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Quoted: You can learn the basics pretty fast. Being able to keep up with two deaf people you saw in the post office is another thing. You would have to use it every day to become really good at it.
One observation I've made. If you are a hearing person in a group of deaf people, you will feel like an outcast. They have their own community.
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I wonder how I could expose myself to that type of environment since I don't have any deaf friends.
Do they have community deaf dances or whatnot that I could attend? (Seriously)
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S_B: First time that I have seen you post in awhile, so welcome back post-whore.
With regard to ASL, I actually studied it for two-years in college. Since I was a psychology major I was able to convince the department to allow me to take ASL to meet my foreign language requirement. From the beginning, my instructor was a deaf woman who did would never speak in class so we were exposed to the actual application right away.
Armalite-Fan is correct that you can get the basics pretty fast. Basic vocabulary and finger-spelling shouldn't be much of a problem. There are ASL dictionaries and textbooks available at Amazon.com. However, once you see two fluent signers in action unless you have serious exposure and practice in ASL parts will be a blur.
For me, one of the toughest areas of ASL was finger-spelling. The concept itself is easy enough, each sign represents one letter and is often a rough representation of that letter. The difficulty comes in practice where the native signer will finger-spell in a blur. Much like reading the written word, fluent signers will recognize words by there shape.
If you are serious about learning try finding some basic information from books and online resources, but then, you will need to take some courses in the language to develop your skills.
Armalite-Fan is also right about the deaf community. I don't think that approaching in a social setting to find a tutor is the best idea. I would look for online groups in your area or look for any groups that may be offered in you community. Check with the post-secondary schools in your area if they have a Speech Pathology department for potential contacts. Finally, if you happen to see an ASL interpreter at an event approach them with your questions. Usually they are happy to talk with people about the topic.
SBG