Today I spent a good hour talking to Chicago architecture student Sarah Bassett on US-Mongolia connections - architecture, urbanism and research - including ACMS, GTZ, Fulbright scholars and other researchers and projects I have seen here. Like Melitta Kuglitsch's work with savings groups in Bayanzurkh Ger District. I chuckle comparing my work here with 'Dreamspaces'... with the helicopter circling David Adjaye's glamorous trio on a rooftop...A video piece was one good suggestion for my блок / blog (draft). Meanwhile, one former student blog-reader Farisayi Utete (Conservation architect, Harare) suggested a radio piece on the BBC, and another, James Webb (Ueber-Designer-Architect, Amsterdam), encouraged me to publish a book.
The summer weather in Mongolia has been changeable, with some strong downpours causing flooding in the western peri-urban "twenty-first microdistrict" around the college. Many colleagues are making the most of the greenness, thanks to the rain, to holiday in the countryside.
Since their arrival on the Trans-siberian train last week I have hosted Ana Rewakowicz (Canada) and Annu Wilenius (Finland), musing about moving space, the state of Ulaanbaatar, and planning for this years' Blue Sun Art Camp with Yondon Dalkh-Ochir and others.
On Saturday at VSO I met over thirty Mongolian Deaf people who are learning American Sign Language with a Mongolian trainer and Nickson Kakiri. It was a basic training for a video conference/ cultural exchange conversation between deaf America and Mongolia in September. In a three hour training session, I learned many terms, and met two Norwegian Deaf tourists with their Mongolian Guide, Nemekhbayar Batnasah (UNV, see p.2) Afterwards, I was the only hearing person, besides a professional MSL/ ASL Mongolian-English translator, joining a large group which went on to a cafe. There were many discussions, several simultaneously crossing one another on a long table, and the most arcane conversation I have yet witnessed in my new experience of deaf culture, as two Mongolians discussed signing and deaf culture in Mongolia in Mongolian Sign Language. *
3 comments:
Hi. I am RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) and served in Kenya for two years (2005-07). I have read your comment on blog about teaching ASL to Deaf Mongolians. I was a quite shocked.
Respectively, I strongly disagreed that Deaf Mongolians are teaching in ASL by a Mongolian Trainer, who is not a native ASL. I felt that Deaf Mongolians should use Mongolia Sign Lang. (MSL) as part of their pride deaf language and an unique language in Mongolia Deaf Culture. I believe that ASL should not be influence in their own sign language like colonize their language. Let it be alone. However, I certainly hope that you will encourage Deaf Mongolians to use their own language, MSL. Thanks.
Hi Erickson
After learning of rumours, it is valuable to discuss criticism first hand - thanks for commenting.
Apparently my perspective, as a native speaker of neither ASL, MSL, nor native of Mongolia, unintentionally put a colonial bias on the story.
This morning I read with horror about Filatova, wife of the 1950s Mongolian Prime Minister Tsedenbal trying to enforce the use of Russian over Mongolian Language (J Becker 1992, p101). I strongly advocate for and support local and native languages, like Nyungar, from my birthplace.
I understand Mongolian Deaf people want to continue to develop MSL, but they apparently also want to internationalise - and communicate with people like you and I - while doing so.
Hi. Nice somebody write about us from Norwegian! ;-) Very interest look at Deaf Mongolians teaching in ASL. I look they were very interest to learn that and english words. (Perhaps they will know more about other languages and culture.) :-)
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