Why learning American Sign Language is like being a dog

Ive recently taken up the art of learning American Sign Language.  Its something Ive always been interested in, and Ive tried to learn twice before, but lacked easy access to people with whom I could practice.  Now I have at least two friends who sign, and Im paying for school anyway (getting my graduate degree), so I figured, why not?

I really like the instructor.  Shes very personable and extremely expressive, which makes understanding her signs much, much easier.  What Ive come to realize, though, is that everyone signs things just a little bit differently.  Even when using the same gesture, two people can employ subtle differences in precisely how they bend/twist/shape their hands.  I think of them as visual accents.

Whats interesting - and the tie-in to dog training - is realizing just how dependent I am on the instructors specific "accent."  I find that I sometimes struggle to understand other signers when they layer their own "accent" onto a sign.  ToMAYto, toMAHto?  Yes - but not when youre first learning.

Think of your dog during an obedience class.  You think he "knows" sit (or whatever behavior youre working on) because you do it all the time.  But when you practice, you generally have the habit of standing directly in front of your dog.  Your bodys "accent" is to be in front of the dog, and he is keenly aware of this.  Later, when hes standing in proper heel position at your left side, and you ask him to sit, youve changed your bodys "accent" and hes likely to struggle with the "sit" behavior.

Of course, the more you practice having your dog sit - in lots of different positions relative to you - the quicker hell generalize the behavior (that "sit" means "butt-on-floor" no matter where he is in relation to you).  Eventually, hell become fluent at sitting - meaning it will happen anywhere, any time and its never confused with a different cue.

For me, the more people with whom I practice signing, the sooner Ill begin to fully generalize the hand shapes and wont be as thrown by subtle visual differences. I dont know that Ill ever become truly fluent, but much like when training a dog, you dont know what youre truly capable of until you try! "

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