Learning ASL can be an extremely satisfying endeavor. If a family decides to learn it together, the benefits are even greater. The question of why ASL, in particular, should be considered a family language may be raised by families. The truth remains that one cannot overstate the advantages of learning ASL as a crucial language. To begin with, though, let’s consider what family routines are and why it’s important for homes to keep them.
What Are Family Routines?
Family routines can be thought of as decisions made by a family to engage in certain activities at predetermined times. These routines could include things like story time, movie nights, outing days, or even something as basic as set mealtimes.
In order for family routines to be fully utilized, they must have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. This means that you must know exactly when to begin, how to go, and when to stop (that is if you ever want it to stop).
Unknown to them, a vast majority of families follow certain routines without any prior intentions. However, routines that an entire family deliberately chooses to work with are usually the best. One major reason for this is that a stable environment is produced when a family decides together to consciously adhere to a certain level of routine. In light of this, incorporating ASL into daily activities is one of the best methods for a family willing to learn the language to do so more effectively.
How to Incorporate ASL into Your Daily Family Routines
Have a Goal:
Routines having a clear objective are easier to follow. Your family’s daily routine should have a clear purpose for incorporating sign language. Goals protect against the futility of any action. So, ask yourself what you want to accomplish from learning this language. Whatever it is, as long as you think achieving this goal will satisfy you, it will suffice for incorporating sign language into your daily routine.
Teamwork:
It’s always best if you can get everyone in the family on board with the idea of incorporating sign language, particularly ASL, into your daily family routine. You’ll find that once you are able to do this, the labor needed to integrate ASL into your family’s routine will be evenly distributed and provide better results. Make sure you are willing to give members of your family room to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of this idea because your willingness to do this makes them more willing to accept it.
Utilize All Family Activities:
Once it has been decided that ASL will be learned in the family, it can be introduced into as many family activities as possible. However, make use of the family activity that each member really enjoys. Every established family routine can include a brief period of time for ASL learning.
If there is a deaf or hard-of-hearing family member, it would be wise to solicit their input on the best course of action. This shows that you are not just about learning the language, but that you value their participation.
What if your family struggles to fit anything else in between already-scheduled routines? That’s no problem at all. Just go ahead and set aside a separate period of time on a particular day or week, for ASL only. In that case, it will not be interrupting anything else.
Make it Fun:
Making anything fun is the best way to ensure that it sticks, this is true for most things that people learn, particularly language. For ASL to be properly incorporated into your family routine, come up with fun ways your family can enjoy learning the language.
You can draw your made-up signs for words and compare them with what the actual ASL signals are, or you can video blog while the family practices and share some of the amusing parts with friends to make them laugh. Ideas like these can facilitate and improve the learning process.
Give Room for The ‘Nothing-Gaps’:
No routine is ever established entirely at once, it is a gradual process, especially when you are just beginning. Be sure to give room for the ‘nothing-gaps’ (that is a time of standstill when you are not following the routine). Normally, the first excitement for it is usually followed by the routine’s tiredness and then comes– a full standstill. Once you’ve completed this cycle, start over. That’s the beauty of developing a routine, and incorporating sign language into your family routine is not an exception.
Benefits of Incorporating ASL into Your Daily Family Routines
Will there be a need to incorporate ASL into your daily family routines if there are no benefits? Certainly not. Learning ASL gives families a way to connect, which is one of its advantages.
Any family that speaks its own distinct language typically distinguishes itself from the rest of the world. It resembles a secure enclosure where nobody may enter without authorization. Because they are confident in their ability to be understood, family members find it simpler to speak to one another once they have a common language. ASL can be a family distinctive language. Yet, that should not be the only reason it is incorporated into your daily family routine.
ASL is becoming a very popular sign language in the United States and around the world. Therefore, learning it not only makes you more sensitive to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing, but it also gives you a greater chance of engaging better with people from various backgrounds.
When it comes to incorporating ASL into your regular family activities, there is a chance of learning a practical skill (that may open up prospects for careers). Like any language, the more you learn, the better prepared you are for the outside world.
Conclusion
Even though I’ve discussed how to incorporate ASL into your family’s everyday routine and highlighted the advantages you’ll enjoy doing so, I understand that it won’t be a simple effort. However, I still advise you to go after it.
To help you with language learning and communicating with deaf individuals, try learning from me by checking out my interactive eCourses.
Thumbnail Credit: Photo by August de Richelieu
