ASL Learning Log

More, still more. Later, flowers for the bees, until they think that warm days shall never cease, for summer has o'er brimm'd their clammy cells.

I think I was avoiding doing this. Unsure, actually. It's hard to muster up a lot of gumption when I've classified this period of time as a 'holiday' in my head. I might have to take off to a fast food establishment tomorrow so that I can focus.

Went through a bunch of reels just... looking at them. Still not at the point where I can dissect unsubtitled content in here, but I do feel less anxious looking at it then I did when I started. I accidentally read the fingerspelling for Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. And that was kinda shocking.

First Video

My Online Client, Marc by Rob O'Mahoney

Notes

• transcript: my on+line [] #marc look-like ix-image-on-screen approach-me request help-him change ix-poss body, change ix-poss life #style. i say i can lead ix #as long he put commitment, keep++, hard work in, [] together [shows different photos from different weeks] see how work hard team keep link together.
• I can't find other attestation for the sign that is translated as 'commitment'. It looks just like cookie. I think it's an SEE sign. In other videos, Rob does sign very SEE. Well... good to know!

Second Video

I cannot believe what I've read by Sandro Hatibovic

This one was hilarious!

Notes

• transcript: omg i read++ ix-on-cl-book #LAW say person allow enter(inflected) your house without your permission or clueless-you. ix what-do take+++ food finish drink good. one fine-fine give. leave! who?? santa. wow(mouthed).
• clueless is done with the dominant hand while the nondominant hand points out at you, as if to mock you.
• so this is a piece that is heavily exaggerated for comedic effect. The finish was pretty inflected, and the sign for 'person' was maybe an international one?

Third Video

What was it like after the divorce? by Irina Burke

Notes

• I've never seen WITH inflected like that before. Wow. That's powerful.
• 'move-on' is an interesting one. I crossreferenced with handspeak, and it's not there. But it's the MOVE handshape signed a little like KEEP.
• heart-shattered... aaa
• in 'what could i possibly say to my children', i believe she's signing 'say children how', with a very inflected how.
• 'true-biz finish work?' is translated to 'is it really over?'
• spent a minute trying to figure out the gloss for what is translated to 'how will i cope with this alone?' What's going on here, I think (insert large caveat here) she does '#COPE manage/control alone' with A hands instead of X hands. Which makes sense. They're pretty close.

Vocab

• End
• Challenging
• Endure
• Move-on
• Single

Reflecting on Reviewing

Part of learning all of this really disparate vocabulary is that I have no larger organizing framework to put in, hence the risk of me not remembering some words increases. It's also true that I have an easier time producing signs that I learn in Vicars lectures (harder time with reception), but an easier time receiving signs that I learn in FB reels (harder time with production). I do think the FB Reels signs do tend to be a little harder in general though...

Perhaps I should take some time to organize the existing signs that I've learned so far into a TP-style framework.

akesi

Snake

alasa

Research, Experiment

ante

Conflicts

esun

Cost, Corporation, Change-out, Deserve, Bet

ike

Human Trafficking, Kidnap

ilo

Telescope, Printer, Lock, Metro, Binder, Backpack, Balloon, Belt, Degree, Gas-empty, Gas-full

jan

Pirate, Leprechaun, Human

ken

Chance, License

kili

Potato, Strawberry, Melon, Corn, Garlic, Lettuce, Cherry

ko

Smoothie, Jelly

kon

Tornado, Inspiration

lili

Blah-blah-blah

luka

Fingerprints

lukin

Attention, Narrowed-Attention, Visually-take-it-all-in

ma

Mexico, Australia, Europe, England, Boston, Ireland-International, Ireland-Iowa

mani

Welfare, Medicare

moku

Mashed-Potato

mun

Space, Galaxy

mute

Tablespoon, Pound, Cup-(Measurement)

namako

Vinegar

nasa

Mischevious, Alcohol

nasin

Tradition, Repulican, Planner, Prepare, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Leadership, Government

pakala

Trauma, Darn-it, Fake, Jammed, Lose-Fail, Dimwit

pan

Pie

pana

Spread,

pilin

Anxiety, Empathy, Concerned-about

pona

Kindness, Lucky, Official, Value

sama

Identical

sijelo

In-person

sona

Shared-Understanding

soweli

Donkey, Bacon, Sheep

suli

In-your-face, Boringly-prolong

taso

Flat

tawa

Twirl, Travel-Whirlwind, Transfer-(public-transport), Skating, Figure Skating, Ballet

telo

Sweat,

tenpo

Three-days-ago, St Patrick's day, Honeymoon

toki

Telepathy, Poetry, Exaggerate, Dwell-on

tomo

Bar

utala

Rebel, Resist

wile

Willing, Goal

I actually really like this. This is going to be really helpful for me.

New Systems?

I'm going to need to find a more robust system to keep all my vocab in order, and it's looking like a spreadsheet of some kind is likely going to be the best way to do so.

In a completely dreamlike spreadsheet, it would be automated pretty naturally from the entries I have here. It would have the date that I learned it, the source that I learned it from, a screenshot of the general sign, the toki pona word it can be most associated with, and a place for additional notes. And it has to be sustainable, something that I can keep up with not much additional work.

Yesterday I already spent some time making a script that goes and yoinks all of the vocab from all of the lists with a level 4 heading called 'Vocab.'

It's likely possible that I can write something that goes through and zoinks all the vocab and the vids they are associated with and shoves it in a spreadsheet??? But then I'm offshoring the enterprise. HMM.

HMMM.

HMMMMMMMM.

Potentially, we're now talking about-- HMMM.

You might be like, Chelsea, stop thinking about this and just learn the language already. But you have to understand- I have lost so so many signs that I've learned in the past. I really do feel that if I put some extra investment into creating a better system now, I will be generally more able to retain things throughout these next couple of years of my life.

Okay. I think I have the beginnings of a plan.

Brainstorm

Currently Eleventy treats vocab as an object with both a word and a date (the date being in the format of YYYY-MM) that is associated with a particular post. It generates this automatically based on the presence of a heading level 4 titled 'Vocab'.

It then uses this within Eleventy Collections to generate this index...

I could instead have it write directly to file...

I could also have it scan for notes for glosses that match the assigned gloss.

And then I could add any tp classes I want later, to the raw files. I could then photo capture every sign into one large folder and match by gloss name... HMMM.

But how do I get it to not do duplicate work? I only want it to do this kind of processing like... once. I also want it to be able to take in just straight up words, in case I learn stuff in the wild that isn't associated with a particular material.

A New System!

So I didn't change anything about the way I have my Eleventy set up. I did use Claude to make a python script that will extract vocab from a markdown file I give it along with various associated metadata and send it to a Google Sheet.

I then manually went back and screencapped the vocab and things. Obviously, the screencaps are not CC-BY.

So I can run the script and it will update my sheet, as I want to. Doing this whole thing was good review. I actually culled a few vocabulary items that were likely just misreadings, and fixed a broken link.

This is a very good and robust set up to start out with. In the future, this will help me to make an Anki deck, or something resemmbling an Anki deck.

Here's what I have to remember to do in the future:

To execute save to Google Sheets:

cd /home/lakuse/VSCodium/asl-sheet-vocab
source venv/bin/activate
python add_vocab.py post-X.md

To exit virtual machine:

deactivate

I also have to remember to NOT leave the table sorted by anything else by the default. I unfortunately didn't work in some kind of indexing system so if I want to preserve the order of signs in each vocab list, I have to maintain the order they are loaded in.

But while I am mid study session, I can totally go ahead and sort the table to accommodate different needs- alphabetical, by tp word, etc.

The downside is that I require the internet to access this sheet, which is why the Eleventy system needs to stay here as back-up.

Alrighty. More of this now!

I honestly need to start putting some stuff on Anki. It's just a bit daunting to start thinking of a workflow that will do this in the way that will be best for me.

First Lecture

026 ASL American Sign Language Vocabulary Expansion Series Dr Bill & Rach

Notes

• Jam, in context, can simply be indicated by signing 'spread'
• Jelly is an SEE word
• full schedule busy+++ = 'jam packed schedule'
• Jammed used for something like a printer is jammed. as in "paper jam"
• Gas empty has an initialized version used in low context
• Three days ago is the same handshape for reception, unclawed and flicked back
• Exaggerate and boringly-prolong are NMMed diffrentiated.
• Printer is the same as MB Strawberry!
• Medicare, fingerspell but there's also a peel-off-stickers version that's older
• Willing w/ mouth open = Confess/Admit

Vocab

• Spread
• Jelly
• Jammed
• Gas-full
• Gas-empty
• Three-days-ago
• Blah-blah-blah
• Exaggerate
• Boringly-prolong
• Printer
• Visually-take-it-all-in
• In-your-face
• Dwell-on
• Narrowed-Attention
• SSRI/Welfare
• Medicare
• Willing

First Video

Deaf children in BC need our help!

Notes

• transcript: deaf children in #bc canada need our help.. recently government [](its translated as 'the govenment there') built-up #cfr resources for asl english two languages for deaf hard-of-hearing children ix-poss family. but recently(more recently) [](looks like pulled, taken up), resource cfr closed. need back. need label #petition ix-below #link ix-below for inform government #bc need back(inflected) resources+++
• recently vs more recenty contrasted by ee nmm.
• label being used as transitive 'sign' as in sign a document
• the sign for 'resources' here is likely regional... couldn't find it on handspeak

Vocab

• Government

Second Video

Here's a story time. Can you believe it??! by Ashlene Etkie

Notes

• transcript: i really embarrass. i story time for you-sweep. same you-sweep know i tend bring my dog to my #workout gym. so ix-here apt have gym ix-loc1 and ix-loc 2 small room tend bring dog in when do my [upper body]. doing++ when when do go-ahead do my [shoulder] #circuit obviously #as-day not do with twenty pounds. go replace/instead-of 5 pounds. ix-the-door #was locked. cl-try-the-door can't enter. my dog, my phone, my water, my everything inside. honest [side-eye]. lucky i have people [] me. ix-they-sweep try call. one of ix-they know how lock open ix-door lock ix-door. not think do in ix-here room similar-to any more. real honest #[] real#ly embarassing.
• 'same' used as an adverb, calque from english 'as'
• 8 for story, since it's a quick one
• tend was signed really quickly, no drop.
• think she fs'd workout. not sure.
• room signed out to in, i'm used to seeing in to out
• this variation for locked has two Ss. different from the V variation that i am used to.
• i have people around me looks like ix just around self.
• 'how' and 'lock' got elided i think.

Vocab

• Pound
• Lock
• Change-out

It's christmas day and I'm at family's and bored. So let's watch some FB Reels.

First Video

There are many different holiday traditions around the world by Marjorie Charles Sonnenstrahl

Notes

• leaning PSE here
• traditions initialized

Vocab

• Tradition

Second Video

Metro in CDMX is cheap! by Marcelino Sanders

Notes

• impress, is it an A-palm facing out against a flat hand (like YT), the unit moved backwards?
• ix-own card metro you can go any+where in mexico city region for what_rhet five dollars [] flat #rate. mean what_rhet you can go far include transfers same cost five dollars, nothing increased, same flat, near far no-matter. compare japan and thailand nearby lessened cost far-away go-far increased(using bigger handshape) cost depend where you go. cost you when leave exit. happen here mexico [] cost you when enter five dollars flat #rate wow-cool, meaning save money not [] (like tossing money out there) can go any where!
• COST used as a transitive verb for 'to charge someone'
• bigger-increase shown with the sign down with B hands instead of Us.
• interesting way that far was deployed twice to emphasize that something was far, and that someone was going far.

Vocab

• Metro
• Mexico
• Transfer (public transport)
• Flat
• Cost

Third Video

Today I awaken planners are back in stock, just in time for the year 2026! by Today I Awaken

Notes

• transcript: now+day i wake-up plan official #back in #stock. ready start thinking-deeply new year? feel itchy waiting rolling-up-sleeves [] (its translated as 'tackle') your goal? want [] (looks like win) start holiday shopping and [](translated as 'ditch') big #corp you want prefer [] shop smaller deaf woman #bipoc own business? come, now+day i wake-up store now open again ready for year 2026. inform-you-all, less (mouthed 'limited') time, less( mouthed 'limited') things (mouthed 'supply') start now through #nov, #dec, #jan month [] (looks like tying a knot) shop close, #unless plan all-gone first. i no-way #restock until next year. wait_no. make ix-here year #the year you feel [] (translated as aligned) with your life.
• 'Plan' is used as 'planner'
• this business variation is interesting
• the mouthings on limited and supply is also quite interesting
• curious to find out the tie-up-know sign used to indicate like 'shops wrapped up'
• fingerspelled 'the' !!

Vocab

• Attention
• Planner
• Official
• Goal
• Corporation

I had to focus on a job application and LPSL things for the past couple days. But I'm back and cracking on.

First Lecture

031 ASL American Sign Language Vocabulary Expansion Series Dr Bill & Alex

Notes

• Tornado i like Twirl, t the fingers move together, and the NMM is different. It has an alternate with an inversed A-hand

• One version of ballet is like twirl, but moves up and down. A lower context version is Dance+Twirl-upwards. The same sign can mean smoothie

• Similar with figure skating, can add the twirl to imply its

• God, strawberry has so many versions. I was kinda desperate to find what the Manitoba version was so I found this Eat Your Colours. It's an L-hand doing like, some file thing on an upturned b base. The - God, strawberry has so many versions. I was kinda desperate to find what the Manitoba version was so I found this Eat Your Colours. It's an L-hand doing like, some file thing on an upturned b base. The same video has a pumpkin variation with a B flapping wildly at the mustache area. same video has a pumpkin variation with a B flapping wildly at the mustache area.

• Binder as in stationary can be BOOK + two contacts of feminine interest to imply the rings

• God, strawberry has so many versions. I was kinda desperate to find what the Manitoba version was so I found this Eat Your Colours. It's an L-hand doing like, some file thing on an upturned b base. The same video has a pumpkin variation with a B flapping wildly at the mustache area.

Vocab

• Twirl
• Travel-Whirlwind
• Tornado
• Ballet
• Skating
• Figure Skating
• Smoothie
• Europe
• Strawberry
• Cherry
• Donkey
• Binder
• Chance
• Bet
• Telepathy
• Shared-Understanding
• Empathy
• Backpack
• Lose/Fail

First Video

"There's a lot of noise around SpaceX going public."

Notes

• pin-drop, ix #SPACE-X, one of largest-em [?] CO in world ix value around 800 billion dollars, [?] move-ahead, #ipo. #initialPublicOffering meaning private CO keep-inside_no, now buy money-reserves

Second Video

Deaf Education Certificate Advertisement

Notes

• Large variation; note c hand starts with po self, announce has a similar modification-- likely because the signer's vertical. same lady does a very palm oriented outwards version of do
• In-person is just face-to-face
• 'three options' presented as index with three paths (B hand travels up each option)
• sign glossed as 'prepare' looks like plan
• revoked/expired license can be signed as license + one L moving down
• note this gloss: get license same teacher of deaf, could be an SEEism, unsure.
• add variation with Ss instead of flat Es
• CLASS glossed as 'coursework' -- i think its just a translation thing. the original text was 'there's a little more in-person coursework,' the signer signed 'more face-to-face class'

Vocab

• Degree
• Darn-it
• In-person
• Boston
• Prepare
• License
• Leadership
• Research

Today we're going to go through some content from Vicars.

Earlier today, I watched a couple of videos on FB Reels.

Two that stick out were both from Atomic Hands.

First Video

The Hubble Telescope

Notes:

• Conceptualizing the ideas of East Coast-West Coast America.
• Note the different sign used for 'takes pictures of' since it's a satelite (flat O)
• This signer emphasizes STILL by signing it downwards rapidly.

Vocab

• Telescope
• Space
• Galaxy

Second Video

Fingerprints

Notes:

• MATCH as in the interlocking one, used to indicate that an almost exact matchp
• Lots of ways the signer suggests ideas about grip and friction

Vocab

• Fingerprints
• Identical
• Sweat

First Lecture

I figured I would do some Vicars today. Starting off with St. Patrick's Day (ASL vocabulary), posted 9 months ago.

Notes

• Lettuce in context: Cabbage
• Beef can be fingerspelled
• Feast: lots of moku
• movement often reduces for compounds.
• International sign for ireland has a variation where it's like a harp being played
• australia old sign used to look like ireland
• kidnap/seize, signed with a full grabbing S-hand, while the V-hand can also be used for recuiting. trafficking puts this idea underground (a nondominant flat hand)
• the leprechaun sign is like big elf ears, can actually conflict with the concept of 'elf', in which case an initialized version of 'Angel' can be used.
• "Good luck" could be signed with the signed for 'lucky' but it's more idiomatic to fingespell luck with the same gusto that you would sign initialized BACK.
• March fingerspelled gets a mutated c-h, and sometimes the m is also mutated.
• Pirate is also the sign for 'raiders'
• can do rainbow one-handed by glistening the five-hand a bit.
• signing a 'pot of gold,' you should indicate that the pot is full of something (lest you imply that it's a pot made out of gold)
• Rebel is upright, resist, is more like pushing something that's directly in front of you (pushing on you, even)

Vocab

• St Patrick's Day
• Bar
• Lettuce
• Corn
• England
• Conflicts
• Ireland/Iowa
• Ireland (International)
• Potato
• Mashed Potato
• Garlic
• Bacon
• Dimwit
• Australia
• Kidnap
• Human Trafficking
• Leprechaun
• Conservative
• Liberal
• Republican
• Democrat
• Belt
• Lucky
• Honeymoon
• Mischevious
• Pirate
• Rebel
• Resist
• Fake
• Sheep
• Pie
• Snake
• Alcohol

Third Video

By MJ Grant on FB Reels, Who doesn't love to wake-up happy?

Really need to get better at one-handed signing reception. I'm very bad at it.

Notes

• Her 'embarrassed' looks a lot like LPSL kulupu- not as much up and down/at and angle as what Joanna's Embarassed on Handspeak.
• In the sentence, '#TAYLOR SWIFT SING+agent IX ME FAN ME LOVE #HER', the 'her' really sneaks up on you. Why fingerspell in this moment? Curious behind the grammatical reasons.
• One handed CHAMP...
• Unsure how the R-hand thrusted to show a promise, mouthing 'Best Friends' is glossed.
• Ok so in another sentence, MJ does 'AND #SHE SIGNING". I think the fingerspelled pronoun is a form of emphasis!
• She fingerspells upset
• Forcing yourself back to sleep
• Day dreaming/lost in thought is like VISION many times

Vocab

• Embarrassing

• Singer

• Ruminate

First Video

By Atomic Hands on FB Reels, Halloween Balloon Experiment

Notes

• Note that the signer does experiment's initialisation a claw.
• 'Some' conceptually translated as 'other'
• 'Pour' as in 'pour just a little bit' uses G for smallness
• Baking Soda is fingerspelled here
• MELON AND SPIRIT + mouthings and context = PUMPKIN AND GHOST
• Chemical reaction, signed as Chemistry + some kind of two pointers crossing as in a intersection. PO self.
• CO2 signed as CO + the hand lowers to sign 2 (PO out, not self, oddly)
• Penultimate sentence has a thing like see-good? Can't identify it

Vocab

• Balloon
• Experiment
• Cup (Measurement)
• Vinegar
• Tablespoon
• Melon

Second Video

By Deafpoetrylovers on FB Reels, One-Word Collaborative Poetry

Notes

• Well-known signed as #well+KNOW
• Compile/Distill is conceptualized as ABBREVIATE
• Kindness conceptualized as Heart Touch + Progress?? No. It's just a two part sign.
• Never seen this version of flexible, but it does kinda look like 'weak' and the more general flexible has a baby?
• This version of 'film' also is a mix of the two variations presented on Handspeak
• 'Performance' here is also something that I've never seen before. It kinda looks like it combines several other concepts to convey a certain kind of awe? Unsure if those are eyes watching?
• Fascinating. The artist who compiles all of these signs into a narrative form opts to use more traditional forms of 'Performance' and 'Film.' She also changes the initialized VALUE to CHERISH.
• HA! I totally missed the note in the bottom that says 'You may see them using different sign languages because they come from different countries.' Well, good to know that flexible, film, and performance are likely not signed that way in ASL

Vocab

• Poetry
• Kindness
• Value
• Inspiration

Third Video

By Deaf LEAD on FB Reels, Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Notes

• Domestic Violence is abbreviated to DV
• Emotions signed here with palms oriented to each other.
• Survivor signed as LIFE+AGENT
• 0:26 has a sign that maps onto 'grow', or 'increase,' or 'build-up'. Two U hands tapped a little bit like chair, moving upwards.
• The same signer signs 'cause' as something that looks like 'EXPRESS' to me. Looks like I didn't know CAUSE before. I expected it to look something like because. Toki Pona brain.
• 'Let's break' as in 'let's break the silence' as push down, relegate.
• 24/7 signed as 24 SLASH 7. Slash is a B mimicking the slash down.

Vocab

• Anxiety
• Trauma
• Deserve

Interlude

I watched way more than three videos. The session went for about an hour, ready to take a break now.

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!