Re: Funny but True about Deaf Culture! (open captioned)

[RootbeerNINJA]

You can always ask for a translation if you need one. But it is important to understand that ASL is not english; It is American Sign Language, not English Sign Language. Like every foreign language, it has it's own grammar and syntax rules, and there are concepts that do not easily translate into another language. it's also important to note that not all deaf individuals are bilingual. Some individuals are purely ASL; just like u can't translate into Japanese, they can't translate into English.

[trehuginhipee1]

You do make a good point. If the goal of the person signing a video is to make a story about their culture known to other people, then they should caption it, but the majority of videos on youtube do not have captioning for deaf people. Apparently you clicked on their video for a reason, so try another video. Also, and this is not meant offensively to any Deaf person, BUT, deaf people do not always have the best english grammar, so you may not understand their point even if it is captioned.

[gilichtniche]

I get the frustration, but with so many languages, should English be how the web is captioned? Why not Spanish? I dont know. Personally, I would love to see all captions in sign. I just love signing. There is a freedom of expression in signing that I have found in no other language... and no, I did not first get interested in Deaf culture, and had never even met a deaf person when I took an ASL class for a humanities credit and fell in love with the freedom I found in the language, so I study.

[Bunjer]

I know why deaf people dont caption their signed vblogs on there.. its extremely tough to translate ASL to English.. its a whole lot easier to translate English to ASL.. its even a big advantage or a difference.. so again.. i apologize in behalf of the deaf community even if I am Deaf myself.. but give us some time and am sure some are on a guilt trip and not sure why they haven't.. but when it comes to captioning their own.. it will be a challenge. I have another reason.. will (continue this)

[growlwolf1]

I am sad too.. i am deaf... I cannot clear hear on other video or tv show Look... I want u to tell everyone about this To use C.C. People need to know all information...... Thanks man but Don't be sad again... Hope Future will change the system :)

[tischrina]

I think you make a very good point. I am a hearing person who is trying to learn ASL and learn about deaf culture so I watch lots of videos in sign language. It would be so helpful to me and other ASL students if the signs were captioned so that we might learn new signs :)

Captioning can help bridge the gap between the hearing world and the deaf world if respected and used by both sides.

[deafdub]

First of all, thank you for captioning your vlog. I am one of the people who watch videos in sign language.

No, you were not harsh at all, in my view. You were just stating your case.

You make an excellent point about preaching to the converted.

I've only made one vlog, and it is not captioned. Why? I simply don't know how. So I just opted to give a summary of what I said.

In the future, I will write a transcript.

Thanks once again.

[Rannensmom]

If you were really interested in the content of the video instead of just arguing and making these demands, you could have asked the author for a written manuscript.

And FYI, captioning is NOT equivalent to equal access for the Deaf. What you offer is still YOUR language, just in a written form. If you REALLY wanted it to be fair, you'd have your blog interpeted.

BTW I'm hearing and I understood the blog fine. In fact I used it to practice for my ITP voicing final for the quarter.

[ATWolf89]

Oops. I was trying to reply to OregonBLB's post:

"There is nothing wrong with speaking exclusively in one's own language. It is a little silly, though, to use that language to complain that those who don't know it don't understand you.

If change is what you want, act so as to bring about change. If change is not what you want, be careful not to complain when things stay the same. People are probably going to learn about Deaf culture first, then decide to learn ASL, not the other way around.

[cedry123]

I must say, most of the comments on here are correct.

HOWEVER, I see many videos on YouTube that have the storyline in the sidetext. I appreciate thos videos greatly. But in the end, I must say, EVERYONE should learn more than one language in order to better communicate between people. I know many deaf people who read other languages. ASL and English for a start (but also Japanese, several African dialects, and French, etc).

ANYONE who expects others to speak THEIR single language is...wrong.

[forestxfaerie]

deaf people cannot learn how to hear. hearing people CAN learn how to read sign language. thats my answer to this

[OriginalBeauji]

not everybody can learn other languages. it isn't easy, it isn't easy to access and it isn't realistic to assume they can/will...

I think the point is to understand what is being said as best as possible

[docsavage20]

I assume they intentionally left out captioning, they want it to only be accessible to those who sign. Another example of the tendency of humans to become factionalized.

[OriginalBeauji]

there are loads of videos on youtube that are not captioned in any language

[JimmyLime]

p.s. I forgot to mention the amount of time it would take a deaf person to translate their videos from ASL to English. its so easy for us Hearing people to put words to our language because its the same. ASL and English are completely different and to expect a deaf person to take the time out of their day for your convenience is a little ridiculous

[JimmyLime]

I see your point. I am hearing, and on my way to become an asl interpreter. It is not the duty of the deaf person to caption everything that they say. hearing people are always expecting more from the deaf person. they expect them to read lips, and learn how to talk. hearing people sometimes dont realize that ASL is a completely different language. it is not a mirror language of the english language. It has its own word syntax and placement. Its like asking a european to translate their videos

[HiddenPoet13]

Learn ASL then. Its not that hard, It's like someone learning another language.

Its almost as if your commenting on a video that was in, say German. Would you be doing this if it were in German rather than ASL?

Also, Deaf people are not limited by not hearing. I suggest reading "DEAF in America Voices from a culture".

[rflorer]

When you caption your videos do you caption in Spanish, French, German or any other foreign language? ASL is a foreign language just like those I mentioned. I'm hearing yet I have 6 ASL videos posted. I didn't post them for hearing people to understand. I posted them so my family can see me and so Deaf people can respond and give me feedback on how I can improve my learning of their language.

[OregonBLB]

I would love to see a little written note on a ribbon below audiocaptioned ASL videos:

"If you're only hearing this, you may not be getting my whole message! LEARN ASL!"

[OregonBLB]

I think we who don't sign also have to remember that ASL is a totally different language. It takes far more effort to make a faithful translation from sign into written English than to simply write out an oral English piece.

Also, translation may give the false impression that readers are getting the entire message of an ASL piece, when the entire message just doesn't translate.

When translation is appropriate, it would be appreciated, though!

[Rfc1394]

I think it was said that you could drop about 1/3 of the words in an article and still get the gist of the idea. I know I sometimes miss words when I caption my videos, but I think the major points do get across. Maybe I didn't say it in this one, but I pointed out in some video I made that if the comments made are only relevant to the deaf community, that's a different matter.

[OregonBLB]

There is some truth in that. Nevertheless, it is up to the poster whether putting out the "gist of the idea" is sufficient. Who the poster wants to communicate with, and how, is the poster's choice.

To communicate is a gift, whether one is posting or paying attention to a post. Your message was worth putting out there, but we aren't entitled to have YouTube posters post in a format we can understand. We can only ask.

[OregonBLB]

"To caption or not to caption?" depends on several things:

Who's your audience? A wider audience isn't always the goal.

Does the poster feel comfortable with translating or having someone else doing that for them? If the message is very personal, they may not. Or maybe they're just throwing something out and don't want to put in that effort. That should be OK.

Does the message translate well into writing? Better not to caption than to distort via translation.

[rosalindakc]

When hearing people caption ALL their videos, movies, commercials, then Deaf people may caption their videos, but...honestly... who's fault is it that you don't know sign language? YOURS! Seriously, should all those who speak different languages who use YouTube caption their videos in English so you can understand. I think not. I think if you are interested in learning about Deaf culture, then get a book or learn sign language so you can learn from Deaf people.

[Rfc1394]

So I guess your opinion is that you think the hearing community should not know what your people have to say. And your comment is on the order of someone saying that they'll stop killing in a war as soon as the other side does. My point is that she was delighted to see a movie that was open captioned, but fails to do the same for her own video.

[Rfc1394]

Further, I have captioned my video so that others can understand me. It's my responsibility to make myself understood. It's not my responsibility to learn how to read sign language. I don't particularly care about what the deaf community has to say, if they choose not to want to tell me about it. Someone was excited about open captioning. Not telling the rest of us why does not allow us to understand what we can do to allow the deaf community to better understand what we are saying.

[OregonBLB]

There is nothing wrong with speaking exclusively in one's own language. It is a little silly, though, to use that language to complain that those who don't know it don't understand you.

If change is what you want, act so as to bring about change. If change is not what you want, be careful not to complain when things stay the same. People are probably going to learn about Deaf culture first, then decide to learn ASL, not the other way around.

[ATWolf89]

Couldn't agree more. Sometimes I get frustrated with vlogs because many of them complain about how the deaf are discriminated against by hearing people, or how the hearing dont appreciate ASL or Deaf culture, etc. Yet they dont caption or voice their videos.

Hmmm. How do they expect hearing folks to do anything about said discrimination if the hearing can't understand what is being signed?

Also, before folks start ragging on me- I'm deaf. And I am learning ASL. And I am not an audist.

[ATWolf89]

To be fair, though, I don't know how difficult or time-consuming captioning is. And many vlogs are deliberately limited to a particular audience who knows sign. No problem with that.

However, communication is a two-way street. If you want to reach a particular audience, you need to make yourself clear to that audience as best as you can, in a language THEY understand. This applies to anyone, whether Spanish, German, deaf, hearing, or little green aliens from Mars. ;)

[ATWolf89]

Couldn't agree more. Sometimes I get frustrated with vlogs because many of them complain about how the deaf are discriminated against by hearing people, or how the hearing dont appreciate ASL or Deaf culture, etc. Yet they dont caption or voice their videos.

Hmmm. How do they expect hearing folks to do anything about said discrimination if the hearing can't understand what is being signed?

Also, before folks start ragging on me- I'm deaf. And I am learning ASL. And I am not an audist.

[OregonBLB]

The question is not just whether non-ASL users should be interested in Deaf culture. Rfc1394 is asking whether the Deaf are interested in interesting non-ASL users in Deaf culture. If the others aren't interested, do the Deaf care if that ever changes?

I think that audio-translations which could be turned off on later viewings by those learning sign would make it more likely that people would use your videos to learn sign and about Deaf culture, not less. That's your choice, though.