Text

[sunnyspot]

I'm Kouhei Sugihara, and I'm a tutor and student at Recollé U. I mostly offer tutoring for basic subjects, but lately, a few of my friends have been asking me to teach them sign language. I don't use it much in my daily life, but since I've had hearing problems since I was young, I'm fluent in Japanese sign language and pretty comfortable with American sign language. I don't mind teaching it, since it's something I know a lot about, and everyone keeps telling me that other people might be interested too. So...

Just in case, if I offered sign language tutoring, would anyone be interested? I don't really have a way to get the word out aside from Retrospec, and I'd feel more comfortable offering it to a smaller number of people first. I've been thinking of going for my ASL teaching certification anyway, so... If you want to learn anything, whether it's fingerspelling (letters) or basic signs or something else, I can help you.

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this or something. Thanks.

Comments

[compendiem]

How much per lesson?

[sunnyspot]

I'm employed by the university for my other tutoring, which is free for students, so I was assuming I'd just do the same thing. They wouldn't be formal lessons, so there's no reason to charge.

[compendiem]

There is, but I will take advantage of free lessons. The finger spelling ones.

[sunnyspot]

It's something I've never had anyone take interest in before, so just getting to teach someone is enough for me.

Fingerspelling is the most beneficial thing to learn, too. If you memorize those 26 signs, you can say anything with only your hands, even if it takes a while.

[espansivo]

oh, that sounds fun~. can people who don't go to uni join up?

[sunnyspot]

Yeah, of course. Anyone on Retrospec, though I wouldn't say no if someone wanted to bring along a friend not on the app or something.

[espansivo]

then count me in ♪
it might be useful to learn it so i can sing that way too. i've seen some videos with interpreters in them and i really like the look of it, so if there's a way i can connect to people who are hard of hearing or can't at all then that'd be cool

[livens]

i like to learn new things and move my hands!!! so count me in~

[sunnyspot]

Really? That's a good enough reason as any. Even if you only want to learn a few things, I think it might be fun.

[livens]

i can pay you in cupcakes!!!!

[commandertoolbelt]

sounds cool!
does it matter if i'm still in high school?

[sunnyspot]

No, of course not. The offer's open to everyone, so I'd be happy to teach you.

[commandertoolbelt]

cool! count me in then
i’m pretty good with languages anyway
won’t hurt to add one more, right?

[floret]

Oh! That sounds really interesting! ... Which is to say, um, I'm interested. Would they be group sessions, or one on one?

This is probably going to sound stupid, but it didn't even occur to me until now that there would be a Japanese sign language, even though obviously there would be...
What is it like? I mean, does it sort of follow the spoken/written language, or is it totally its own thing?

[sunnyspot]

I was thinking one on one, but group sessions would work fine too, if you'd prefer that. I guess it depends on how many people are interested.

Don't worry, though. It's not something many people think about, but yeah, there are hundreds of different sign languages. I can only speak for the two I know, but the grammar and everything is completely different from a spoken language.

Even aside from that, facial expressions and mouthing sounds while signing are just as important as the signing itself. It's really interesting.

[floret]

Is it ever strange, to mouth it while signing?
I mean, it's sort of like having subtitles of one language under audio of another. They can convey more or less the same meaning, but it's almost never a one-to-one correlation. And the thing that's actually being expressed was originally in only one of the languages. So... when you sign and mouth something at the same time, which one is the original, and which is the translation?
Or
Am I overthinking it? Or is it just not like that?

[courageofheart]

Id like to learn!! It would be nice to kno it for my deff customers and coworkers. And I told myself Id try to learn something this year!

[sunnyspot]

That's kind of you. Sure, I'd be happy to teach you the basics.

[courageofheart]

I work at the farmers market so I definitly should learn the basics for selling produce!

When and where should we meet?

[sketchythief]

if its okay id like to try learning too! a little at a time is fine if youre busy :D

[sunnyspot]

I'm the one offering, so I don't mind at all. Would you want to learn on your own, or with a small group? Either is fine with me.

[sketchythief]

probably on my own... im not good at studying so i might have to go at my own pace

[littlestbaskerville]

That's so neat! You can really speak sign language?

[sunnyspot]

[What a young girl.... Retrospec is really involving such young kids?]

Yes, I can. Have you ever seen anyone use it before?

[littlestbaskerville]

In a video once never in person!