Nerds discussing comic books and superheroes in American Sign Language (ASL)

[@sign-language]

Hello ASL Heroes!!! Hey, I could really use your help. If you’ve enjoyed having access to an expert in ASL you can help me continue my work for you. A small monthly donation from you would instantly make a big difference here at the studio because teachers don’t earn much and I could use some help paying for server and domain hosting for Lifeprint.com. Right now you can help out a humble (not to mention kind, caring, generous, compassionate, helpful, friendly, fair, and hard-working) ASL teacher -- just go here and a few clicks later you too will be a true “ASL Hero!” www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=64QMBRBXQSV6G Thanks! - Dr. Bill p.s. Want to have your very own USB drive with four semesters worth of ASL instruction (that’s the equivalent of two years of colleges classes) for just $79.95? See "SuperUSB" in the ASLUniversity bookstore at: lifeprint.com/bookstore/bookstore.htm Take care and love to you all. :)

[@whtbout2ndbrkfst]

I tried to watch this video 11 months ago and it was waay over my head, but after watching your videos for the last year and recently watching your super hero series with Casar, I am very excited to say I can now watch and understand all of this!

[@sign-language]

Letting you know, your comment is one of my recent favorites and eventually it will probably be added to the notes section of one of my Lifeprint.com pages. At the moment I'm thinking it would go well with the "To caption or not to caption" page which I use to respond to those people who request captioning on all of my videos. Long story short: I'm pro-captioning but ASL videos (currently) require doing manual captions and it takes many hours of skilled labor to caption a lesson-length video. I'd rather people do as you have done and watch an easier video and work their way up to the harder videos. Next time I update my master playlist I need to move this (Nerds...) video to a position just after the end of the Superpowers series with Cäsar. ------------------------------------------------------------- An ASL student writes: "I tried to watch this video 11 months ago and it was waay over my head, but after watching your videos for the last year and recently watching your super hero series with Casar, I am very excited to say I can now watch and understand all of this!" (Source: whtbout2ndbrkfst (4/21/2022) "Nerds discussing comic books and superheroes in American Sign Language (ASL)," Comment on kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWGTfaB8epytoq8 from a publicly subscribed commenter.)

[@grandglass7208]

I learning ASL like a this lessons everyday. Really love it. I'm watching my eyes shining every time a new lesson comes out. I LOVE ASL FROM JAPAN

[@anairo5341]

私はイタリアからフォローしていて、BillさんのビデオでASLを勉強しています。Billさんが最高です！

[@tiffanycooper8766]

Hello!! I am getting ready to go into ASL3 and I love watching your videos! I've learned a lot of new things that I cant wait to show off to my ASL teacher. Just throwing an idea out there for maybe a future nerd video. Star Wars VS Star Trek!! I'm a Star Wars fan and I would love to see what you would come up with for that one! Take care and thank you for all you do!!

[@TheHouseOffice]

Dr vicars you always make me laugh. Thanks for keeping learning ASL so joyful

[@sign-language]

How to use ASL University to learn sign language for free: 1. Visit Lifeprint.com and become familiar with the ASL University website. 2. Bookmark the official ASLU KZbin master playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL6akqFwEeSpiLwRFA3ZvuOWMwPXwI7NqA 3. For quick reviews (to prevent memory extinction) bookmark the "Signs" channel playlist page: kzbin.infoplaylists 4. If you use a desktop or laptop computer you can look up signs using this page: www.lifeprint.com/search.htm 5. If you use a mobile device you can look up signs using this page: www.lifeprint.com/search/index.htm 6. If you can’t find a sign after using the search options at Lifeprint.com then consider applying to join the Lifeprint-ASLU Facebook group and asking your question there. See: facebook.com/groups/Lifeprint.ASLU/ 7. Go through the ASLU Lessons for free: www.lifeprint.com/asl101/lessons/lessons.htm Your comments, questions, or suggestions are always welcome. To contact Dr. Bill Vicars, see: www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/contact.htm Ways to support the ASL University channel: 1. Click the “thumb up” (like) icon on videos at KZbin.com/billvicars 2. Click the “subscribe” button at KZbin.com/billvicars (if you haven't done so yet) 3. Click the “Share” link and share the videos. 4. Visit the “ASLU” bookstore at www.lifeprint.com/bookstore/bookstore.htm (feel free to suggest new products that you would like to see). 5. Buy some ASL University “official” clothing at: ASLU gear: teespring.com/stores/aslu 6. Subscribe to the ASLU subscription site: asl.tc (For information see: lifeprint.com/asltc/ ) 7. Donate via: www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=64QMBRBXQSV6G 8. For other donation options, see: www.Lifeprint.com/donate.htm If you have any friends who might be in a position to do so you might want to consider inviting them to donate -- thus supporting Deaf children and the promotion of free sign language resources via Lifeprint.com

[@MrsMslackerchic]

This is one of my absolute favorite Lifeprint videos because of the content. I hope with the expanding comic universes you do more in the future!

[@evelyncortus1274]

Such interesting conversations and debates over signs for the superheros!

[@VG_Corey]

I can't stop rewatching this lesson! Thank you for all that you do!

[@ivanvargas-gatica7655]

This exchange looked like a lot of fun, but I think I only got about 50%. I am super rusty. But I really like the work you do, and enjoyed watching your videos when I was studying ASL a couple of years ago. Thanks for making this available to us all, and I look forward to getting my "SuperUSB" in the mail. :-)

[@sign-language]

Thanks Ivan! The "shipping department" (heh, my wife) will get that in the mail within a week or so. (Or when she feels like it.)

[@ivanvargas-gatica7655]

@@sign-language , thanks a lot again, and for the dose of humor you put into your lessons. Really enjoyable to learn that way, and looking forward to more of your work. :-)

[@foxxxy1115]

This is awesome! Thanks again Dr. Bill!

[@smaster15]

I love watching this vid! Thank you, Bill!

[@suzannehedderly1331]

Very interesting. I could not have named that many super heroes.

[@catimari7879]

are y’all making these up on the spot or were these already accepted signs? some of them look improvised haha

[@sign-language]

Cat, This particular video is a labeled as a "discussion" (rather than a lesson) due to lots of protologisms and neologisms floating around in this session. I've got Deaf in the audience (in addition to my usual advanced ASL students) and a CODA (Rhett) up front with me as we kick around "ideas" and often settle on the fact there is no good sign (*Yet!) for certain heros and end up "spelling" the name or part of the name. Iron Man is a good example. I show a "joke" sign for him. ("Ironing Man!") but that was "strictly a joke" and realistically there is no perfect or widespread sign for "Iron Man" (yet) so we end up fingerspelling "iron" and then signing man. The goal of this video is to put out there some of the various versions we all have seen or think might work well. I very much liked Rhett's version of "Batman!" -Dr. Bill

[@imunique10]

i love the super hero topic, but i wish i could see the class input too. And what about LOKI!!! ? my favorite

[@sign-language]

Oh hey "Tom Hiddleston" really did a lot for that character (Loki) eh? One of my favorite all time scenes ever is when he did the little flip of the daggers.

[@Fullofbull58]

What was the student’s name? I couldn’t figure out the finger spelling.

[@GT4tube]

That cool, i do know ASL Alphabet but i can't see when fast Sign Hands (Alphabet) lol..

[@le2458]

Hi Dr. Bill! Thank you so much for all of these incredible videos- learning ASL through you has been a real joy. I thought I would ask on this video since it seems relevant and I apologize if you've already been over this and I missed it- I was wondering how you would differentiate different genres of books, like if you wanted to say you like fiction but distinguishing that from fantasy? I know the sign for myth, dream, invent etc but I don't know if you would just have to sign f-i-c-t-i-o-n. And would non-fiction be the sign for "true" combined with book?

[@sign-language]

QUESTION: How you would differentiate different genres of books, like if you wanted to say you like fiction but distinguishing that from fantasy? I know the sign for myth, dream, invent etc but I don't know if you would just have to sign f-i-c-t-i-o-n. And would non-fiction be the sign for "true" combined with book? ANSWER: Fiction: On first reference spell it out and add the sign INVENTED. Or sign FALSE. Fantasy: If you are going to sign INVENTED to mean fiction you can distinguish the sign FANTASY by using a two-handed alternating movement first with your dominant hand and then with your non-dominant hand. Nonfiction: can be signed as NOT INVENTED (as in non made up). Or sign NOT FALSE. For a new audience consider spelling out "nonfiction" on first reference and then adding NOT INVENTED. After the first time there is no need to keep spelling it out. Some people might spell "non" and sign FALSE. That seems a bit awkward to me but it works. If someone doesn't understand what "nonfiction" means -- sure you can expand by adding "THAT MEAN STORY TRUE-BIZ HAPPEN" For an example of "true-biz" see: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoWToGuGZaeHr6M

[@le2458]

@@sign-language Thank you SO much, this was immensely helpful!!

[@jasonhull9154]

Thanks so much for this superhero video; another ASL video directed me to it. It's great for superhero geeks like me. As a lifelong, diehard, "forever fan" of Wonder Woman, trust me on this: use the "Bullets and Bracelets" motion to sign her. (Cross your arms and then move them as if deflecting bullets with your bracelets.) Anyone even remotely familiar with the character will know immediately who you are signing about. ;-)

[@sign-language]

Just checking -- does this version look like the "deflect bullets" version to which you are referring? See: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmG5e4KarKadh6s

[@jasonhull9154]

@@sign-language That's it! That's Wonder Woman through and through! :-)

[@sign-language]

Excellent! Thanks for the feedback!

[@mewho6199]

I can't understand this now, but I'm saving it for later.

[@sign-language]

I like that attitude!

[@strangerthanstring4431]

So enjoyable! Thank you!

[@jamesburvant3376]

re Nightcrawler, Wikipedia says the onomatopoeia was originally BAMPF and now is almost always BAMF. also, it did originate with Nightcrawler but is now used widely in comics

[@sign-language]

James, If Stan (The Man!) Lee were still here in in body (in addition to spirit) he'd let you know that your "no-prize" is on the way. - Dr. Bill

[@Fred-h4p]

You know in Michigan your sign for "Metal" is how we sign "Trash". I confirmed it with several local Deaf. The sign for "Metal" here is tap chin twice with X hand fingernail. When I showed them your sign for "Garbage", they thoght I was signing elbow. There was another one I got scolded for a couple times, but it slipped my mind. I'll share it when it comes to me. Still 99% of the signs I use in convo with Deaf I learned from you. Thank you. I am HH by the way. Convos with the hearing world never went well for me, but now I have nice convos with a few different Deaf. This was a fun lesson.

[@sign-language]

Oh hey, as a lexicographer I "love" all the variations there in Michigan. My recommendation is for you to keep a "diary" or "log" of the differences. Then later on email me or contact me with your findings and I'll see if I can add them to the "notes" section of my various pages. I recommend you compare the versions of signs you learn in Michigan with the following websites: 1. Handspeak.com 2. Spreadthesign.com 3. ASLPro.com and of course my site or channel. Check out: 4. lifeprint.com/search.htm (That is a temporary page but should be posted for a while). Regardless of how the rest of the world signs something, you should sign it how your local native Deaf adult population signs it! (When in Rome and all that jazz.) Also, I'm going to build a page at Lifeprint.com specifically for notes regarding the regional variations there in Michigan. I'm sure that most folks locally will chafe (be rubbed wrong) by someone calling "their" version a "regionalism" (or regional version) as opposed to it being "THE" way to sign it. Everyone likes to think their way is the "right way." These days I don't think of "any" of my signs as "right" any more -- simply the version I see used most often in the greatest number of areas. As time goes on I occasionally have to move a version higher or lower on my individual sign pages at Lifeprint to reflect the increased or decreased popularity of a sign over time. Warm regards! - Dr. Bill Michigan Sign Language (MiSL) vs U.S.-wide American Sign Language American Sign Language has a lot of "regional versions" wherein the sign used for a concept in a particular region or location doesn't match the sign that is used for that concept more generally throughout the rest of the American Sign Language community. Michigan has a number of "regionalisms" that are significantly different from how much of the rest of the ASL signers sign. This is not a matter of right and wrong. It is simply a fact of how language works. I will list a few examples here that have been shared with me by various people who live in or are from Michigan. Keep in mind that language changes. I'm not going to claim first hand knowledge of the MiSL versions of these signs -- simply that I have been told directly by people who "do" live in and/or are from Michigan. I'm 100% totally happy to adjust or add versions to this list if supported by significant Deaf-centric input. (Meaning, I'm not overly interested in what Hearing students recall having learned since they often recall things differently from what they were actually taught. Rather I respect and value the input of Deaf folks who live in the target region and use sign language as their main form of interactive in-person communication on a regular basis). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GARBAGE or TRASH:ASL version: Looks like showing the outline of a garbage bag Comment from someone in the Lifeprint-ASLU FB group: 1. This is the sign I was taught for garbage, which looks awfully similar to the sign for episcopalian (which is my denomination). The first time I learned this sign for trash I was like "Are you calling my religion trash?" Haha! Now, I'm interning in Florida and they use the claw hand on the side of the head. I was a little relieved. MiSL version: Loose claw hand banging on the corner of the forehead. Note: Comment from Lifeprint-ASLU FB group: 1. In my area, people use the cabbage sign (claw hand on side of head) for garbage. 2. Funny story - I'm from the Pacific NW, where that sign just means "cabbage/lettuce". I went to RIT for college, where my roommate eventually asked me to "throw out the abbage/lettuce". I was very confused because there was no lettuce or cabbage anywhere in our room! Finally, she pointed to the trash can and signed "cabbage/lettuce" again, so I looked inside... still no lettuce or cabbage! I was so confused! haha Then I finally learned that it was another sign for "garbage/trash". Whoops! 3. Someone commented that the X moving forward from under the chin means "trash" in Michigan. At least one Deaf person in Michigan thought the ASL sign for garbage meant "elbow." METAL: ASL version: An "X" moving forward from under the chin.MiSL version: An "X" tapping the front of the chin. ELBOW:ASL version: Tap the elbow MiSL version: (probably the same but if someone signs "garbage" the person from Michigan might perceive it as elbow). INJURY: ASL version: Uses two index fingers and twists or jabs them toward each other MiSL version: Twists the thumb tip of an open-A hand on the chin. (See: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZ7UqnuPjNp5mZI ) Note, regarding the MiSL regional version: Comments at the Lifeprint-ASLU FB group mentioned: 1. "I’m in Michigan too. I usually see it with an “x” handshape. Usually meaning sore or ache." 2. "Learned this as sign for hurt in late 90s, once for hurt double movement for suffer. In Maryland." 3. "Costello shows it for HURT, related to patience/suffer/tolerate group of signs." 4. "I have been taught this one, here in Canada. We have a lot of variation due to people going to school in various places." 5. "Nope never seen it used in SW Louisiana or SE Texas" 6. "I see it and use it for SORE/HURT but definitely not for INJURY." [End for now.]

[@Fred-h4p]

@@sign-language That sounds like a fun project. I will do my best to remember and jot them down. Sometimes I find myself trying to remember what that sign was they told me was wrong. Right, we do sign elbow when we point to the elbow here, too. That is what a couple thought I was doing when I quickly drew the bag under my arm to demonstrate ASL's GARBAGE. I explained further why it is that sign and they understand the concept but indicated it wasn't for them. I have not seen the claw hand to the head for Garbage before and I think it's interesting that the group of Michigan Deaf I was asking how to sign TRASH didn't show me that one. Perhaps there is some Regionalism inside Regionalism as well? That will keep us on our toes, eh?

[@sign-language]

Fred, Right .. "in-group" signing as a subset of regionalized signing, as a subset of nation-wide signing, as a subset of "sign language" world-wide. (My wife and I even have some signs that only she and I use with each other, heh.) Sort of like one of those Russian "matryoshka" (or babushka) dolls. - Dr. Bill

[@shawnrichardson6238]

You will have to ask Rick Taylor aka Ridor9th about the name sign for Green Lantern because he is a huge fan of that superhero 🦸‍♂️

[@Jason7R]

This was awesome!!! I have a long way to go but it's going to be fun!

[@Peiger]

The NERDterpreters here in KC have worked with the DHH people here and have some local name signs! Feel free to attend the convention in March!!! Planet Comicon KC. Deaf Friendly! Interpreters on the main floor the entire weekend!

[@sign-language]

Paige! That is awesome! Keep up the great work!

[@suzum5689]

I like the letter W, twice near the chest, for Wonder Woman, rather than the sign for 'wonder'.

[@sign-language]

I liked that too and I kept thinking about it. It influenced my thinking and currently I like the idea of forming a two-handed W (out of thumbs and index fingers) and then tapping the "W" to the chest.

[@suzum5689]

@@sign-language oh! That's a pretty cool one! Well, as long as you are not trying to communicate in the theater with pop and popcorn in your hands.....POOOF!!!

[@sign-language]

On the bright side, after I have a mouthful of popcorn I can put the popcorn container down and still communicate with my wife via signing (even with my mouth full of popcorn).

[@suzum5689]

@@sign-language Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! And THAT makes everything Right, again. As long as you remember to place your pop in the cup holder and keep your hands free, by leaning forward and drinking from the straw. And keep your hands dry from the condensation on the cup, so you don't flick her in the face with water as you communicate.

[@kellyrodono7005]

Glad to see a handsome man to your side. Thank you from all the girls !

[@MrFutureTerp]

Y'all forgot one of the most important: CAPE? 😔

[@sign-language]

Indeed! I'll have to add "cape" to a future video. Heck...I should start wearing a cape while teaching. It would need to be black to match the rest of my costume. Or maybe silver. Silver and black go well together.

[@MrFutureTerp]

@@sign-language I agree! 💯 percent! 🙌🏾👏🏾

[@chaz72987]

Hulk is color green with strong arm and angry face!

[@NeverStopFightingBack2024]

Adorable nerds :)

[@kristencullen11]

What about stone man sign language? Wonder women, cat women, armican captain, fireman,elastic man,investable man,ice man,still have more characters

[@sign-language]

Those are good ideas for future videos!

[@cyfalk9840]

More asl and nerd concepts please lol

[@Tiffany-wx9qc]

This lesson is a bit too advanced for me right now 🙃but I'm still admiring the handsome student :)

[@caileyburnett7464]

This is SO helpful to a nerd like me^^

[@Luna-ft8yh]

This is so much fun to watch. But HOW fast can you spell?? Wow I'm never gonna be able to read this :D.. Well challenge accepted

[@geneselefkowitz282]

Luna Ray Davis there is a button to slow the playing speed. I do that sometimes with fingerspelling

[@jenpurcell1022]

Sometimes I just hit the back arrow on the keyboard and keep rewinding the fingerspelling until I get it. Sometimes I slow down the playback AND rewind.

[@tstarrodriguez4333]

Aqua Spanish mean water . Aqua man - Water man .

[@traetee]

Yep this gonna be hard lol

[@stephaniehawkins770]

Fun😆

[@thiernodeaftandine9839]

Deaf yes ok