Posted on 05/01/2021 9:31:25 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
I've always wondered about the accuracy of sign language interpreters especially since a number of them have been revealed as not knowing what they are doing. In this video we have the opportunity to compare the TWO, count 'em TWO, sign language interpreters for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
One of the sign interpreters is Whitmer's regular who is standing next to her. The other sign interpreter appears to be the one provided by Detroit channel 4 station WDIV-TV. Why they decided they needed an ADDITIONAL sign language interpreter is beyond me but this gives us the opportunity to observe two such signers interpreting the same speech at the same time. In order to make it easier to make the comparison, after you see a little over a minute of the Whitmer speech at regular speed, I replayed it at half speed for your analysis. To my untrained eye, although some of the sign language gestures seem to match, a lot of them don't even factoring in the fact that they are probably a bit out of synch with each other.
What say you?
Exit question: Isn't it easier and more accurate to just read the closed captions?
Three Major Forms of Sign Language Used in the United States:
American Sign Language (ASL)
Speech, reading or listening skills are not needed to learn ASL, it’s a manual language and ideas can be understood easily. The language is free-flowing and natural and can be translated into spoken languages. ASL has its own idioms, syntax and grammar. ASL is signed in countries around the world.
Pidgin Signed English (PSE) or Signed English
PSE is the most commonly used sign language in the United States among deaf individuals. The vocabulary is drawn from ASL, however it follows English word order. Filler and connecting words (to, the) as well as word endings (ed,ing) are often times dropped. Many teachers use PSE and it’s considered simpler to learn than ASL or SEE.
Signing Exact English (SEE)
SEE is basically signing the English language word for word, the signs are drawn from ASL, however they’re expanded with prefixes and tenses that allow more options for the signer to pull from. The use of SEE allows the signer the option to develop a broader vocabulary. English speaking parents with deaf children seem to do better with SEE because it’s truly a visual representation of the English language.
Other countries with other languages have their own forms of signing. Plus there is also Black American Sign Language, developed during the days of segregation but still used in some parts of the country. Interpreters are also free to mouth the words for lip reading.
Captioning would interfere with whatever else is going on on the screen, including closed captions. Plus, it doesn't send the message of "inclusion" that sign language does.
When notices are printed in multiple languages there are usually two Chinese variants, one for the traditional characters still used in Taiwan and Singapore and one for the simplified characters used in the PRC. I guess it's like that.
One was doing regular signing and the other one was signing in cursive.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!
LOL!!
Because closed captioning isn’t that accurate or easy to read and many Deaf and Hard of Hearing are not as fluent in English as hearing people.
Sign language is much easier to follow than trying to read text, and can add inflection as opposed to just reading words on a screen.
Why is accommodating the Deaf such an issue for so many hearing people?
For the record I am hearing but do know sign language and have Deaf friends and relatives.
For part of the interpreting, they were signing the same thing, just not synchronized.
Some of it is just how a concept is expressed. Just as in English there is more than one way to express many thoughts, so, too, in ASL there are different ways of expressing concepts.
Also, it seems that there’s a difference in the skill level of the interpreters..
ASL is its own language with its own grammar and syntax. It is a visual language with very concrete thoughts easily expressed but more abstract concepts, things you can’t see, are more difficult to express.
As one learns sign language, one goes from basically signing in English to learning to sign in ASL grammar. It’s not either/or. There’s that transition between English and ASL that is known as Pidgin sign
The more skilled you become, the less English is used and the closer to true ASL an interpreter will be. So the difference between the two would seem to me the experience and skill level of the interpreters. The same information is given, just in different words.
That means “shot”, which should be obvious.
So when Witmer said “doses”, he signed shot. She may have signed “medicine”.
Your comments are just disgusting.
If you don’t like watching the interpreters, then don’t watch or close your eyes and listen.
And while you’re at it, remember to thank God you can hear because when a Deaf person closes their eyes, they are cut off from the world.
His comments may be disgusting — the truth is sometimes disgusting.
Reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator is a great way to “get eaten” in the real world. Public schools are making it impossible for bright kids to learn to their capacity — that is the same thing. Cripple healthy people to the level of cripples! Brilliant! I say, there should be winners and losers, and losers have to learn to live with that.
sign language interpretersCorrection: "virtue signalers"
Well said. Thanks.
They are not virtue signaling.
You clearly don’t know what either virtue signaling is or have any understanding of sign language.
I grew up with deaf friends and hung out with them at the deaf schools a lot and learned pretty well. Signing is not a strict rules based language like written or spoken English. It is “interpretive” for lack of a better word and the same person will make different signs for the same word or phrase. That is why the facial expressions are so animated. So if you see two interpreters seemingly translating the same speech it won’t match up most of the time. And just like differences for English that mean the same thing but can be said completely different. Like “I went for a jog” can be shortened to “I went jogging.”
You clearly don’t know what either virtue signaling is or have any understanding of sign language.Oops, I forgot to add the /humor /wordplay tags.
Alrighty then.
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