ASL Texts for Consecutive Interpreting Practice
This resource provides texts that are designed to support interpreters in their quest to develop competency in interpreting from ASL to English. The videos are both in full speed and 80% speed, and can be viewed in sections that encompass main ideas. This variety of formats allows for honing the skills required to recognize when Consecutive (CI) and Simultaneous (SI) formats are most effective, and how to move along the continuum between CI and SI.
Featuring the language talents of Roger Brown, Debbie Peterson, and Trudy Suggs, descriptions of the texts are listed below.
Skin Deep by Roger Brown and Is Deafness a Disability? by Debbie Peterson are offered for free viewing to see the format of the resources.
Skin Deep
Skin Deep
Roger Brown shares his experience at school as one of the only Black students and how he learned to appreciate the color of his skin.
Making School Choices
Making School Choices
Roger Brown explains how his mother and grandmother made the choices that got him to the Indiana School for the Deaf.
A Trip to the South
A Trip to the South
Roger Brown talks of a trip to South Carolina for his daughter’s graduation and what he learned of the old South during slavery times.
Is Deafness a Disability?
Is Deafness a Disability?
Debbie Peterson shares her reflection on the challenging question of whether being Deaf is a disability or not?
School Desegregation
School Desegregation
Debbie Peterson shares her perspective on the process of desegregation in the last three Deaf schools to go through the process.
A Spiritual Journey
A Spiritual Journey
Debbie tells of her spiritual journey which has helped her to see the difference between religions that are either dogmatic or gnostic.
Grant Writing 101
Grant Writing 101
Trudy Suggs gives a brief overview on the process of writing effective grants.
Can I Speak Now?
Can I Speak Now?
Trudy Suggs gives an ASL version of a 1997 essay for the NAD Monograph explaining the various entities who have claimed to speak for her.
Skin Deep
Roger Brown shares his experience at school as one of the only Black students and how he learned to appreciate the color of his skin. The text is offered in two formats: slow motion (80% speed) and full speed. Each text is also segmented into sections with larger ideas so that you can practice consecutive interpreting.
Step 1: Complete Text – Slow Motion
Step 2:
Step 3: Work with Complete Text Again (Slow Motion)
Now that you have gone through this process and worked with the sections edited for consecutive practice, try interpreting the complete text again. If you wish, you can also review the English outline of the text to support your comprehension before moving to the full speed text.
The complete video is at the top of this page. Click here to return there.
English Outline
English Outline for Skin Deep
If you prefer a PDF version of the outlines with line numbers, download English outlines for Shifting Gears.
- Experience of developing identity at school
- Indiana School for the Deaf
- Racial balance
- Expected a lot of black students
- Discovered mostly white students
- Frustrating to see
- Wanted to become white
- Saw other students in the shower
- Tried to scrub skin until it was white
- Nothing worked
- Hair texture
- Easy for white students to comb
- Own hair was harder to comb
- Sense of frustration
- Finding resolution
- Asked dorm parent
- Explained was trying to scrub skin so it would be white
- Dorm parent explained
- Skin color didn’t matter
- Inside all the same
- Our blood is all the same
- This explanation satisfied me
- No longer attempted to scrub
- Felt comfortable in own skin
Skin Deep
Roger Brown shares his experience at school as one of the only Black students and how he learned to appreciate the color of his skin. The text is offered in two formats: slow motion (80% speed) and full speed. Each text is also segmented into sections with larger ideas so that you can practice consecutive interpreting.
Step 1: Complete Text – Full Speed
Step 2: