Tag Archives: Deaf

Black, Deaf, Jamaican-born, and Amazing

Posted on Sunday, 12th February, 2017 by Ken Kwame

It was 2014 when I first met Claudia Gordon, Esq. She had come to Jamaica to do a talk at the University of the West Indies. I was a student of interpreting, come to witness the event, and act as … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreting, JSL | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Mr Multilingual goes camping

Posted on Sunday, 11th September, 2016 by Ken Kwame

For the past 3 years, I’ve been part of a summer camp geared towards bring Deaf and hearing youth together. I enjoy Sign and Speak for Youth every year, and always look forward to it. There is always something new to experience. … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreting, JSL, Languages | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fingerspelling and me

Posted on Sunday, 14th August, 2016 by Ken Kwame

I have a love-hate relationship with the JSL manual alphabet. Sometimes, there’s more hate than love, to be honest. Recently, I found out something that has radically changed my perception of fingerspelling. My friend told me that hearing people tend … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreting, JSL, Languages | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Thoughts on audism

Posted on Sunday, 3rd July, 2016 by Ken Kwame

Audism. It’s a relatively new word, only coined in 1975. But it’s been the reality of the Deaf for a long time. What is is? “The notion that one is superior based on one’s ability to hear or behave in … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreting, JSL, Languages | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Introducing: JSL News and Views (JNV)

Posted on Sunday, 15th May, 2016 by Ken Kwame

One of the greatest struggles of the Deaf in Jamaica is lack of access to information. The local news has neither subtitles nor an interpreter. So, my Deaf friends are often left in the dark as to what’s going on … Continue reading →

Posted in JSL, Languages, Miscellaneous Language Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Alexander Graham Bell, Audism, and Associations for the Deaf

Posted on Sunday, 10th April, 2016 by Ken Kwame

I am not big on reality TV. So if it wasn’t for social media and one of my good friends, I probably wouldn’t even know about Nyle DiMarco. In just about every other sentence as she tells me about Nyle, … Continue reading →

Posted in JSL, Miscellaneous Language Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Writing and Language, Both Signed and Spoken

Posted on Sunday, 27th March, 2016 by Ken Kwame

Last week’s post featured a video log in which the person who posted the vlog stated that ASL is written with English words. While it is true that ASL (and JSL) are often represented with English words, that raised a question that … Continue reading →

Posted in JSL, Languages, Linguistics, Patwa, 汉语 | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why a NATURAL language is important for the Deaf

Posted on Sunday, 20th March, 2016 by Ken Kwame

In Jamaica, there are three major sign systems: Jamaican Sign Language Country Sign Signing Exact English/Manually Coded English The first two are what are called natural languages: They developed from previous incarnations (JSL has been influenced by American Sign Language, British Sign Language, … Continue reading →

Posted in JCS, JSL, Linguistics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Deaf Access to Jamaican TV

Posted on Sunday, 6th March, 2016 by Ken Kwame

This past Thursday, the 3rd of March, 2016, Andrew Holness was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Jamaica. And, fortunately for the Jamaican Deaf community, there was a JSL interpreter made available through picture in picture, so they could … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreting, JSL | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My first time signing a song

Posted on Sunday, 24th January, 2016 by Ken Kwame

One of the fun things about having a blog is that you can track how your opinions evolve. As recently as last year, I would have said I disliked, and was even against hearing people signing songs. All that changed when … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpreting, JSL, Languages, 日本語 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment