This week for my learning project I decided to work on the basics of a conversation. These everyday words we use are arguably the most crucial to learn to start a new language, as they will be used very frequently! The start of a conversation leads to connections and can be the very beginning of a new friendship, new acquaintance, and new learning experience!
Think of a trip uptown to run errands, how many of the same words do we use in the conversations we have. Not only is this a key to communication, but it is also seen as having proper manners by those around us. In order to have proper manners in ASL I also needed to learn these words. When I thought of a generic conversation I would have it went something like this:
“Hello! How are you?”
“I’m good thank you, how are you?”
“I’m good thank you. What is your name?”
“I’m _____, what is your name?”
“Nice to meet you! I’m _____”
“Nice to meet you too! Have a good day!”
“Have a good day!”
I turned to TikTok to learn this conversation, and found the TikTok page of BrittanyAnne. Brittany is 24 years old and is part of the deaf community. She uses her TikTok platform to teach about ASL, and I found this video which met the requirements for learning this conversation.
This conversation took a few days of practice, but I now feel confident in my ability for express these phrases! While I may get nervous having a full conversation out in the “real world” I feel like I am off to great start!
For simplicity I will be playing both parts within the skit of this conversation! And will be using the names of myself and my daughter Gracyn!
I love watching your skills progress!