weekly update

This week I did not watch anything in Chinese from Monday morning after my last post to Friday. I could not get well rested and I was busy with moving files and setting up email on my new domain host.

I skipped sign language circle on Tuesday, but I did go to sign language class on Wednesday. I also met a deaf Japanese person on Tuesday night. It was the first time meeting him. He is actually learning English and has plans to go to Sweden in about 2 years. We met for almost 3 hours. He will be helping me with Japanese sign language and I will try to help him with English. I'm not sure how much help I can be. I will try to encourage him to do lots of reading. Friday night I went to a meeting of deaf people. There were also several people from the sign language circle, so I benefited from some interpretation.

Today I watched about 2 hours of The Last Emperor. I didn't really enjoy it so I didn't continue it.

The other thing I did today besides reviewing some signs, was to take some old Kanji Kentei tests. I am (still/again) studying for level 8. I took 3 tests from a test collection book which comprises of about 12 previous tests. I have more test collection books. The next KanKen test is in June so I have plenty of time to study them all.

Japanese finger-spelling

I produced and published my first Japanese Sign Language video today. I go through the Japanese syllabary. Basically just going in アイウエオ order, but I transposed the タ and ナ rows. I didn't do it on purpose, but that actually makes a nice transition going from ト to ハ because the same fingers are used but held in a different direction.

Next, but not today, I'm going to produce a series of finger-spelling videos for reading practice. Every week at the JSL Circle, we start off with practice reading 10 words spelled out. Following that format, I'm going to make each video have ten words. Reading sign language is like listening in spoken languages. It takes practice.

So if you too are working on your Japanese Sign Language skills, you ought to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I've searched YouTube several times and have never found a good series of JSL to practice reading finger-spelling.

I made my video with a digital camera, not a movie camera. I then edited it with iMovie. I was surprised to find that I cannot add text to the movie except for a title which was not very formattable. I couldn't move the placement of the text in the title to where I wanted it. Because I could not just throw text on the movie in places that I wanted to, and I could not have more than one title per clip, I did not add kana for each sign. The good things about iMovie are that it made the movie widescreen automatically by selecting the correct project type and iMovie also has transition effects. I haven't used any other movie editing software so I can't compare it with anything else.

If you watch the video on YouTube, it looks better in high resolution, so be sure to click the link for that right away.

手話入門３

Today, the third and final class in the introduction to JSL (Japanese Sign Language) took place. I was present and accounted for.

The first thing we did was to review the finger-spelling signs. Then the deaf members introduced themselves. And then one of them lectured for a while. After that, we played some games. The first was Bingo. A learner would act out one of the words and then we could circle it on our Bingo card. Our cards were blank and we had to fill in the words ourselves. So everybody had the same words but in different places. I put all the Katakana words at the bottom and I almost got Bingo.

The next game played was with writing in the air. About 10 people were lined up and starting from the back passed on the message by writing the word in the air. That game was done twice and I was in the second group. I got to be the last in the line and luckily it was easier than the word the first group did. They had めがね (glasses) and we had くるま (car).

The final game was similar using charades instead of writing in the air. The last two groups lined up and passed the message on one by one. Then there was time for one more round, so all the men were selected for it. This time I was second to last. The person before me didn't know it was "skydiving" so I only understood "parachuting" from him. So that's the message I passed on.

That about sums up what we did today. We didn't learn any new signs or practice any sign language. So all together from the whole course (all 3 classes), we learned greetings, how to tell your name (self introduction), and finger-spelling the syllables and the numbers.

The Beginners' course or Elementary course starts next week. It will go until next March. I guess I will join it although I'll be doing all my learning outside of the class. The class is going to proceed too slowly. But I haven't established a person to learn from yet, so I still need to make some contacts. I can attend next week, but the following two weeks I can't because of work.

In other JSL news, I bought a DVD book yesterday from the bookstore. It is supposed to cover the Basic JSL signs. It was only 1500 yen + tax (1575 total).

手話入門２

This week we had the 2nd class in the introductory JSL course. We reviewed the previous signs we had learned and then got a lesson in pantomiming. Basically, it's OK to act out what you are trying to convey because the deaf person will be able to understand which is better than giving up and leaving them in silence. So we had some deaf people and JSL Circle members doing some charades and then the students also got a chance. At first some volunteered, but then later volunteers were drafted. I ended up having to do "rabbit." After that, we all learned the Japanese syllabary in finger-spelling followed by numbers. It hurts holding your hands in those shapes. Here is a picture from the actual class in a blog post.

今週、日本手話入門コース第二回目のクラスが行われました。以前習った手話を復習し、身振りのレッスンを貰いました。基本的には、身振りはオーケーです。なぜかというと、聾者は身振りから意味が分かれるので無言より身振りが良いですね。聾者と手話サークルのメンバーが身振りの例をあげてくれまして、生徒も身振りをやる機会がありました。最初に数少ないがボランティアしましたが後はボランティアが選ばれました。私が「うさぎ」の身振りをさせました。その後、皆さんが文字指と数字を教わりました。手でその形を長い時間でやると痛くなります。このブログ記事に実のクラスからの写真が見えます。

手話入門

Today was the first of three classes in Japanese Sign Language. First we heard from the deaf people. They cannot talk but the volunteers translated. We heard about the difficulties they face. Then we learned to sign Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening, Nice to meet you, Thank you, and Please. Then in smaller groups we learned to introduce ourselves. My name is... Nice to meet you. Next week they will teach the hand signs and What is your name?

今日は日本手話入門コースの三回の一回目です。先ず、ろう者を聞きました。ろう者は話せないけどボランティアが通訳してくれました。ろう者の辛いを了解させて貰いました。そして、次の手話を習いました。おはよう、こんにちは、こんばんわ、はじめまして、よろしく、おねがいします、ありがとう。そして、グループに分けて白己紹介を習いました。私は何何です。よろしくおねがいします。来週は指文字や「あなたの名前は何ですか」を習います。

手話

Today I attended, for the first time, a meeting of the 手話 (shuwa) Circle. 手話 is Japanese sign language. Everybody practiced by doing 紙芝居 (kami shibai). That is where a story is told by a person holding big picture cards and the story is read on the back. There were 2 deaf people (聴覚障害者) there who gave feedback at the end of the performance. 紙 means paper and 芝居 means performance.

Next week, an introductory (入門) 3-lesson course will begin and I have signed up for it. After the meeting, I went to the 図書館 (library) and checked out a book on 手話. From the handbook, I have learned 挨拶 (greeting). Morning + 挨拶 (aisatsu) = Good Morning. Day Time + 挨拶 = Good Day. Night + 挨拶 = Good Evening. Sleep + 挨拶 = Good Night.

今日、初めて手話サークルの会に見学しました。日本手話は英語で「Japanese sign language」と言います。皆さんが紙芝居で練習しました。紙芝居は大きい紙を持ちながら、裏面から物語を読んで います。聴覚障害者二人が居て、芝居が終わった後にフィードバックを上げました。

来週、三回の入門コースが始まり、私がもう登録しました。会の後、図書館に行って、手話ハンドブックを貸し出ししました。その本から挨拶を教わりました。朝＋挨拶＝おはよう。昼＋挨拶＝こんにちは。夜＋挨拶＝こんばんわ。寝る＋挨拶＝おやすみ。