[nabs-l] Character-Based Language Classes

[Ellana Crew]

Afternoon friends,

Recently, I have been thinking of taking courses at my college to learn Japanese or Chinese, however I am not totally certain how to go about doing this as a blind person considering that these are character-based languages. I much prefer to do things non-visually, however I do have a certain level of residual vision that I could use if it came down to it. Essentially, I am wondering if there is anybody who has taken classes for character-based languages that may be able to give me some pointers on how to get through such a class, given that the class will almost certainly be teaching the basics of the written characters and that assignments will most likely contain written characters fairly frequently.

I know that there are braille systems for these languages, however I'm not sure if that would be practical considering that the professor would not have any knowledge of the braille form, so I feel it would likely be quite difficult to try and learn the language in braille in a class that teaches printed form and uses it for assignments. My guess is that it would be much easier to learn the language first and then learn the braille format, as trying to learn both simultaneously does not seem very practical in a mainstream college class.

I also know that I do have the option of attempting to learn a language outside of the classroom setting on my own, first, in a way that may be somewhat more accessible, though I would very much like to take advantage of the classes offered through my school. It may be that I may need to try and learn some basics on my own, first, and then take the classes later on to be able to get the credit for them.

If there is anybody who is taking classes for character-based languages, especially if you have specifically taken either Japanese or Chinese, I would really, really love to hear how you made it work and what sorts of accommodations you used and what systems you had with your professor to inshore that you were given the equal opportunity to really learn the language. This is something I have wanted to do since early high school, and would really like to find a way to make it happen. Any experiences you could share with me would be wonderful and feel free to email me off list if you would really like to start some real in-depth dialogue about this.

Thank you all and have a nice afternoon!

Ellana Crew, Vice President
Maryland Association of Blind Students
Website: nfbmd.org/students
Facebook: facebook.com/mdabs.federation
Twitter: @MDABS_NFB

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.