Signing in ASL... or trilingual woes...

It's been a while that I'm brewing this project: having a little "vlog" of my own, aka video blog.

In this blog, I've been mentioning that I'm learning ASL. At a slow pace, it's true. If life wasn't so busy, I'd spend more time learning.

Anyhow, I feel that I'm ready. I am at the point which... instead of watching others signing in ASL, it's *MY* turn to sign in ASL.

I have a vocabulary of ... about a 4-year old. But enough vocabulary to sign short sentences.

So I was thinking of a welcome message to my blog... in ASL.

My plan was to sign AND speak at the same time, in English. This would avoid having to do some post-productions (like adding closed captioning). I already have some editing softwares that would do that, if necessary.

By trial and error, I found out that the digicam I already have, in its "movie" setting give very decent results. It would quickly fill out the memory card, on the other hand for small projects like this one, it isn't a problem. The supposedly hi-res Logitech webcam was the worst. Oh well..

So I tried a rehearsal tonight... Yikes.

Well, I could sign... or I could speak in English or course, but I couldn't sign AND speak at the same time.

People who are interested in the way our mind works, this is interesting. Yeah I know, for everyone else, that's boring stuff.

It's a struggle for me to think in words. I think in images. So I have some affinities with a visual language, such as Sign Language.

I could think directly in ASL and French, my mother tongue... but English? I have to think in French and then translate in English.

So it means that at one time, I was juggling with THREE languages.

ASL: HELLO! NICE MEET-YOU. ME NAME J-A-C-Q-U-E-S. ME HEARING. I LEARN-LEARN A-S-L. CAN SIGN A LITTLE. WELCOME B-L-O-G MINE.

French: Bonjour, heureux de vous voir! Mon nom est Jacques. J'entends et j'étudie présentment l'ASL. Bienvenue à mon blogue!

English: Hello! Nice to meet you! My name is Jacques. I'm hearing and I'm learning ASL. I can sign a little. Welcome to my blog!

So going in my mind 3 languages at the same time. After a few words, I was overwhelmed!

Hehehe...

When I'll figure how to add closed captioning, I'll shoot a silent version with me just signing and upload it here.

If you see a guy in kilt doing weird things with his hands, now you know. :)

Cheers,

-E