Auslan Is Fun

I think I mentioned before that K and I had signed up for an Auslan course.  Well last week was our first lesson and, to say I drove home feeling more than a little over whelmed would be a total understatement !  I wondered how I would manage to remember anything she had signed.

That night we had an interpreter which was great - he was fantastic (I know, it's his job, he should be good at it) but it was amazing to watch the interaction between the two of them as they were signing and he was telling us what Diana was signing.  It was quite a technical night in terms of explaining how signing came about, Diana's story (she was born deaf, her parent's are both deaf and her siblings are all deaf but none of her grandparents were deaf), sentence structure (or lack of) and where we can go online for help during the week if we need it / get stuck.  And then he told us that he was only there for one night and there was a massive "What ?" from everyone.  "How are we going to manage ?" - and he just laughed and said we would be fine.

Well, last night was the second lesson, and the first lesson with no interpreter, and it was amazing.  It was so much fun and there was so much laughing - not at people because they got things wrong - but because of what the sign actually meant when they made the wrong sign !!!  We had been shown 'light' and then a little later she asked us what we thought 'photocopier' was - we all had some funny action with a camera and a light - but no, it was paper with the light underneath it.  Later on during the class we were going over all the words written on the white board and she got to 'photocopier' except, we couldn't quite remember it, and if you have the light the wrong way i.e. facing up instead of down, that's the sign for 'fart'.  There were huge shrieks of laughter as she told us what some of us had been signing.

On our way home I said to K that we are definitely going to have to put aside time every day to practise because, like any language, you can't expect to be proficient in it if you don't practise.

I am joining in with Rhianna over at The Parenting Life for Thankful Thursday because I am very thankful that I have this opportunity to learn another language which may open doors for a future career move for me (apparently interpreters are highly sought after and there is a very limited supply to meet the need).

Have the best Thursday !

What are you thankful for today ?

TFTD : When people undermine your dreams, predict your doom or criticise you, remember, they're telling you their story, not yours.