Takes One to Know One!

There is a common English phrase "It takes one to know one."

Basically it means that sometimes you need to experience or be something to recognize another person who has experienced the same thing.

My Dad is a signing grandpa and in a recent channel surf he recognized something in a TV interview that most people probably missed.

Mariah Carey was on TV last week and while talking about her twins she shared about her daughter relaying a time when her daughter asked if a room in the house was her's.   Mariah made gestures for "my" and "more" that looked like 2 yr old signs so my Dad asked if I knew if she was signing with her kids.
Honestly, I have no idea if Mariah Carey does some kind of Baby Sign Language.
What I do know is that when I relay something my kids have told me I often mimic their signs and words.
I also know that the hand gestures she made mean nothing to most people but if you are around a signing 2 yr. old you may see them as signs!

You can see the whole video of her interview for yourself.  The "Signing Moment" I'm talking about happens about the 1:50 mark so you can skip to that area if you prefer.

ASL in Movies and on TV

ASL (American Sign Language) is an actual language so like many other languages it sometimes get used in movies and on TV shows.  For someone who is learning/using a language it is interesting to see how it is used in these kinds of situations.  

I posted on twitter earlier that Mr. Holland's Opus is one such movie. It that includes a music teacher who learns to sign to communicate with his deaf son and creates a concert that would be enjoyable for people who are deaf/hard-of-hearing.  The sign language used in the movie is ASL, the same as the ASL vocabulary taught in Signing Time.  You may recognize some of the signs the next time you watch the movie!

ハリウッド映画にもサイン(ASL)が出てきます。たとえば、陽のあたる教室 (Mr. Holland's Opus)では、耳が聞こえない息子のために音楽の先生である父親はサインを学び、耳が聞こえない人たちも一緒に楽しめるコンサートをつくりあげました。この映画に使われてるサインはサイニングタイムと同じASLなので、あなたもサインが読み取れますよ！

I've set up a section in the Kotoba & Sign Amazon.co.jp store where I'll add movies and TV shows which use ASL as they become available in the Japanese market.

言葉＆サインストーア　http://www.kotobaandsign.info/store.html

I'll also post information about them on Twitter with the hashtag＃映画でサイン

Happy Signing!

赤ちゃんの耳はいつから母国語になれる？Culture Bound Listener

先週ハナハウスで、赤ちゃんのバイリンガル脳についてのTEDTalkの講演のことを話しました。いつから耳が母語に慣れてしまうのか？日本語だけを聞いてる赤ちゃんは、英語のraとlaの違いを１歳前には聞きとることができなくなるそうです。

I've really come to enjoy the TED homepage which compiles lessons/lectures from various experts on many interesting topics.  Recently this talk from Patricia Kuhl was brought to my attention.  It speaks directly to what I do in teaching babies/moms signing in English.



The thing that I found the most interesting is the research that shows babies become culture bound listeners by age 1.  This means they stop hearing words/sounds that are not in their native language(s) by their first birthday.  I thought they had up will age 3... 1 is so early!
As I learned Japanese as an adult I have been able to learn to hear a few sounds that I wasn't able to when I first came to Japan however I still can't hear the difference between yu and ryu or byoin and byouin.  Thanks to this research I can understand that the reason is because my parents didn't have me take Japanese lessons with a native speaker when I was a baby.  Wonder if there was even a Japanese speaker in the area way back then...???

Another thing that caught my attention is the importance of hearing the language spoke by a person, not simply watching TV or listening to a CD.  This is a great reason to take a mommy & me style class!

Silly Pizza Song(s)

Learning Favorite Foods - Silly Pizza Songs

『おかしなピザ』の歌で大好きな食べ物のサインを学べます。

What better way to learn a lot of food signs at one time than with a fun song.  Ok, make that 2 fun songs and you learn twice the signs!

Did you know there are actually 2 Silly Pizza Songs in Signing Time videos?  The first one is in Signing Time Series 1 DVD 3 Everyday Signs and the 2nd is in Series 1 DVD 12 Time To Eat.  Last year at playgroup we had a lot of fun learning both songs and trying to sing and sign along!

If you want to know even more food signs take a look at an ASL online dictionary such asthe Kotoba & Sign ST Dictionary, Signing Savvy or ask your teacher at the next Baby Signing Time Class! 

At home we use the Signing Time Board Books and book Meal Time by Anthony Lewis from the Sign About series which includes some additional food and meal time signs.

楽しい歌で一度にたくさんの食べ物のサインを覚えられるとしたら、こんなにいいことはないですよね。ここに紹介する 

二つの歌で、たくさんのサインを覚えましょう！

サイニングタイムDVDの中に、二つの「おかしなピザSilly Pizza Song」の歌が入っているのをご存知ですか？一つ目は、サイニングタイムシリーズ1、DVD3の『レイチェル・ママのサイニングタイム！ まいにちのことば』の中にあります。二つ目は、シリーズ1 、DVD 12 "Time To Eat"（日本版は今年リリース予定です）の中にあります。 昨年、『サインで遊ぼう』のプレイグループのときには、両方の歌を楽しく学んで、みんなで一緒にサインしながら歌いました！

もし、もっと食べ物のサインを知りたいと思ったら、「言葉＆サイン」のサイニングタイム辞書, Signing Savvy のような、ASLのオンライン辞書を見ることもできますし、あるいは、ベビー・サイニングタイムのクラスでぜひあなたの先生に聞いてみてください！

わが家では、サイニングタイムのボードブックや、「食事の時間（Meal Time）」という本（食べ物や食事の時間に関するサインを収めているSign Aboutシリーズ、Anthony Lewis著）を使っています。

レイチェルとホプキンスそれにスペシャルゲストが、「おかしなピザSilly Pizza」の歌をサインしながら歌っているライヴビデオ

もし今すぐに「おかしなピザSilly Pizza」が収められているDVDを見てみたいという方は、サイニングタイム・オンデマンド・デジタルプレーヤーをとおしてそれらを購入することもできます.

Here is a clip of Rachel, Hopkins and a special guest singing and signing the Silly Pizza Song live!

If you want to watch the DVDs with the Silly Pizza songs right away you can purchase them through the Signing Time On Demand Digital Player.

Signing with "Friends"

Children love their special friends... 

Sometimes my daughter brings her dog to class to be her "baby" while I teach the other babies.  He she is teaching him about opposites as I prepared for class last week.

This kind of role playing is important for children.  It is practicing social skills, showing a mastery of the signs/vocabulary (students becomes the teacher) and is fun for them!

An interesting thing to note is that when her dog "signs" he uses his ears to make the signs, not his paws...