The Interview
During your sign language journey, chances are good that you will meet a member of the Deaf community. You will need to be prepared to answer a few questions. It is natural and considered a part of the culture for a member of the Deaf community to ask you several questions. The reason for these many questions is to establish a connection back to the Deaf community.
In early history, when there were people who could not read or write, they were told to sign their name with an X. To this day, we continue to sign our names on the X. The next time you form the sign for “name,” lower your hands and look at it from above. Your hands will be in the form of an X.
Next is an interview exercise in which you will sign both the questions and the answers. You will be using signs you just learned from Chapter 5, “my/mine” and “your” in the interview. Now, in order to do this successfully, you need to add a few more signs to your growing vocabulary list.
INTERVIEW: Use both “I” hands at each corner of your mouth, and alternately move back and forth from your lips.
NAME: Cross and tap the “H” hands twice.
I, ME: Use your index finger and point to the center of your chest.
LIVE/ADDRESS: Use both “A” hands, palms facing your body, starting at the lower chest and moving upward. Variation: Use both “L” hands, palms facing the body, starting at the lower chest and moving upward.
HOUSE: Touch the fingertips of the “flat” hands, palms facing and forming a peak, imitating the roof of a house.
CITY, TOWN, COMMUNITY: Touch the fingertips of the “flat” hands, palms facing and forming a “peak,” tap, and slightly twist several times, imitating multiple roofs. Variation: Touch the fingertips of the “flat” hands, palms facing and forming a “peak,” tap and separate two or three times while moving the house/buildings to the side.
WORK: Use both “S” hands, palms facing down, tap your right wrist on the back of your left fist a few times.
LEARN: Place all the fingertips of your right hand into your left palm. Next pull up your right hand with a modified “O” and place it on your forehead. Note: The action of the sign suggests putting knowledge into the mind.
DEAF: Use your index finger and touch your cheek near the ear, and then near the corner of your mouth.
MEET: Hold your right and left index fingers upward, palms facing, then bring the hands together until they meet.
NICE: Use right and left “flat” hands, slide the palm of your right hand forward across the left upturned palm, imitating cleaning a counter.
To sign “nice to meet you,” combine “nice” and “meet” only. There is no need to sign “you,” this information is provided by the directionality of the sign “meet.”
The signs for “excuse” and “nice” closely resemble each other and are often confused. “Excuse” is signed with a “curved” hand. “Nice” is signed with a “flat” hand and is also used to sign the word “clean.”
What is a name sign?
A name sign is used to identify a person and is usually given by a member of the Deaf community. These name signs are often descriptive of that person, and can be visually creative. Once a name sign is given, it eliminates the need of fingerspelling a person's name repeatedly.
Practice an Interview
Looking at the following chart of interview questions, you will notice that the questions are written in English order and then the questions are written in approximate ASL sign order. The answers are presented in a simple ASL sign order. At first, this sign order will sound strange to your auditory ear. You must keep in mind that sign language is a visual language. Therefore, how it sounds grammatically is not relative to the way it is received through the eyes. The sign order, as written, is perfectly acceptable. Remember:
When signing the wh-words, your eyebrows are down and furrowed.
When answering yes, use a nod.
When answering no, shake your head.
Adapting to ASL sign order, facial expressions, and nonmanual behaviors are skills that develop slowly with practice and experience. At this point, your primary focus is learning to form the signs accurately, while gradually learning how to apply these additional elements. In order to do this, you will need to practice signing these questions and responses the way they have been written in the chart.
What is your name? |
Name your? |
Name my (fingerspell name) |
What city do you live in? |
City where live? |
Live/address (fingerspell town) |
Where do you work? |
Work where? |
Work (fingerspell workplace) |
What is your e-mail address? |
E-mail (sign a question mark) |
E-mail (fingerspell address) |
Where are you learning ASL? |
ASL learn where? |
ASL learn (fingerspell college) |
Are you deaf? |
Deaf (sign a question mark) |
Yes/No |
Nice to meet you. |
Nice meet. |
Nice-meet-you. |
You have just learned how to sign everyday questions and responses! Remember, don't let the ASL order and sound of these sentences concern you. Signing “name my” without the word “is” is perfectly acceptable.
If you answer that you have a deaf family member or friend, be prepared to provide information regarding the school she attended and the year of her graduation. Deaf people consider school as their home. Since most students lived at schools, fellow students are an extension of their family.
It is important to begin to develop a comfort level. As mentioned earlier, a member of the Deaf community may ask many questions to establish a connection. In doing so, you may be asked these additional questions:
Do you have a deaf family member?
Why are you learning sign language?
Who is your teacher?
Regardless of whether you ever have the experience of meeting a member of the Deaf community, you will still need these everyday question signs.
