The Beginning

I suppose it's time to focus.

I'm going to try to learn ASL, with the intention of being proficient enough to start interpreter school in September. So, about nine months away.

I technically meet the interpreting school's entrance requirements already. However, I don't really feel confident at all. So I'm embarking on a learning journey.

In addition to the studying I do here, I'm going to be attending a weekly 3-hour-long in-person ASL class. Perhaps this blog-within-a-blog-within-a-blog will also house notes from that class.

My Current Language Level

I used to have a bigger vocabulary, but it has since deteriorated. I used to have better signing skills, but they have since deteriorated. I used to have better reception skills, but that too has deteriorated.

I'm forced to rely on fingerspelling. I misuse some ASL signs due to the habits I've picked up in LPSL. And my reception is very, very poor, in nearly every aspect. My fingerspelling reception is also bad.

So the situation is not looking good right now and there is genuine cause for me to be urgent about regaining skills and progressing on my own.

Past, Present, Future

• I first started learning basic ASL from YouTube videos in 2017.
• I enrolled in my first classes in 2021 with the community ASL school. They were all virtual.
  • Spring 2021: ASL 101 (Teacher: CD)
  • Fall 2021: ASL 102 (Teacher: AC)
  • Winter 2022: ASL 103 (Teacher: MW)
  • Spring 2022: ASL 201 (Teacher: AM)
• Around 2021, I learned LPSL and started to teach it to the Toki Pona community.
• 2022-Present, I sought out Deaf people/events probably not more than a dozen times
• 2022-Present, I continue to sign in LPSL on a highly regular basis.
• Presently studying the language more seriously
• Winter 2026, I plan to take ASL 2
• Spring 2026, I plan to take ASL 3
• Summer 2026, I plan to participate in a week-long ASL immersion camp
• Fall 2026, I will potentially enter into the interpreting program
• Winter 2029, I will potentially graduate from the interpreting program

Areas to Focus On

• Vocabulary Building
• Reception Practice
• Courage to go to Deaf events
• Courage to practice in the ASL Discord

I'm going to reserve goal-setting for future reflection sessions. For now, I think I'm going to sit back and just see how I approach learning and integrating this blog into my learning. Most likely, this will take the form of me logging exactly what sources I watch, and exactly what I take from each source. I will set a modest time goal of 10 hours for next week to spend on ASL specifically. We'll see how that goes, and set goals a week from now!