Hello everybody!
This is Chris Gorges from ASL Basics.
Last week I posted a video of myself and my family going to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, and
we walked around and we showed you how to sign 17 different zoo animals, like, elephant,
giraffe, lion, cheetah.
And I thought it was a lot of fun and while we were there, we actually came across somebody
that worked there that knows sign language.
So since we were already there on location, we decided to do a quick impromptu interview
with Courtney Hall.
And this is what today’s video’s going to be about.
If you have happened to miss out on the previous video where I show you how to sign 17 different
zoo animals, you can get to it right now by clicking the card in the corner.
So let’s go ahead and take a look at that interview, but please stick around until after
it’s finished, because afterwards I’m gonna tell you three of my takeaways from
that interview, that are really helpful for those that are just beginning to learn sign
language or those that maybe are struggling with learning sign language right now.
So let’s go ahead and check it out.
Hello everybody, my name is Chris Gorges, I’m with ASL Basics and we’re taking a
trip to the Chaffee Fresno Zoo and I’ve met Courtney Hall who works here and she also
knows a little bit of sign language.
So I figured we’d introduce her and ask her a few questions about learning sign language.
So Courtney, how are you doing?
I’m doing good.
How are you?
Good.
So how long have you been working here at the zoo?
I’ve been working here now for almost 4 years now.
Wow, that’s great!
And you mentioned you have learned some sign language too, uh?
Yes, yeah.
So, can you tell me about the process of learning sign language?
So I discovered a few years ago that, um, especially working here at the zoo, I noticed
that there are a lot of people that speak a lot different kind of languages like um,
Spanish or Hmong, or things like that, but I noticed that there wasn’t a lot of people
that knew sign language.
And I figured since I’m working my way up to be a zookeeper, that would be really cool
to be able to have at least one or two zookeepers that work here that also do know sign language.
Not only for the deaf or hard of hearing community, but also for like the autistic, like non-verbal
and everything kind of community as well.
Um, I figured that’s not a language that a lot of people know, so it would also, kind
of, you know, put me ahead of the pack as well.
That’s great.
So have you found yourself using sign language so far?
I do sometimes, yeah.
I do use it a lot with um, I noticed especially during the school semesters there are a lot
of school groups that come in, and it’s a classroom of deaf children, or like I said,
autistic children that are non-verbal too.
And I’ll use it occasionally, and a lot of times their very happy that I know even
just a little bit of sign language, that I can, like, even just have a small conversation
or tell them where to go.
Yeah, absolutely.
That’s cool!
Since you work here at the zoo, do you have any favorite, uh, animal signs?
I have a couple, yeah.
I do like tiger.
Not only are tigers one of my favorite animal, its just kind of a cool thing to do.
And also I like lion.
Very cool, yeah.
Probably one of my favorites would be elephant, for the trunk of the elephant.
Yeah, that one’s cool!
Hippo I think is kind of a cool one, for this, big tusks.
[laughter] Um, so have you found it, learning the language
challenging sometimes?
Occasionally, especially since we live in such a world where its so necessary to constantly
be speaking, and especially in the job that I have, where I’m constantly talking to
people all the time.
Um, it is a little bit difficult to try to learn it and kind of switch back and forth
sometimes, um, between you know, signing and speaking.
Especially if I’m just talking to somebody that I just signed with and then turning back
around and having to speak, it’s a little bit confusing.
Also, sometimes I’ve noticed that it’s a little bit hard because there aren’t a
lot of direct signs.
So there aren’t a lot of things that go directly into sign language, so it’s a little
hard trying to learn the new syntax and everything like that with ASL.
That’s a little challenging.
Yeah, I found that to be true too.
Especially when you’re just beginning to learn the language.
Of course, as you’re learning the language, you come across challenging moments, maybe
you’re feeling discouraged.
Have you felt that in the past, and if so, like what have you done to get past that?
A little bit, um, I found that I know quite a few people, even just here that know a little
bit, and I’ve just known that like, I’m feeling a little bit discouraged, I’ll just
go practice with somebody that I know that I feel comfortable signing with, and then
they can tell me like, “Oh, your signing it wrong” or “Hey, you’re actually signing
pretty well today” or something like that.
Because I know it’s a little bit challenging, especially because you get so nervous trying
to sign with somebody, and so it’s really, I’ve found it’s a good thing to help,
it helps a little bit to just kind of practice with somebody you’re comfortable with.
Yeah, that’s something that I defiantly have found is, just using
the
language that, even if you don’t know
a whole lot, just forcing yourself, coming forward and using what
you know, really
kind of makes, uh, progress
a little bit easier.
It
helps a
little bit.