Speakin’ of which, we had one two weeks ago in Silver Spring, scheduled at almost the last minute, so that we could meet a couple of British deaf cuers, on a trip “from London to London.” That’s them here, Giles on the left and John on the right.

I’m still pouting ’cause I barely spoke to them… they were being monopolized by other zealous American cuers. How rude. Although I did get to witness a convo they had with my friend Saz, who hails from the Bay area. As it happens, that’s where the Brits were headed in a weeks’ time.

After a little snag over Fahrenheit to Celsius translation (see, same language, still working on translation!), I got to see them say they’d looked up the forecast and saw that it was going to be “hawt, hawt, and mo’ hawt.” Ooh la la.

We (or maybe it was just me) had fun comparing accents. Our Grosvenor is their “Grovenuh,” and Baltimore is “Baltimer.” FINALLY, we cueing Americans get to see what hearing Americans have been going ga-ga over!

Clearly, this was a bit of an obsession for me all night. Upon arrival, before even introducing myself, I demanded John tell me how he said bar, as in a pub. “Ba.” Ha!

Then I asked how he said ****.

Bemused with this wacko woman who was giggling at his every word, he responded: “****.”

Oh. It’s the same as in American?  How… nice.  Okay… moving on.

That’s the much-more hospitable Saz on the right.  I think my psychological status is apparent, especially compared to her genial smile.

See?  See?!

See all the excitement you miss when you don’t come to Cues on Tap? Keep an eye on Hilary’s site from now on, dude.

p.s.  Keep tabs on John and Giles trip on John’s blog.  Lovely writing.  *gasps*  And it’s written in British too!

Suffice it to say, if I’m linking to it here, I think it’s good enough for more than just a final project, but I’d totally have him read to my kid any day, even if she’s way past three now.

My favorite thing about this video aside from his relatively error-free cueing (YES!!! Finally!) he’s obviously been taught well. His prosody is awesome. He’s got facial expressions, phrasing is appropriate, and he makes awesome side comments about the book’s content.

Trust me. I’m 27. I watched the whole video enrapt, wanting to find out what’s up with that darned box. Watch it.

Since then, I’ve gotten endless comments, most of which expressed a desire to see more. The most common request, of course, is to see cueing in action. Look no further – I’ve just whipped up an impromptu video with the following commentary to be posted on YouTube:

A little demo for all the people who e-mailed me/commented after my last video. I cue one of my favorite childhood poems — subtitled, of course.

Here you can see where the rhyming/phonemes become visually apparent, which is just one reason why cueing is so neat: it’s language at the phonemic level, not the superficial morphological level.

While normally I’d have reservations about any piece with that title, Aaron’s point is valid and so salient to many of the conversations going on in the deaf community, educational, cultural or otherwise: kids and their parents need to be on the same page when they hang out, communication-wise.

That’s why cueing is such a boon for so many hearing parents: instead of asking them to learn a whole new language and miss out on the first few (and oh-so-important developmentally) years of a child’s language acquisition, parents can learn a system that lets them turn the spoken language they already know into one that’s visually accessible for their deaf kids.

And certainly, as will be the case when Aaron has kids someday, the same holds true for deaf parents and their children, whether they’re hearing or deaf. The modality or language isn’t important. The fluidity and articulation of the connection and communication between parent (or other family member) and child is.

While ASL deserves so much more recognition than it currently garners now, it also deserves to be propagated by those who are truly comfortable speaking it. That said, Aaron is daring to say something that might be interpreted as controversial, confusing, and maybe even seems impossible to some people. But it’s also very appropriate, regardless of whether you come from a hearing or deaf family, and regardless of whether you primarily sign or cue or both.

He’s saying, “I’m gonna talk to my kid the way I’m most comfortable talking in general. My family, my language.”

Kudos to Aaron.

Intermediate Class
Wednesdays at 6:30 pm, starting January 16

Annandale, VA

Child care is available if requested in advance.
Sign up now! Last time they offered classes they had 75 people on a waiting list!

(Class is taught by Beth Blair — I’ve heard good reviews about her classes.)

Each new membership is eligible to win a $35 Giant food gift card, and MDCSA merchandise will also be available at discounted prices.

The deets:

Thursday, October 11
6:30-8 pm
Flower Valley Elementary School
1465 Sunflower Drive, Rockville

For more information, contact Steve Scher at (301) 424-6933-TTY or email steves1979 at verizon dot net
or Jane Smith at (301) 924-3135 or jane_b_smith at mcpsmd dot org

p.s. I’ll be there, so feel free to say hi.

It’s a neat article, and Brad comes off as very genial and yet… waayyyy intelligent.  I also love how Brad’s a doctoral candidate in a field where researchers end up inadvertently using him as a theoretical lab rat.  Self-advocacy, anyone?

Click here for the write-up.

Best of all: it only takes a long weekend, so requesting time off isn’t too much of a pain.

Worst of all: it’s only a long weekend.

Click here for registration/fees info.

It was a blast mostly because it’s not often I get to cue the night away. Usually when I go out, the choice is between my voice/lipreading skills or my signs. Not at Cues on Tap. Finally, I get to freely converse in my native English without anxiety about needing to choose words that are easy to understand with my deaf accent. And code-switching is definitely not frowned upon, unlike some other places.

Plus the cueing crowd is so different from my usual social circle that I always leave feeling that exhausted kind of refreshed that signals the extra inches you’ve broadened your personal horizon. New cuers, old cuers, deaf cuers, hearing parents, professionals, students. You name it.
But what intrigues me about Vikki’s account is the non-cuer perspective:

Some of the cuers were surprised that we, signers, ventured onto their territory without arrows and spears. War face paint doesn’t look good on me, anyway.

Hm. I found that food for thought. I can’t quite yet figure out what it is about that that gives me pause. What about you?