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[Master Of Illusion]

Coronavirus tales: How de Blasio’s sign language interpreter conveys mayor’s ‘disgust’

Most every day now, New Yorkers see Jonathan Lamberton on TV — the 43-year-old, who lives in FiDi, is the certified deaf interpreter for Mayor de Blasio’s press briefings. I’ve worked with the mayo…

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AH DUH BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BUH BA

 

[EverydayBeast]

Translators are important tho

 

[Foamy]

Fun fact: Sign language is not universal. In fact there are over 300 regional forms of sign language.

 

[John Day]

Fun fact: Sign language is not universal. In fact there are over 300 regional forms of sign language.

Very true. Here in Puerto Rico, back in January when the esrthquakes were hitting, FEMA brought an english speaking sign translator for news conferences, and it was horrible. They corrected it swiftly the following day.

It’s one of those things higher powers forget, but actually shouldn’t.

 

[belmarduk]

I think he's great for this time. He looks very somber.

 

[Cunth]

Fun fact: Sign language is not universal. In fact there are over 300 regional forms of sign language.

thats not fun

 

[jason10mm]

Doesn't close captioning render this irrelevant?

 

[Master Of Illusion]

Translators are important tho

No me mortifique.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

What does he have against weird al

 

[Elektro Demon]

Doesn't close captioning render this irrelevant?

Exactly my thoughts. And with todays tech, captioning could be done in real time, imo.

 

[Tesseract]

Exactly my thoughts. And with todays tech, captioning could be done in real time, imo.

and if the tech fails?

 

[Rentahamster]

Exactly my thoughts. And with todays tech, captioning could be done in real time, imo.

Maybe for disposable entertainment. Too risky for important civil announcements.

 

[CrapSandwich]

I've noticed this a lot with signers, lately. They're really going all out. There's been some kind of paradigm shift that none of us hearing folks have noticed until now.

 

[DeafTourette]

Doesn't close captioning render this irrelevant?

Exactly my thoughts. And with todays tech, captioning could be done in real time, imo.

No. CC doesn't render that irrelevant. Most deaf people don't read English.

The grammar of ASL is different from the grammar of English. Same words, different combinations. Like verb preceding adjective. When you write to a deaf person in English, it is a recipe for misunderstandings.

I've been around deaf people for decades... My son's mom is deaf... This is something I know very well!

 

[DeafTourette]

I've noticed this a lot with signers, lately. They're really going all out. There's been some kind of paradigm shift that none of us hearing folks have noticed until now.

What are you talking about? Facial expressions has ALWAYS been a part of deaf language and culture. How else are you supposed to convey what you mean and how you feel without vocal inflection? Even hearing people use facial expressions to convey these things when they speak.

 

[DeafTourette]

Fun fact: Sign language is not universal. In fact there are over 300 regional forms of sign language.

You are exactly correct. British Sign Language is as different from American Sign Language as spoken French is to spoken Yiddish.

There's Mexican Sign Language, Russian Sign Language, Korean Sign Language, etc...

 

[CrapSandwich]

What are you talking about? Facial expressions has ALWAYS been a part of deaf language and culture. How else are you supposed to convey what you mean and how you feel without vocal inflection? Even hearing people use facial expressions to convey these things when they speak.

Sign language interpreters are using much more facial expression communication than they used to. Like, WAY more. They used to do it with mostly neutral expressions and let their hands do the talking.

 

[DeafTourette]

Sign language interpreters are using much more facial expression communication than they used to. Like, WAY more. They used to do it with mostly neutral expressions and let their hands do the talking.

On TV, I guess, when interpreting for government officials... But maybe it's a turning point lately (for TV conferences) because when terps (deaf slang for interpreters) sign in person with deafies, they use their facial expressions.

 

[Elektro Demon]

No. CC doesn't render that irrelevant. Most deaf people don't read English.

The grammar of ASL is different from the grammar of English. Same words, different combinations. Like verb preceding adjective. When you write to a deaf person in English, it is a recipe for misunderstandings.

I've been around deaf people for decades... My son's mom is deaf... This is something I know very well!

Well man, I have no real knowledge about this topic, so I believe you since you have experience with it.

and if the tech fails?

Yeah it's not a good idea.