Great video. I do not speak ASL but with the pandemic, more and more representation is occurring in the news for translations/ interpreters and I've been seeing a lot of ignorant comments being like "why are interpreters making funny faces?" I for one just thought it should be common knowledge that someone who is speaking purely using sign language/a visual language... that they would obviously use more than just their hands to express language in a complex way. OF COURSE the interpreter is using these facial expressions intentionally. So I wanted to look it up/research a bit more to see how it is apart of the language and it makes so much sense that it is major part of tone/inflection and it's overall very interesting that there's a vocabulary just for facial expressions. Very interesting.
As a hearing person, I've always wondered why interpreters make faces (which if I'm honest can sometimes be a little distracting because they are so extreme). So cool that they use the facial expressions to add emotion into what they're signing. I learned something today! :D
Wow, awesome video! And thanks for sharing, I always noticed that all the ASL translators I've ever seen on tv news broadcasts and stuff would all make facial expressions but I didn't want to come off as rude or disrespectful but because I'm someone who is curious about everything, and i absolutely love learning about anything so I looked it up and this video came up and it was very informative! Thanks!
Facial expression is important in ASL just like why tone is important in English, you could come across sarcastic if you don’t add facial expression to your signing
I love all of your videos! Thank you for posting and for such a great variety of topics! I work with students of the Deaf and have one student who struggles to use facial expressions. He and his family have grown up with SEE, and now in high school, he is learning ASL. Other than an occasional smile/smirk, he really doesn't show any type of expression. I plan to show him this video to further teach the importance of facial expressions, but I also wondered if you two could help by explaining more, specifically to Deaf students, just how important facial expressions are. Thank you!
i’d struggle with that... and sign language in general. like, i struggle to understand how you can see someone’s hands and the face the same time. (i guess needs good lights, good sight, proper distance etc many variable). a bigger issue would be just seeing anyone’s expressions in general, plus i know mine are generally flat and kind of expressionless faces. which would sort of be a speech impediment for signing...
I feel like if you sign every day as your main form of communication, you'd get more used to looking at someone's face as they spoke and the hands become so familiar you could likely just see the hands in your peripheral vision/ not your central focus vision. Because when I see a group of signers, which is fascinating to watch them which might sound creepy ahhaha, but I notice they all make a lot of eye contact with one another as they talk.
Thank you for these videos! I'm 13 years old and I would love to learn sign language! I know the basics (greetings, alphabet,etc) what's the best way to be fluent in this language? Thanks again!:)
ItsKeyanna I'm so happy to hear you are trying to learn sign language! The best way to learn is to take a class with a native (preferably Deaf) signer. Becoming fluent just takes time and practice. Keep socializing with Deaf people and it will come in time!
@@EstefaniaM-mo5re Hello! Wow! I just noticed how old this comment is! Close haha! I am 19! My aspiration to learn sign language was a fond memory of mine. I wish I would have had enough discipline to stick to learning it, but I did not. I am a college student now and I am also learning Spanish. I will always have an interest in ASL, and I hope to get back into it one day even if it isn't an extensive study. I assume that you are learning ASL? I wish you the best! :)
I'm script writing a fantasy series that revolves around a deaf character who wears a mask that covers her face. Would it be possible to sign "in a good/bad way" to replace the tone from expressions? Or would it totally be impossible to sign with the face covered?
You can definitely sign with a face mask on. Many people do now. It may be a bit harder to understand certain things, but usually tone can still be understood with the eyes, size of signs, specific movements and such. For example you may sign quicker and more sharp if you are angry (along with the eyes).
I'm never sure whether it's appropriate to comment on OLD YT videos....especially when they are years old? I just found your channel and I'm binge watching them...from the beginning. I will give feedback- not knowing if these even apply anymore lol. I love that you switched to a voice over with the signs. It's helpful to learn by just seeing it in action. I'm not sure if I like the candles and 'stuff' in your "box" as you taught a few videos ago. Because it is not stationary, the flickering is a distraction. Yes it is real life, but from a learning perspective I'm finding it pulling my attention away. On that note though...LOVING your tips!
I’m learning asl and can carry basic conversation But my only problem is mouth morphine I have limitation in moving my lips 👄 when speaking…… question. Is it really necessary to do all mouth morphine when signing ??? 🤔
If someone is deaf blind and can’t see faces it doesn’t help the person to make expression with faces. Like for me I’ve been blind since six months old so I never saw faces. So for me facial expressions doesn’t mean much to me or nothing to me since I can’t see faces. So I have to rely on the interpreters hands when I do tactile sign language to feel the suggestions in the hands when they are sign language.
Yes, it is a totally different thing when doing tactile sign language. You need to convey expressions through the language itself. I don't have a ton of experience in that myself.
My question as a hearing person, I've noticed a lot of exaggerated facial expression, during a news briefing. Where the person speaking is expessing no facial expresssion. The interpetor to me, is distracting from the news briefing.
Jill, not sure if you have any knowledge on this, but when you talk about facial expressions and ASL, how does this intersect for people who have challenges like Autism and find it difficult to make expressions or to make eye contact? For instances, over the years (I'm bipolar and Autistic) I've found that I do have facial expressions unlike the stereotype of an Autistic person, but making eye contact can become painful for me, especially if I spend a lot of time offline around people. Interestingly, I've found that both with Deaf people (when I've had the chance to socialize locally) as well as over video chat (even with speaking people), I have less difficulty with looking at someone's eyes/face.
+Joelle Casteel [Jill] I'm not well versed on the subject of autism and signing. I would think that people would be understanding of a disorder someone has and how it affects them. Maybe just work at it little by little to see what improvement you can make.
Oh yes I do all my expressions through my sign language. And if I don’t understand then they can tell in my face meaning final understand I close my eyes. Or I open my eyes wide open to show I don’t understand. But yes I do a lot of my expressions through sign language since I cannot see faces. And my interpreters their sign language are express only through sign not in phase so it helps a lot for people who are deaf blind like me. Also I wanted to share with you there’s a thing called feeling through. And they are going to be live next Thursday. If you want to watch it just go to BILLING through.com and click on the link and then you get a free ticket and then after you put in your name and your email it says continue to tap on it to tell you to hit or tap on something else to confirm your free ticket to watch next Thursday which is the 25th it is called feeling through four people on different levels of deaf is also included
I don't speak ASL, so I am likely WRONG, but I imagine for an individual maybe a random goofy face becomes a part of a personality marker? Maybe it is not random for them and their group of friends but random/out of place to a stranger that doesn't know them?
When you see deaf people using sign language they never make those faces. It’s almost like the faces are for hearing people using sign language with each other? My deaf sister-in-law said the faces feel really condescending (especially when they are extreme like the people in the news videos)
Thank you every one who has been helping me by commenting I am completely isolated and have no support from any one or any where this is the only conversation I have ad about these implants since I've been newly deaf in August not even family. They believe that I am under God's curse so I am shunned.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I like this new(?) format where you sign the message and voiceover the interpretation instead!
bobtheowl2 Yes that is new and I'm so glad you like it! Thanks :)
Great video. I do not speak ASL but with the pandemic, more and more representation is occurring in the news for translations/ interpreters and I've been seeing a lot of ignorant comments being like "why are interpreters making funny faces?" I for one just thought it should be common knowledge that someone who is speaking purely using sign language/a visual language... that they would obviously use more than just their hands to express language in a complex way. OF COURSE the interpreter is using these facial expressions intentionally. So I wanted to look it up/research a bit more to see how it is apart of the language and it makes so much sense that it is major part of tone/inflection and it's overall very interesting that there's a vocabulary just for facial expressions. Very interesting.
As a hearing person, I've always wondered why interpreters make faces (which if I'm honest can sometimes be a little distracting because they are so extreme). So cool that they use the facial expressions to add emotion into what they're signing. I learned something today! :D
So glad that you learned something. Yeah, some people are just more expressive than others when signing.
My best friend and I took ASL class in college 18 years ago and it was an eye opener. Not as easy as it looks. Much respect.
This is a great way for beginning asl learners to fixate on facial expressions to do sign language correctly! Thanks!!
Absolutely!
Wow, awesome video! And thanks for sharing, I always noticed that all the ASL translators I've ever seen on tv news broadcasts and stuff would all make facial expressions but I didn't want to come off as rude or disrespectful but because I'm someone who is curious about everything, and i absolutely love learning about anything so I looked it up and this video came up and it was very informative! Thanks!
So glad this video was helpful for you. :)
Facial expression is important in ASL just like why tone is important in English, you could come across sarcastic if you don’t add facial expression to your signing
Very true. It is key!
I love all of your videos! Thank you for posting and for such a great variety of topics!
I work with students of the Deaf and have one student who struggles to use facial expressions. He and his family have grown up with SEE, and now in high school, he is learning ASL. Other than an occasional smile/smirk, he really doesn't show any type of expression. I plan to show him this video to further teach the importance of facial expressions, but I also wondered if you two could help by explaining more, specifically to Deaf students, just how important facial expressions are. Thank you!
+Allison Gilbert Sure we can talk about that in a future video!
i’d struggle with that... and sign language in general. like, i struggle to understand how you can see someone’s hands and the face the same time. (i guess needs good lights, good sight, proper distance etc many variable).
a bigger issue would be just seeing anyone’s expressions in general, plus i know mine are generally flat and kind of expressionless faces. which would sort of be a speech impediment for signing...
Yup same here. I don’t make expressions I’ve never been good with emotions guess we both gotta learn
I feel like if you sign every day as your main form of communication, you'd get more used to looking at someone's face as they spoke and the hands become so familiar you could likely just see the hands in your peripheral vision/ not your central focus vision. Because when I see a group of signers, which is fascinating to watch them which might sound creepy ahhaha, but I notice they all make a lot of eye contact with one another as they talk.
Thank you for these videos! I'm 13 years old and I would love to learn sign language! I know the basics (greetings, alphabet,etc) what's the best way to be fluent in this language? Thanks again!:)
ItsKeyanna I'm so happy to hear you are trying to learn sign language! The best way to learn is to take a class with a native (preferably Deaf) signer. Becoming fluent just takes time and practice. Keep socializing with Deaf people and it will come in time!
ItsKeyanna so you’re probably 18 now. Do you know sign language??
@@EstefaniaM-mo5re Hello! Wow! I just noticed how old this comment is! Close haha! I am 19! My aspiration to learn sign language was a fond memory of mine. I wish I would have had enough discipline to stick to learning it, but I did not. I am a college student now and I am also learning Spanish. I will always have an interest in ASL, and I hope to get back into it one day even if it isn't an extensive study. I assume that you are learning ASL? I wish you the best! :)
ItsKeyanna yeah I’m 14 and I’m learning French, I thought maybe after French I could learn ASL!! I also hope you get motivation to learn it!
@@EstefaniaM-mo5re Yes! That is so awesome! You are going to do so well with the languages. Good luck, and have so much fun! :)
I'm script writing a fantasy series that revolves around a deaf character who wears a mask that covers her face. Would it be possible to sign "in a good/bad way" to replace the tone from expressions? Or would it totally be impossible to sign with the face covered?
You can definitely sign with a face mask on. Many people do now. It may be a bit harder to understand certain things, but usually tone can still be understood with the eyes, size of signs, specific movements and such. For example you may sign quicker and more sharp if you are angry (along with the eyes).
I'm never sure whether it's appropriate to comment on OLD YT videos....especially when they are years old? I just found your channel and I'm binge watching them...from the beginning. I will give feedback- not knowing if these even apply anymore lol. I love that you switched to a voice over with the signs. It's helpful to learn by just seeing it in action. I'm not sure if I like the candles and 'stuff' in your "box" as you taught a few videos ago. Because it is not stationary, the flickering is a distraction. Yes it is real life, but from a learning perspective I'm finding it pulling my attention away. On that note though...LOVING your tips!
It's fine to comment on very old videos haha. Yeah I'm trying to lessen distractions in videos now. :) Thanks for the feedback.
I’m learning asl and can carry basic conversation But my only problem is mouth morphine I have limitation in moving my lips 👄 when speaking…… question. Is it really necessary to do all mouth morphine when signing ??? 🤔
This is even more important now more than ever. 😃❤️
Thank you for this.
I got it! Thank, tell me.
If someone is deaf blind and can’t see faces it doesn’t help the person to make expression with faces. Like for me I’ve been blind since six months old so I never saw faces. So for me facial expressions doesn’t mean much to me or nothing to me since I can’t see faces. So I have to rely on the interpreters hands when I do tactile sign language to feel the suggestions in the hands when they are sign language.
Yes, it is a totally different thing when doing tactile sign language. You need to convey expressions through the language itself. I don't have a ton of experience in that myself.
Facial expressions in sign language are the equivalent of spoken language tone and volume.
[Jill] Right :)
My question as a hearing person, I've noticed a lot of exaggerated facial expression, during a news briefing. Where the person speaking is expessing no facial expresssion. The interpetor to me, is distracting from the news briefing.
What do you do if you have a paralyses in your face?
Jill, not sure if you have any knowledge on this, but when you talk about facial expressions and ASL, how does this intersect for people who have challenges like Autism and find it difficult to make expressions or to make eye contact? For instances, over the years (I'm bipolar and Autistic) I've found that I do have facial expressions unlike the stereotype of an Autistic person, but making eye contact can become painful for me, especially if I spend a lot of time offline around people. Interestingly, I've found that both with Deaf people (when I've had the chance to socialize locally) as well as over video chat (even with speaking people), I have less difficulty with looking at someone's eyes/face.
+Joelle Casteel [Jill] I'm not well versed on the subject of autism and signing. I would think that people would be understanding of a disorder someone has and how it affects them. Maybe just work at it little by little to see what improvement you can make.
Oh yes I do all my expressions through my sign language. And if I don’t understand then they can tell in my face meaning final understand I close my eyes. Or I open my eyes wide open to show I don’t understand. But yes I do a lot of my expressions through sign language since I cannot see faces. And my interpreters their sign language are express only through sign not in phase so it helps a lot for people who are deaf blind like me. Also I wanted to share with you there’s a thing called feeling through. And they are going to be live next Thursday. If you want to watch it just go to BILLING through.com and click on the link and then you get a free ticket and then after you put in your name and your email it says continue to tap on it to tell you to hit or tap on something else to confirm your free ticket to watch next Thursday which is the 25th it is called feeling through four people on different levels of deaf is also included
I’m embarrassed to do this. But I’m going to try anyway
Go for it! 😀
*Random facel expressions are meaningless when they're random and most signers just make goofy random faces*
I don't speak ASL, so I am likely WRONG, but I imagine for an individual maybe a random goofy face becomes a part of a personality marker? Maybe it is not random for them and their group of friends but random/out of place to a stranger that doesn't know them?
When you see deaf people using sign language they never make those faces. It’s almost like the faces are for hearing people using sign language with each other? My deaf sister-in-law said the faces feel really condescending (especially when they are extreme like the people in the news videos)
Do you find wearing your glasses gets in the way of your facial expressions?
+phynixism Nope not at all.
I noticed that in some videos you are talking so i wounder if the talking disturbs the facial expressions for ASL readers? (Sorry for bad english)
[Jenna] The older videos had Jill using Sim-Com and we changed to ASL only with voiceover since then.
I will have bilateral cochlear implant surgery in a few weeks and the risk of permanent facial nerve damage terrifies me every second
[Jenna] Yeah, the risk is scary, we wish you best of luck with your surgery. Hope it will goes well for you!
Thank you every one who has been helping me by commenting I am completely isolated and have no support from any one or any where this is the only conversation I have ad about these implants since I've been newly deaf in August not even family. They believe that I am under God's curse so I am shunned.
It feels weird to make these...things with my face
[Jill] It gets less weird over time. Just keep at it. :)
Why do you mouth words?
It's just a common thing that signers do. Not all people mouth their words, but most I have known do.
Do deaf people learn different facial expressions? Cause it looks crazy.
I always wondered why the facial expressions when signing were so important, when an individual is expressing themselves. 👂👍
Very important :)
There’s no better way now? It’s super annoying to see signers trying to win an Oscar for looking grumpy during a mayor’s speech...
I don't think that people are trying to win any award. Some interpreters/signers are just more expressive than others.
so would you be considered to have an ugly voice in the asl world
You're doing great, by the way, I'm deaf. :-)
Jose Reyes thanks :)
Your welcome.
how do you you say lesbian in asl
Melissa Smith I will add that to the list. Thanks Melissa.
There’s no better way now? It’s super annoying to see signers trying to win an Oscar for looking grumpy during a mayor’s speech...