TED Community » Sarah Timberman

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About Me

Location:
United States, Vancouver, WA
Current role:
stay at home mom
Gender:
Female
I am:
Concerned citizen, Explorer, Job-seeker, Muslim, Parent, Single
Associations:
American Red Cross, Women for Women International, American Women Veterans, Disabled American Veterans , Veterans For Peace, planned parenthood
Languages:
English, Sign language
Universities:
Portland State University, Portland, OR.
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More About Me

I'm passionate about

putting my daughter first in life, continuing education in any form, Deaf Culture, psychology, Islam, veterans' rights and benefits

Talk to me about

Islam, Deafness/Sign Language, non-traditional military experiences, single parenting, depression/mental health, child rearing, attachment parenting, Okinawa, tattoos/piercings, veterans' benefits

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +0.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • A comment on Conversation: Would you share a straw with a stranger?

    Mar 16 2012: I would share with my mom and my daughter. I have shared with friends and other family, but only because I didn't want to be rude. By share, I mean taking a sip, not an actual shared drinking situation. Ew.

  • A reply on Conversation: What do you think about the future of the sign language?

    Mar 4 2012: It's just like Esperanto, the not very widely used international spoken language. Even if everyone in the world learned it, it would change and adapt locally so quickly that soon it would be nearly unrecognizable to another area. A language, any usage of a language, is in constant change. Each locale may not even realize how they have adapted the language to meet their needs until they meet another group using a different dialect.

    The idea behind even teaching an international pidgin language of any kind is nearly impossible. You would have to have a huge group of people not only trained to speak the language perfectly, but train them to teach the language. Then transport these people all around the world so that everyone has the opportunity to learn it. What about the people who are no longer in a structured educational environment? How would you reach them to teach them this language? Would it be grandfathered into the school system? Just start with a particular age group and begin teaching all the children from then on?

    You could never sustain the momentum that it would take to even begin an endeavor like that. Ease of use has nothing to do with the politics and logistics of implementing an international language. Is it intellectually possible for most people to learn one particular set of pidgin? Yes, but the implementation is not.
  • +1

    A comment on Conversation: What color is your childhood? What color do you see your present? And your future.

    Mar 4 2012: I would say my childhood was brown...not horrible but not warm and comforting. My present would be bright lime green and red, coming into my own personality, beliefs and goals (green) but feeling blocked from currently pursuing them (red). My future is lime green and deep blue...where my excitement in chasing my goals meets the satisfaction (blue) of feeling like I'm accomplishing something important.

  • A comment on Conversation: What do you think about the future of the sign language?

    Mar 4 2012: There was an international sign language created in the 1950s, called Gestuno but it's only about 1500 signs and it's use is very limited.

    All sign languages are so different. I'm fluent in ASL but when I moved to Okinawa I struggled to learn Okinawan sign because so much of it was based on their japanese culture (ie the days of the month were based on historical/cultural activities performed on each day, rather than the first letter of the day as in ASL).

    There is a book written about a deaf woman who knew ASL and moved to a new country and how she thought it would be so easy to communicate with the deaf community there, but found how isolating it was because they really had no signs in common and it was extremely difficult for her to learn the new language. Just because you know one sign language doesn't mean you can easily learn another.

    American Sign Language is very different even around the US, based on the part of the country you're from. Each has it's own special dialects, or accents. The east coast tends to sign extremely quickly compared to the other sections of the US. Some signs are strictly culture based and someone from a different background would be lost.

    No sign language will ever be truly considered an international language. There are too many variables for it to be successful. You may be able to get by with pidgin signs, but that's not an actual language.

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