- [Translator] What's up?
- What's up?
Let me try to do it if I can do it very well.
What's up?
(cool music)
- My name is Vanessa.
- Hi, I'm Talbott.
- How do you spell that?
- T-A-L-B-O-T-T
- Interesting name.
I'm Nicky.
- [Translator] I'm Nicky.
- How old are you?
- You sure you wanna ask me that?
(laughs)
Old enough to be your mom.
- [Translator] Old enough to be your mother.
Have you met a deaf person before?
Have you ever seen a deaf person before?
- Yes, at school.
There's a kid who's deaf
and it's not a bad thing,
it's just a way of life.
- [Translator] So school is the only
place you've seen a deaf person?
- Yeah,
I don't really know if there are
deaf on the street,
because I don't really meet them
and they just go by so fast.
- [Translator] So if you meet another deaf person,
would you wanna try to communicate with them?
- Yes.
What's the best way to get your attention?
- [Translator] If I'm not looking at you,
if I'm looking over here,
and you wanna get my attention,
either of you could just tap me on the shoulder,
I mean don't slap me really hard,
but just a nice little tap
and then I'd love to look at you.
- Were you born deaf?
- [Translator] No, I actually lost my hearing
when I was five.
- What happened?
- [Translator] Well,
I believe that this just runs in the family.
- Can you hear something,
or are you completely deaf?
- [Translator] I can hear some things
with my cochlear implant,
cochlear implant, you know what that is?
- It's an implant in your brain
or in your ear that helps you hear more often.
- [Translator] Would you like to see one?
- Sure!
- [Translator] Let me make sure the wire's out of the way,
can you sort of see that up on top?
- Oh yeah, yeah.
It's very interesting.
- What's the hardest part about being deaf?
- [Translator] The hardest part is not being able to hear
in a large group,
where there's people all around talking
and I can't hear those conversations
and I feel left out.
- Do you listen to music sometimes?
- [Translator] Yes I do.
I can plug cochlear implant right into
my iPad or my phone
and I can put it as loud as I want.
- Yeah, so nobody else can
boss you around saying that's too loud.
- [Translator] That's right!
- Who is your favorite music artist?
- [Translator] I do like Whitney Houston
I like Beyonce.
- I really like Tom Jones.
- [Translator] Really?
- When my mom asked me
if I want to go to a concert
and I said yes,
she said it will be you and a bunch of old ladies.
(laughs)
But I'm still enthusiastic to go.
(singing)
Oh It's Not Unusual,
yeah I really like that one too,
it's really good.
(singing)
It's not unusual to have fun with anyone, yeah.
- [Translator] When I was growing up,
I was a singer
and now that I'm deaf,
I can't really sing very well anymore.
I can sing in the shower though.
- Shower singing is the best type of singing,
in my opinion.
Can you teach me something in sign language?
- [Translator] Sure, what would you like to know?
- How to say hi, how are you?
- [Translator] That's easy.
Hello!
- Are there any swear words in sign language or like--
- [Translator] Are you allowed to swear?
- No, I mean, are there?
- [Translator] Yes, yes
we do have words that we can curse with.
I'm not gonna be the first person
to teach you those signs.
- Are there any misconceptions about
deaf people?
- [Translator] The older generations
actually think that
we're deaf but that makes us dumb.
- That's an awful stereotype.
- [Translator] I know, I know.
- What is something that hearing people
could do to help deaf people?
- [Translator] Well it's really important,
one thing that helps with communication is
freedom to always have eye contact
and be patient.
- [Translator] Nice to meet
you two.
Nice to meet you also.
- Yay! - Yay!