Caution: Nerdy (yet slightly funny) linguist posting ahead.
Today I had a unique opportunity to learn a bit of Japanese Sign Language. This afternoon, as I was wrapping up lessons at one of my eight elementary schools, one of the homeroom teachers invited me to observe an after-school clubs. I was absolutely exhausted after teaching nearly 100 1st and 2nd graders (Sara-sensei, can I touch your hair? Sara-sensei, are you eyes really green? Sara-sensei, will you autograph my notebook/arm/forehead?), so the thought of sticking around for a rowdy game of basketball or dodge ball wasn't especially appealing. I was trying to think of a way to kindly refuse her well-intentioned offer, until the teacher said two magic words:
Sign Language.
Now, I've been fascinated by Japanese Sign Language (JSL) since I saw Babel a couple of years ago, so I jumped at the chance to learn a bit. Even if it meant being the token, my-Japanese-is-still-crappy gaijin and not understanding a word.
After school, I joined about a dozen students, a mix of third, fourth and fifth graders. Lead by a deaf teacher, they signed a song by SMAP (a wildly popular J-Pop boy band) for me. Then they taught me how to sign my name. Whereas I'd sign four characters -- S-A-R-A -- in American Sign Language, with JSL I only had two -- SA and RA -- which is reflective of Japanese syllables (hey, I warned you this post would be nerdy!!). Fascinating. So far, so good.
But the fun part came next.
Today's lesson focused on the family - the signs for grandmother, grandfather, mom, dad, and brother and sister. Lest that be too simple, however, Japanese has different words for older brother, younger brother, older sister and younger sister, so this distinction is reflected in JSL as well. Because I barely knew all the vocabulary in Japanese, I had a bit of trouble keeping up with the sign language lesson.
That is, until we got to the sign for onisan, or older brother, which is easy to remember: holding both hands at about chest level, you stick up the middle finger of your right hand and quickly raise it to your chin.
Imagine how hard it was for me to control my giggles when 12 elementary school students solemnly gave me The Bird.
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1 comment:
You passed through the Holy Hole succssfully. But what a pity it is for me not to say conglatulation! You just showed off only your slim body. You are not qualified to be enlighted. According to the Buddhist theology, any women is naturally emotional and not free from sufferings because she gives birth to children.
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