Listen & Learn Blog

Feeling a little lazy with your language learning? Can’t be bothered to brush up on the local lingo for your summer holiday? Help is at hand.

This phrasebook t-shirt could be the solution to all your problems! No need for that pesky phrasebook or trying to make yourself understood through complicated hand signals. Just point at your chest, and the easy-to-understand, international airport style graphics will tell the locals what you need right now.

Sadly the t-shirt is no longer for sale, so you’ll just have to struggle through. Would you buy one if it was for sale?

(Source: Gizmodo)

American Sign Language (ASL) has been given a boost from an unlikely source – the International Space Station.

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson delivered the space station’s first address to the deaf community – a six-minute video for deaf children. The video aims to give children a glimpse of what life is like as an astronaut, with Caldwell Dyson also discussing what inspired her to learn sign language.

“Long time ago, when I was a young university student, I met a girl who’s deaf; she’s same as me, a sprinter on the track team,” Caldwell Dyson said in ASL, according to a NASA translation. “So she taught me how to sign.”

In a separate interview, she also said:

“Ultimately, this isn’t really about me learning or knowing ASL,” Caldwell Dyson said. “This story should be an avenue for deaf students from children in kindergarten to college undergraduates to doctoral candidates to see themselves belonging to this amazing thing called NASA and participating in scientific research and space exploration.”  (Source: MSNBC)

To watch Caldwell Dyson’s video from space, click here.

Here’s a rare story of a big corporation doing good for their customers: Disney are now offering sign language interpreters at their Californian parks on a regular basis.

Previously customers had to call in advance if they required this service at Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure Park, but now interpreters will be available on-site, with no calls needed.

Every Monday and Saturday as many as eight interpreters will be available at Disneyland. At California Adventure, the interpreters will be available every Sunday and Friday.

The sign language interpreters will be on hand to interpret the stories told in such attractions as Jungle Cruise, Jedi Training Academy, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Celebrate: A Street Party, Billy Hill & The Hillbillies, Turtle Talk with Crush, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” and eventually at ”Aladdin — A Musical Spectacular.” (Source: LA Times)

This seems to be a step in the right direction – the next step being offering interpreters on a daily basis. Over to you Disney.

There is debate in colleges across America about the status of American Sign Language, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.

Whilst some view it is a foreign language, and thus available for college credit, others argue that an indigenous language cannot by definition be ‘foreign’. ASL has origins in Old French Sign Language, and was developed at the American School for the Deaf in Connecticut. Because of its origins, it is noticeably different to sign languages of other English-speaking countries such as Britain, where British Sign Language is used. According to a study by the Modern Language Association it is the fourth most studied language at colleges other than English.

Some educators argue that as it doesn’t have the written or cultural components of a language like Spanish or French, ASL cannot be considered for credit.  However:

Timothy Reagan, an education professor at Central Connecticut State University, said American Sign Language has a rich tradition of poetry, history and culture that shouldn’t be dismissed.

“One of the worst things you can do to a human being is to say, ‘Your language doesn’t count,’” he said.

For potential ASL students across the nation, as well as language commentators, this debate is sure to be watched closely.