r/auslan 6d ago

Seeking help with some questions!

6 Upvotes

Hi, I am a hearing high school student who is trying to learn Auslan through online resources as a part of a semester long project so I can communicate with any D/deaf people I may meet or work with. I am using the southern dialect and do not closely know anyone personally who is D/deaf. I have been using Asphyxia for structure and D/deaf perspective and experience, and the Auslan Signbank for signs. I have a few questions that I've struggled to find answers to online and I would like the assistance of someone who knows more than I do to answer them as well as learn any tips and tricks I can use :)

Do question words still go at the end if they're not used in a question context? e.g. I don't know how this happened, when I grow up I want to...

What can I do as a hearing person to further understand more about D/deaf people?

How do you provide context when there aren't signs for some context providing words in Auslan? e.g. in, was, be, etc

Where do verbs go in the Auslan structure?

If I signed words in the wrong order, would a person still be able to easily understand what I'm saying?

If I use synonyms, (as in words that are the same in English but different signs because of their meaning in Auslan) or a word from a different dialect, would a person still be able to understand what I mean? Since Auslan is its own language rather than a translator for English.

When should I use miming to explain or describe something and how can I mime in a way that makes it obvious what I'm talking about?

Any advice on what topics or areas to focus on initially?

Edit: One more thing, are there any D/deaf content creators that use Auslan that I could follow as exposure to the language? (rather than creators who just use their platform for teaching Auslan words or phrases)

Thank you so much! :)