Complaining, Making
Suggestions and Requests
Unit 12
Based on Signing Naturally Level 2, Unit 14
Unit 12
Unit 12
Major Goals
• Complain about and respond to ailments &
illness, people, and pets
• Make and respond to suggestions and
requests
• Use recurring and continuous time
inflections
• Use conditional sentences
• Use role-shifting and characterization in
narratives
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Ailments &
Illnesses
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Pain
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Cramps
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Cough
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Have-a-cold
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Sore-throat
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Itching, itchy
Show scratching on itchy area of the body
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Feel-tired
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Don’t feel good
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Fever / temperature
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Swollen
(use CL over swollen area, or describe area first)
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Toss-and-turn - “didn’t sleep well”
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Have-an-upset-stomach, nausea
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Vomit
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Feel-dizzy
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Diarrhea
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Redness
Show where redness on red part of body
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Rash
Describe dots on area of body that has the rash
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Feel-sore
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Feel-lousy
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Concern
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“What’s wrong?”
“Are you ok?”
“Are you alright?”
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Sign at least six different
sentences telling about an
illness using the format
below.
Time
Person
Yesterday
Me
Last
month
(name)
Saturday
Aunt
Last year
Mom
Last week
Cousin
…
My friend
Brother
Describe
illness
(use chart
on right)
…
…
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Empathy /
Sympathy
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“No way, really? Oh, that’s too bad”
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Awful!
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“Wow, too bad.”
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“Oh, I know…”
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Suggestions
(offer advice)
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Finish – “did you already try…?”
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Why + not - “Why not try…?”
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Need – “You should…”
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Remedies
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Medicine
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Take-pill
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Spoon-in-medicine
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Medicine dropper
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Rub-on-lotion
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Lie-down, rest
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Go see doctor
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“Making Suggestions About Health”
Dialogue Format
Dialogue format –
Signer A: Express concern
Signer B: Complain about present
condition
Signer A: Show empathy, make
suggestion
Signer B: Respond
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“Fast Forward…”
A game for modifying signs
1. Everyone stands in a circle
2. Each person thinks of one sign they like, then
take turns signing it.
3. Now change the sign in the following ways:
•Sign it big
•Sign it fast
•Sign it slow
•Sign it low
•Sign it high
•Sign it small
•Repeat it many
times
•Sign it backwards
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•Sign it privately
•Sign it cheerfully
•Sign it sadly
•Sign it crazy
•Sign it surprised
•Sign it angrily
•Sign it
emphatically
•Sign it doubtfully
Recurring and Continuous
Inflections
An inflection is a change or modification in the way
a sign is moved. When signing about illnesses,
symptoms can happen repeatedly or continuously.
Use a time sign and modify the movement of a sign
for an illness or a symptom to explain how it has
affected someone. Use NMS to show intensity or
severity.
recurring
continuous
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Examples of Recurring/Continuous
Inflections #1
uninflected
recurring
continuous
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Examples of Recurring/Continuous
Inflections #2
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Examples of Recurring/Continuous
Inflections #3
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Always use NMS with inflections!
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Time signs:
recurring
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Every-morning
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Every-afternoon
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Every-night or evening, nightly
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Everyday, daily, “day after day”
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Every-week, weekly, “week after
week”
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Every-month, monthly, “month after
month”
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Every-hour, hourly, “hour after
hour”
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Up-until-now often – “It has
happened frequently”
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Time signs:
Continuous
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All-morning
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All-afternoon
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All-night
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All-day
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All-week
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All-month
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All-hour, for one entire hour
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Uninflected, Continuous or
Recurring?
Signing Naturally 2, Unit 14
On the video, you will see 18 sentences, each
with an uninflected or inflected verb sign
indicating how often the activity has occurred.
On the handout, circle which verb form is used
in the sentence. Also note how the time signs
agree with the inflections.
Unit 12
Translate the following sentences into ASL using
recurring or continuous time signs and inflections.
1. Every afternoon I
have a headache.
2. On Mondays, I’m
tired.
3. I get a cold/runny
nose every 3 months
or so.
4. Once a year I get a
sore throat.
1. All afternoon I had a
headache.
2. I was tired all day
Monday.
3. For 3 months I’ve
had a cold/runny
nose!
4. For a whole year my
throat has been
sore.
Classifier Practice-“At the Garage”
Purpose: Using Classifiers and mime without fingerspelling
For this game, pretend you are in a foreign country. Your
car has a problem, and you need to communicate what is
wrong, but you can neither speak nor sign to the
mechanic. You can use acting, gesturing and
handshapes to describe the problem with your car.
Each person gets a card with a car problem. Take turns
being the customer and the mechanic until everybody has
had a chance to be both. The mechanic shows that
he/she understands by facial expression and mimicking or
repeating what the customer has described.
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“At the Garage” - Car Problems
Turn signals won’t work
One headlight is burned out
Car won’t start
Headlights are very dim at night
Can’t shift into reverse
Horn doesn’t work
Over 50 mph, the car shakes a lot
Sunroof leaks
Engine dies when the car stops
moving (stop light, stop sign)
High beam lights don’t work
Engine light showing on the
dashboard
Need an oil change, check oil
Water is leaking under the driver’s
seat when it rains
Heater doesn’t work; it blows cold air
Car overheated and steam poured
out
Windshield wipers won’t turn off
Tire is flat and all tires need to be
rotated
Can’t roll window up – it’s stuck
Brakes not working well
Locked keys in car
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Complaints,
complaining
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Tend-to, “have a tendency to…”
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Sick-of-it
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Always
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Stuck, “unsure how, or unable to
change a situation”
Example: I don’t know what to do! I
work at 8, and I don’t have a ride or
money for the bus.
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Inflections for Behaviors or
Tendencies
Remember: an inflection is a modification of a sign
that can show how often something occurs. If a
person or pet do something repeatedly or exhibit a
certain behavior frequently, the sign will be
repeated several times, and an NMS added that
illustrates the intent of the behavior.
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Annoying pet
behaviors
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Licking (face)
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Shedding
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Meowing, yowling
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(Pet) Jumping-on-person
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Barking
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Biting
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Annoying
children’s
behaviors
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Spilling
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Stealing or taking without
permission
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Grabbing things
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Breaking things
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Fighting
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Forgetting things
Homework?
Jacket?
Backpack?
Brush my teeth?
Clean my room?
Eat my vegetables?
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Tattle-tale, “telling on others”
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Crying
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Screaming
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Lying
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Arguing
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Dropping or leaving things on the
floor
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Fearful
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Complaining
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Mischievous, causing-trouble
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Annoying
partner, spouse
or roommate’s
behaviors
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“Pour money into …”, “Blow money
on…”
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Goes-out-alot (never home)
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Always-late
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Always-borrowing-my-stuff
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Excessively-clean
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Sleeps-in, Over-sleeps-alot
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Easily-tempted
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Shops or buys-too-much
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Worries
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Nervous
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Takes-my-things
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Smokes
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Leaves-things-around
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Body odor
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Back-and-forth-to bathroom
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Always-broke
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Procrastinates
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Annoying friend’s
or neighbor’s
behaviors
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Noisy, loud
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Nosy, in-my-business
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Bothersome, always-interrupts
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Always-comes-over
Comes to my place
Go to their place
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Gossips
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Which signs would use these
NMS?
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“Complaing & Making Suggestions”
Dialogue Format
Dialogue format –
Signer A: Complain about:
Pet
Children
Roommate or Partner
Sibling
Neighbor
Signer B: Show empathy, make
suggestion
Signer A: Respond
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A Good Solution?
Which solution fits the problem? Each student
gets a set of a few problem cue cards and the
same number of solutions cue cards. Students
mingle and complain to each other using the cues
on their complaint cards, but are only allowed to
give the solutions that are on their cue cards.
Students keep signing with others until they have
found a reasonable solution to each of their
problem cues. Write down the solutions on a
separate piece of paper.
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A Good Solution?
Problem Cues
My sister’s dog always jumps
on me when I visit
My little cousin breaks his
toys all the time
My siblings and I argue
constantly
Cat sheds too much during
Summer
My brothers fight all the time
My sister drops clothes all
over our room
My dog licks my face every
morning
Students always forget to do
their homework
Children tend to be afraid of
strangers (new people)
Neighbor’s dog barks all night
Babies often grab things
Children tend to whine a lot
Every day my small dog bites
my sister when they play
My little sister is always telling
on me and my friends
My older brother is really
mischievous
My little brother always loses
his jacket
Our new baby cries and cries
all night
My boy/girlfriend goes out
without me on the weekends
Every night my baby sister
spills her juice
The neighbor’s kids scream
all morning on the weekends
My best friend tends to be late
My siblings keep stealing my
things
My brother lies all the time
My sister is constantly
borrowing…?
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A Good Solution?
Problem Cues
My roommate is super clean
The house filthy! My family
leaves things everywhere
My boy/girlfriend comes over
to my house every weekend
On the weekend my dad
sleeps in late
My older brother has stinky
body odor
Every afternoon this week I’ve
had diarrhea
My boy/girlfriend is always
tempted to buy…?
My sister is always in the
bathroom.
My whole family has been
coughing for 3 days so far
My husband/wife shops too
much
My uncle is always broke. He
comes over and asks for $
Every afternoon during soccer
practice, my stomach cramps
My roommate worries a lot
My best friend procrastinates
horribly
Every morning when I get up,
I feel dizzy
My husband/wife tends to be
nervous
Our neighbors are super loud
all night
All day I’ve had a headache
My roommate always takes
my stuff
The old lady next door is nosy
For 3 hours I’ve had a rash on
my arm
My grandma smokes like a
chimney
My siblings annoy me every
day
Every year during winter I get
a cold
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A Good Solution?
Solution Cues
Did you try putting your knee
up?
Why not take his toys away?
Why not hide in your room so
they can’t find you?
Why not brush it more?
Why not teach them to play a
sport together?
You should pile the clothes on
her bed.
You should grab his tongue
and tell him no
They should use a calendar to Why not teach the child to say
remember
“Hi”?
You should tell your neighbor
you will call the animal control
Give him/her a toy to play with Have you tried teaching them
so he/she won’t grab
to say “Please”?
Have you tried giving him a
chew toy?
Why not give her candy to
keep her quiet?
Maybe he needs to get more
exercise
You should tell him to put it in
his backpack
Did you try turning the radio
on at night when she cries?
Why not break up with
him/her?
Why not try a sippy cup (cup
with a lid)?
Why not tell them there’s a big Have you tried calling and
monster that will eat them if
reminding him/her?
they are loud?
Have you tried hiding your
things?
You should tell your parents
he is lying
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Why not tell her to use her
own things?
A Good Solution?
Solution Cues
Why not enjoy having a clean
house?
You should suggest everyone
clean up
You should go to his/her
house sometimes
Why not let him sleep?
Why not buy him some
deoderant and cologne?
Why not take some of that
pink liquid medicine?
You should stop giving
him/her money
You should use a timer for the
bathroom
Have you tried using a
humidifier (spell and describe)
You should cut up his/her
credit card
Why not tell him you’re broke
too?
Maybe you should not eat
before practice
Has he/she tried taking a
deep breath and relaxing?
Have you asked her why
he/she puts things off?
Have you tried drinking more
water?
Maybe they should drink less
coffee
Did you tell the landlord they
are noisy?
Why not take an ibuprofen
Why not put a lock on your
bedroom door?
You could smile and wave to
her…
Have you tried washing your
arm off?
Maybe you should visit her
where smoking’s not allowed
Why not pay your siblings to
leave you alone?
Maybe you should take
vitamins during the winter
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Requests
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Do-you-mind?
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(Will you) postpone?...
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Change-to-a-closer-time, sooner,
expedite
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(Is it) alright?...
(Will you) allow?...
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(Do I have) permission?...
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(Will you) hold/grab-a-place (for
someone)?
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Directional verbs:
Agreement
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Tell
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Ask
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Call
(this is an older sign, referring to a TTY call)
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Videophone (VP) calls are
shown as above. Only
occasionally is this sign used
as a directional verb.
Give
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Inform, let know
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Summon
“call or bring a person to someone else”
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Participate, join
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Requests Using Directional Verbs
Demonstration Video Clips
Signing Naturally 2, Unit 14
Types of
Responses to
Requests
Don’t-mind
Alright, permit
Can, it’s-possible
OK
(I will) permit (you to)…
Fine
Sure
Reasons for Requests
•
•
•
•
•
Need help with tasks
Need to change date or time of plan
Want to ask a favor of a third person
Want to join a group
Need someone to hold your place
Types of Responses
1. Agree, with condition (Yes, but…)
2. Agree, tell shortcomings or problems
(Alright, except…)
3. Decline, tell why (Sorry. No, because…)
4. Decline, suggest another solution (I
can’t. Maybe…)
5. Hedge (Well…)
Making Requests – Situations
Situation 1
“Need Help with Tasks”
You are busy at work and need some papers
copied. Your colleague is on the way down to
the copy machine. Ask him/her to make copies
for you.
Situation 3
“Want to Ask Favor of Third Person”
Last month you lent your mp3 player to your
friend Maria. Now you need it back. Ask your
friend Joe to ask Maria to return the mp3 player.
Situation 2A
“Need to Change the Date or Time of Plan”
You’ve been planning a camping trip with a
friend this weekend. Your car broke down and it
was expensive and you don’t have the money to
go. Ask your friend to postpone the trip one
month.
Situation 4
“Want to Join a Group”
You go to a basketball game and see a group of
friends. After chatting with them awhile, ask f
you can sit with them.
Situation 2B
“Need to Change Date or Time of Plan”
You plan to go to a movie with a friend for Friday
night, but your parents told you that your
grandparents are visiting for the weekend. Ask
your friend to change the date to earlier in the
week.
Situation 5
“Need Someone to Hold Your Place”
You are in a long checkout line at the store. You
just remembered you forgot to get one thing.
Ask your friend behind you in line if s/he’ll hold
your place.
Making Requests
Signing Naturally 2, Unit 14
Watch how the signers use directional
verbs (agreement) and pronouns. Then
fill in the requested information on the
handout.
Asking To Borrow a Truck
Signing Naturally 2, Unit 14
Use the translation of the conversations on your
handout to help you understand what happens
between the signers.