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https://www.facebook.com/aimediaAUS/videos/ [login to see] 199220/
I was impressed by this presentation. Seems to be a great idea. Then I began to wonder: Is there a basic set of signs that would be useful to military personnel encountering belligerents, civilians, and refugees in a combat zone? I suspect that the ASL wouldn't be appropriate in foreign locales, but are there some universal signs? We were pocket cards when we were deployed to Vietnam to help us communicate with indigenous personnel, but these were largely worthless because they provided English/Vietnamese phrases that we could point to. Sadly, all of the people I encountered in rural areas were illiterate and I was forced to try and read transliterations of the Vietnamese. Inasmuch as inflection can make great differences, especially in Chinese-like languages, my efforts produced much laughter by no real understanding.
I was impressed by this presentation. Seems to be a great idea. Then I began to wonder: Is there a basic set of signs that would be useful to military personnel encountering belligerents, civilians, and refugees in a combat zone? I suspect that the ASL wouldn't be appropriate in foreign locales, but are there some universal signs? We were pocket cards when we were deployed to Vietnam to help us communicate with indigenous personnel, but these were largely worthless because they provided English/Vietnamese phrases that we could point to. Sadly, all of the people I encountered in rural areas were illiterate and I was forced to try and read transliterations of the Vietnamese. Inasmuch as inflection can make great differences, especially in Chinese-like languages, my efforts produced much laughter by no real understanding.
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Posted >1 y ago
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