Monthly Archives: Apr 2018

 

Robin Williams’ quote from the Dead Poet’s Society. It is an excellent message to everyone and to spread the positive message rather the negative message.

Many people with disabilities have been let down than a small number of people with disabilities around the world. Look at Robin – did you know that he had got disabilities or not? The answer was YES. He suffered from depression/anxiety, Parkinson Disease, Mental Illness, alcohol/drug addictions, ADD (Attention deflect disorder) and to DYSLEXIA. Wow!

The Deaf people in the community – they struggle to communicate with other people in the community, not in their own Deaf community. Why? Average people who does not have experience or a limit of understanding in sign language out there while other people thinks we sign like ‘monkey gestures’. Often the people are really clueless on what is Deaf and sign language mean to you.

We – the Deaf people, were lucky to have the ability to communicate in a loud noisy room, through the window, across the room or the road, having a sore throat or a person come from Sweden. Anyone who have hearing, they will struggle to understand what a person was talking about in a loud noisy room, unable to speak if they have a sore throat etc.

Did you know that sign language was the first language before speaking or writing?

The earliest written records of a sign language can be found in the fifth century BC in Plato’s Cratylus. Moving on to the sixty century A.D., there was another sign language recorded in the Bible – The first chapter of the Gospel of Luke: Luke:1:62. Fast forward to the 1980’s in New Zealand, our sign language family is BANZSL and BANZSL stand for British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language. This sign language may be considered dialects of a single language by using the same grammar, manual alphabet and the high degree of lexical overlap. I won’t go further to explain this lingiustic area.

World Sign Language Family

What I am saying that sign language is a visual language or method of communcation. How hard or easy for anyone to learn to communicate in sign language? Do not be put off if you do not know how to communicate with any Deaf person.  No other person will tell any Deaf person to speak than sign. What is Robin saying in the message – start learning the new words by sign language and you will be surprise that you sign naturally by asking for a pen or to drive. That is the sign language we use daily.

fund raising for my project on Deaf History

 

 

Mm, the quote in the photo may not be correct for any Blind person or any Deaf person.. perhaps I can re write the quote as follow in “Kindness is a language the blind can hear and the deaf can see.”

The NZSL Week run from the 7th to 13th of May this year. Reflecting back to the 6th of April 2006, the parliamentary bill need to approve the NZSL passed its third reading on the 6th of April 2006. The bill received Royal Assent, (a constitutional formality), on the 10th of April 2006. New Zealand Sign Language became an official language of New Zealand the day after the Royal Assent.

Today there are three languages which are Māori, NZSL and English in New Zealand.

This morning I took a deaf with speech impaired and CP man for his shopping and banking at Westfield Shopping Centre, Chartwell and Pak n Save. Several people including children were watching us in signing conversation. We were not bothered by people and children staring us, because they do not realise or to understand very little about sign language. The staff ask me to reply what are the signs such as in thank you, help, foods, and please. Then the team responded back to the deaf man in signs and his face lighted up and smiled.

 

I was reading the article about William Shakespeare in the newspaper at the Physiotherapy clinic and the date of my appointment for the physio was on the 23rd of April. What the fuss was about Shakespeare? The fuss about him, was the celebrated of his birthday – April 1564. The four hundred fifty-four years to this year since his birth.

One of his quotes, I recalled – “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

During my holiday stays in United Kingdom, I returned to Warwickshire where my cousins live there many times.  I revisited the village called Stratford-upon-Avon and William Shakespeare who was born and died there. It was a lovely village and the village draw many people who love Shakespeare, and to learn and understand his works every years. I bought the complete works of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon because we did not have these kind of books in Waikato, New Zealand many years ago.

I studied the Old English Language paper at University of Waikato and two professors gave us presentations about Shakespeare. These two professors have got disabilities – one born with disability and second have got a family member who have disability.

Why I choose to study the Old English language?  I wanted to understand why language keep changing from the past to present, is English Language culturally diverse, do everyone understand each other in writing or speaking even sign language?

Helena:
“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (I, i, 234)

Why Shakespeare? I never learn to read Shakespeare at the school and the teacher of the Deaf children thought it would be hard for any Deaf children/teenagers to understand his works.  That was a long time ago. I took up my courage to study his works and learnt to understand his language from his works. It was a bit of challenged for me to understand what he wrote the poems and the plays like Macbeth, Hamlet or King Lear. In the early days, the English grammar, spelling and pronunciation were less standardised than they are now.

Another person came along – Samuel Johnson and he was a lexicographer along with English writer, literacy critic and other roles. Johnson and George Steevens created The Plays of William Shakespeare – 18th century edition. Johnson and Steevens tried to re write the English language in order for everyone to understand Shakespeare’s writing. JOHNSON’S WORK ON SHAKESPEARE

Moving on – What about in the Deaf community? Can anyone understand Shakespeare’s plays with sign language or not?

Yes, there are few Deaf people understand his plays through using sign language. Here is a link. Sign Language in Shakespeare’s plays

Lastly, I am still pondering whether Shakespeare does have any mental illness despite on violence, torture or murder even hatred in the plays or not? mm

I was walking around the fields in our home. Many leaves are turning into brown, red or orange from green leaves. The Autumn season has arrived here.

The most massive liquidambar tree stand out in the middle of the ground, (in the second photo), showing much display of colourful leaves.

We sit down and have meals with drinks under this tree over a long Summer day. Our dogs love to sunbathe and to rest under the tree while we were doing gardening jobs.

During my travelling days to Europe, Uk, Ireland and Canada, I travelled during the late Summer and Autumn seasons because it was cheaper to book and visit many places. The Autumn season was the best time and the beautiful colour of leaves everywhere I go. During my stays in Ireland, I learnt one of the famous poets, and it was John Keats. He wrote the poem called Autumn.

John Keats – Autumn