The only language class I’ve enjoyed taking.

This fall, I had the pleasure of being in the first American Sign Language (ASL) class run by Barnard. The class was taught by the wonderful Professor Kailyn Aaron-Lozano, who just joined Barnard’s faculty this year. If you’re still trying to fulfill your language requirement or have spare room in your schedule, I highly recommend signing up. 

The creation of this class follows the change in Barnard’s Foundations Curriculum, which now requires that Barnard students primarily take their first-year classes at Barnard. Upon implementing this new policy, Barnard offered more sections of existing language programs and Elementary ASL I as a new option to fulfill the foreign language requirement. Similar to other language classes, ASL I teaches students the grammar, language, and culture of the Deaf community, which are completely independent from those of English. 

As for my experience in the class, I truly loved it. I’m shocked that Barnard has not offered this class previously. The material is easy to follow, and the classes are engaging with frequent discussions and activities. I was initially concerned about the difficulty, as the class is taught in ASL, with a slideshow to assist, but I feel that the immersion benefited me a lot. I picked up on signs quickly, and everyone grew comfortable practicing and gesturing to communicate with our professor. Foreign languages have never come easily to me, yet this class has been the highlight of my semester. You need to attend class, because it’s nearly impossible to get notes when the language is visual, but the class is fun and usually ends early, so that was not a problem for me. If that’s not enough to tempt you, there are also no real midterms or a final exam, just four online unit tests that account for 20% of your total grade. 

Professor Kailyn Aaron-Lozano is the best person I could imagine teaching this class. She is enthusiastic and comes to class genuinely excited to teach each day. Her energy is contagious, which resulted in remarkable class participation. And I swear, she has unlimited patience, even when I sign the same thing wrong four times in a row. With the class capped at 15 students, she easily notices when anyone is lost and pauses the lesson to explain. Most importantly, she actually has a sense of humor. She is the only professor I know who can make the whole class audibly laugh without speaking. I know I sound like a fangirl, but I promise it’s justified. Barnard hired a gem. Please take this class.

Image via Freepik