Years ago at UC-Berkeley (1985) I took a summer class from Susan Rutherford about Deaf culture and sign language. The class was taught in English, but a few deaf students enrolled in the class, so it was signed as well.

It was an eye opener. From that time, I've always had an interest in sign language. Most of you know I have an avocation for languages. Some of you think it comes easy for me. Yes and no. To learn something well in life, you have to have a passion and commitment for it. Through the exciting breakthroughs and the frustrating (but necessary plateaus), language learning has always been satisfying for me, because it opens up an entirely different world of thought, patterns, and ideas. In the 1970's I learned Hebrew in a kibbutz immersion program. I was reasonably proficient, but not completely fluent. In the mid 90's I took Hawaiian immersion in Hilo for three years. I became more fluent in this language. My purpose for learning it was to assist Hawaiian language students find information on library shelves. These days I don't speak the language every day, but I do know how to properly pronounce and spell any Hawaiian word. One drawback to Hawaiian was the fact that everyone I learned with spoke English, so there was always the temptation to switch to English if we weren't understanding one another.

I am now learning American Sign Language. I attend a class at Kapi'olani Community College when my work schedule permits. I've met some of the interpreters on the island, two teachers from the Hawai'i School for the Deaf and Blind, and other signers. I study a lot on my own, and try to learn between 5-10 new signs per day.

Technology has opened up the world for deaf folks. There are hundreds of vlogs in which deaf and hard-of-hearing people can express whatever they want in American Sign Language. I am looking at some of those - for example, there's a Web site for the San Diego Deaf Surfers. I've learned signs not in sign language dictionaries, such as swell, wave height, surfer, as well as signs for various weather and surf conditions.

I graduated in August with a degree I'll probably never use professionally. I go through periods where I was happy to have spent the time doing the MA, traveling to Yap, and writing my thesis... and other times where I felt it I should have spent my time doing something else (when I have this thought, I ask myself "but what?" and when nothing comes to mind, I feel better about having done the work).

In my lifelong avocation for studying both language and language theory and acquisition, I've never parlayed my interest or talent into a career possibility until now.

I'm a 52-year old guy learning a new language. My age is one strike against me, but I know that the human mind can do just about anything it wants if there is determination, a plan, and a reasonable set of outcomes and expectations.

My dream is to become an ASL Interpreter. I've always thought simultaneous interpretation was "cool." To be able to hear one language (especially one with a different Subject - Verb - Object order) and quickly interpret it into another language which is structurally different (say, Hawaiian, for example with a Verb - Subject - Object order) is no mean feat. And one must capture the mood and feeling of the speaker. Not just anyone can do this.

And just because you speak two languages fluently doesn't mean you can provide simultaneous interpretation between the two.

So...Can I do it? Can I learn a new language and learn how to interpret spoken English into ASL?

Stay tuned.