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[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~

[commandertoolbelt]

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

[sunnyspot]

I've never seen it in person, but it's pretty fascinating to watch, so I can see why you'd want to do it.

Are you a singer? Even though I'm hard of hearing, I've started listening to music through my hearing aids more often than I used to, so I can see the appeal. That, and totally deaf people can feel the vibrations of music and enjoy that in addition to the signing, so you'd have an audience for sure.

[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.

[sunnyspot]

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

[espansivo]

i am!!! and that's really cool, the vibrations thing, you're like bats
except you don't scream to see
wanna feel me play sometime? i'm gonna hold a little thing this month to stretch my chords and it's be cool to see what you think of it

[livens]

i can pay you in cupcakes!!!!

[compendiem]

Finger spelling is only one hand too, right? Double useful for multitasking.

[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]

It is, at least in ASL, which makes things easy. And some of the signs look like the letters, too. You can probably guess C, L, and O without looking them up.

[sunnyspot]

It's not like deaf people can feel vibrations any better than anyone else, but I'll take it.

And sure, I'd love to go. I used to love singing, so I still have an interest in watching people perform and things like that. To be honest with you, though, I'm going to be able to hear it more than feel it, unless you let me put my hand on a speaker. Sorry to disappoint you.

[sunnyspot]

I won't say no to that.

[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.

[compendiem]

All I need is a T, D, or K and I'd have a full word. Cool.
Do the C's and L's face me or the person I'm signing to?

[sunnyspot]

I'm pretty sure you won't be needing to sign "clot" to anyone, but you never know.

They face the person you're signing to. It's standard to fingerspell with your right hand, but some left-handed people use their left instead.

[compendiem]

I could be having a heart attack or stroke, unable to speak through the pain. "Clot" would get the point across.

Alright. Was hoping to use my left, but I can do my right too.

[espansivo]

that's fine, i don't have a speaker for you to put a hand on anyway
can you still sing now? would you like to try? what's your fave genre?

[commandertoolbelt]

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