been a longstanding partner to the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center will be the instructor of our starter sign language classes. Occasionally I will be in the office and help Bobby.
For appointments please contact Bobby at [email protected]
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