#e4e4e4 — Public Fediverse posts

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David Boles @[email protected] · 2023-08-14 · 17:12 UTC
For the past 60 days, I have been intensively studying the Italian language. I want to learn Italian in order to better serve our ASL Opera project since 50% of the most popular operas were written in Italian (25% were written in German, and 15% were written in French). I understand modern Italian isn’t the same as “original opera Italian” — but learning something new only helps deepen the appreciation of the comprehension of the context of the original aesthetic. In this article, I will share with you some of the treasures, and techniques, I have been using to apply a greater understanding to my Italian learning.
Learning a new language can be a challenge. When I first met my beloved Janna more than 35 years ago, one condition of our dating was that I learn her language — American Sign Language. Since that time, Janna — who happens to be Deaf — and I have written ASL books, performed together, and taught ASL together many times!
As ASL teachers, Janna and I believe in total immersion, and we also believe that in our real lives and in our classrooms. No English! No PSE! Just use pure ASL. You’ll learn, and sustain, a language better and faster that way.
I have done my best to apply that immersion thinking to my Italian learning. Complete and total immersion whenever possible. Some believe adults have a harder time learning a new language than a child, but I disagree. Adults know how to make associations with existing grammar, and syntax, and that gives adults the power of leveling up faster than our infant contemporary language learners!
Here is my Italian learning plan. When I’m not directly studying in my Apps, I am using the following methods to provide immersion as often as possible.
1. TV. Comcast offers two Italian channels for an extra monthly fee. They also offer other foreign language channels like German and French!
  Radio App — talk and music. The iPhone store is filled with Italian streaming Apps. You can also stream directly from the internet.
  iPhone Language. I changed the language on my iPhone and iPad from English to Italian. Sure, it’s a little scary, but I have Janna’s English iPhone to help me out if I get stuck. I also changed the time to a 24-hour clock.
  Keyboard language on phones and computers. I use an Italian keyboard whenever I can. That’s my new default. Force it to learn it!
  Apple Watch. I changed the language on my Apple Watch to Italian. Force it to learn it!
  Podcasts. Listening to podcasts can also really help you learn Italian fast.
  Music. Singing along is a great, modern, way to learn a musical language to a beat. Melody sharing makes the learning less traditional, and more exciting!
  TV shows. YouTube has a lot of Italian learning shows. They are helpful! Episodic television is also a wonderful way to add familiar context to the Italian overdubbing.
  Movies. Netflix has Italian content with English captions.
  CiborTV. This is a box you buy, like an Apple TV, that provides subscription content for Italian television channels. CiborTV is my greatest secret weapon for ongoing daily passive immersion.
One of the biggest blockades to learning Italian is the four years I spent learning Spanish 45 years ago. When I “think” in my target language of Italian, the dark memory of the Spanish word first creeps to mind. I never became fluent in Spanish! I regret not studying harder all those years ago. Senorita Byrd: “I apologize for not being a more apt student!”
For my Italian study, I subscribe to several Italian language newspapers, but my main weapon in learning is my Apps. Here is a review — on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best — of the Italian language learning Apps I use every day. I study a minimum of 90 minutes a day using these Apps. I have, probably 25 Apps in total, but these particular Apps provide a lifetime subscription: Buy once, learn forever! That, to me, is important in learning a new language, because you will always, for your lifetime, be working on learning the language. Apps that charge only a monthly, or a yearly fee, are not included in this review.
Babbel (3/10)
Babbel does a lot of television advertising. Their learning quit on me when a lesson I was studying stopped working. The problem was repeatable. I reported to Babbel the trouble I was having, along with steps to reproduce the bug, and screenshots — you can’t move on until you finish a lesson, and I was forever stuck on a blank screen for Lesson 7 — and Babbel support brushed me off! They told me to restart my browser. I stopped right there and gave up on Babbel. That is the danger of paying once with access forever. If you can’t access the lessons, there is no forever — and the company, after being paid, has zero incentive to keep you actively learning! There are also no study guides you can print out for each lesson to help you memorize the work. The problem was 100% confirmed on the Babbel side, and they did not care.
LingoDeer (5/10)
LingoDeer sells itself as an Asian language learning App, but they do offer a few other languages, like Italian. So far, their strict learning style is often effective. Their printable notes are comprehensive and helpful. The teaching style is raw, though. I call LingoDeer the “meaner sister of Duolingo.” The early lessons were super difficult and unforgiving, now the later lessons are a little more relaxed and fun to “play.”
Rosetta Stone (4/10)
Rosetta Stone is the old dude in the room and uses a visual learning approach. There are no printable lessons. You look at images and divine vocabulary and grammar all on your own. Alone, Rosetta Stone would not be a great way to learn a language, but adding it to the ganglia of other learning tools I have employed, it’s a definite winner in making one “think different” in real time. Their spoken language recognition engine is pitiful. It does not work. I have, unfortunately, turned off its voice feature after week 6.
Lingopie (8/10)
Lingopie is super interesting and immersive. They provide videos with both English and Italian captions. You can turn off the captions if you don’t want to see them. If you don’t know a word, you click on it, and that word gets defined for you and added to your Pop Quiz queue. There’s also a Netflix browser plugin that will “Lingopie” Italian content on Netflix that will help you learn even faster. Lingopie will only get better with time!
Clozemaster (10/10)
Clozemaster is my favorite learning tool — it thinks, and processes information, just as I do — and that’s a rare thing to find in the real world! Designed like a retro-style 80s video game, Clozemaster helps you quickly close in on your target language goals. ChatGPT-4 explains the idea behind “cloze” learning:
A “cloze” test is used in language learning and pedagogy to assess an individual’s comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar skills. It is a valuable tool for both educators and students in various language learning contexts.
In a cloze test, certain words or phrases within a text are systematically removed and replaced with blanks. The learner is then asked to fill in the blanks with appropriate words or phrases to complete the sentences. The omitted words are usually chosen based on specific criteria, such as every nth word or specific grammatical structures.
Here’s how the cloze method is applied in language learning:
1. **Assessment of Vocabulary and Grammar**: By strategically removing certain words or phrases, teachers can assess a student’s grasp of vocabulary and grammatical structures. For example, removing verbs can test understanding of verb tenses.
2. **Reading Comprehension**: Cloze tests can be tailored to evaluate a student’s ability to understand context and meaning within a text. By choosing which words to omit, a teacher can measure specific reading comprehension skills.
3. **Promoting Contextual Learning**: Unlike isolated word lists, cloze tests promote learning words and structures in context, allowing students to understand how they are used in real communication.
4. **Differentiated Instruction**: Teachers can modify the difficulty of a cloze test based on the needs and abilities of individual students, making it a flexible tool for different learning levels.
5. **Integration into Various Language Skills**: Cloze tests can be integrated into reading, listening, writing, and speaking exercises, making them a multifaceted tool for comprehensive language learning.
6. **Feedback and Reflection**: The immediate feedback provided by cloze tests helps students recognize their mistakes and reflect on their understanding, thus fostering continuous improvement.
In summary, cloze tests provide a practical, adaptable, and effective way to evaluate and enhance various aspects of language learning. They promote contextual learning and provide a multi-dimensional approach that can be tailored to individual student needs.
For a scholarly insight into the subject, you may refer to the book “Cloze Procedure: An Alternative Approach to Reading in Foreign Language Training” by J.H. Robinson (1980), which provides an in-depth analysis of the application of cloze in foreign language training.
Drops (9/10)
Drops was a magnificent surprise. Drops focuses on helping you learn Italian vocabulary in just 5 minutes a day. You can study for a longer period of time if you pay. Drops is fun to use, beautiful to look at, and a wonder at teaching. It’s just fun! I start my day with Drops to give myself a boost of confidence, and joy, before the harder work of learning begins.
Memrise (6/10)
Memrise is a strange beast. I’m not completely certain I understand what it is or what the goals are of the App. You sometimes get video clips of phrases — some are just silly, and I skip them — which you then get tested on in multiple choice boxes. They also provide a strange “video” conversation with people talking to themselves — like a TikTok story — that I find more annoying than engaging. Memrise does have a ChatGPT-3 dialogue interaction that can be fun, but even that feels just a little old and limited.
edX (1/10)
I was super excited to take the Italian lessons on edX, but the teaching is really old — the expert Italian language folks on Reddit told me many of the words being taught on edX were no longer colloquial, and they urged me to dump the lessons, and I did. The learning interface feels like a 1990s website project gone wrong. There was so much unlimited promise here that just failed to deliver.
Anki (3/10)
People either seem to love Anki flashcards or they hate them. I’m sort of in the middle. I get how Anki can be helpful for repetition in learning, but the interface is super ugly, and many of the “study decks” for download don’t appear to be well-formatted. The idea is right, but the execution feels stilted and raw.
That’s my review of my “lifelong learning Italian Apps” with a lifetime subscription. I look forward to learning Italian. My goal is to be at least B2 certified and I’m currently a rising A1. Yes, I have a long way to go, but that’s okay. Good things take time, and fluency demands dedication. I know I have at least one of both right now.
Share this:
#anki #asl #asl-opera #babbel #chatgpt #cloze #clozemaster #drops #e4e4e4 #edx #fluency #immersion #italian #lingodeer #lingopie #memrise #opera #opera-project #rosetta-stone
https://bolesblogs.com/2023/08/14/learning-italian-lifetime-immersion-style/
#anki #asl #aslopera #babbel #chatgpt #cloze
David Boles @[email protected] · 2023-07-13 · 16:59 UTC
[UPDATE: September 12, 2023; our ASL Opera Project website is now live! Join us there for new videos, translation updates, and for consultation concerning the right interpretation of Opera in American Sign Language!]
On July 11, 2023 — the anniversary of our being married for 35 years — Janna and I had the complete delight, and the absolute honor, to meet with The Metropolitan Opera to discuss our ASL Opera project intended to bring live and “High Art” American Sign Language interpretation to MetOpera productions! The meeting was positive, forward-thinking and inclusive! If you are interested in working with our High Art ASL Opera Project, or if you want more information, please Contact Us and we’ll be happy to meet you! Our ASL-Opera.com and ASLopera.com domains currently point to this article!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W8xGnw_sjI?start=1785]

One of our friends has a memory of attending a Metropolitan Opera performance in the 1980s that was ASL interpreted. When we mentioned that to The MetOpera, they were not aware of that history, and planned to ask The Met archivist if there was anything recorded in the record about the performance.
[UPDATE: July 14, 2023: Our friend just shared with us that he has a memory of the New York City Opera — NOT the MetOpera — having some interpreted ASL performances in the 1980s when Beverly Sills was performing and director of the NYC Opera Company.]
Our “ASL Opera Project” pitch was simple, and three-pronged.
First, immediately provide ASL interpreted performances for all Metropolitan Opera performances. There is no excuse to delay the justice of Deaf inclusion. Live interpreters, using our invented “High Art” style of interpreting performances, will match the definition of “Work of Art” in Opera translation! This cannot wait. ASL interpreted performances cannot be sidebarred or downsized. We have moved too far beyond the idea of “separate, but equal” to accept separation now. The Deaf have the right to experience the fullness of a Metropolitan Opera performance — staging, singing, orchestration, lighting, costumes, sets — IN THE SAME MOMENT, IN THE SAME WAY, AND IN THE SAME TIME as a Hearing person. There is no replacement for equality in accessibility — except equal accessibility in situ.
Second, we proposed an outreach educational program that would help expose, and inform, new audiences to High Art ASL interpreted MetOpera performances. Small meetings before the performance would help explain the story, create context, and define expectation of a brand new operatic experience.
Finally, we believe a “High Art” Opera interpreter training program is needed to train new interpreters how to uniquely interpret live Opera performances. Interested interpreters, both Hearing and Deaf, from around the country, and, perhaps even the world, should be invited to spend a couple of weeks at The Met to work with new-opera-stars-in-training, understand operatic staging and experience, and to then sign a performance on the main stage as the high conclusion of their training. There is no replacement for direct exposure and direct experience.
We were also thrilled to learn that all Met Opera On Demand performances are in the process of becoming entirely closed captioned! Right now, only the “operatic translation” part of the Opera stream is captioned. Moving forward (and backward in the existing catalogue of shows) all MetOpera recorded performances will have the introductions, and the interstitial interviews, and anything else, closed captioned. There are more than 150 recorded performances in The Met library, and all of them will eventually be closed captioned. That project will take time, but closed captions are vital for an accessibility accommodation that has been required, by law, for all broadcast television programs since 2006. New Met Opera performances from now on will always be closed captioned!
The MetOpera had a few questions. One was why would ASL interpreters be needed if the Operas are open captioned in English. As we detailed in our earlier article on this topic — ASL is not English-based grammar, it is French-based grammar — and many of the “new” foreign-born Deaf (the new audience) do not arrive in the USA literate from their home countries, and so they try to learn ASL here as their first, real, fluent language, and ASL is not English. There’s then a triple layer of interpretation/complication happening in an Opera. First level is the language of origin, second layer is the English captions, then the target visual language of ASL is applied on top of both of those vocalized and written languages. Plus, ASL is not a word-for-word interpretation of a performance. You have to “sing” for the entire Opera in ASL, and you do that by creating images for the eyes with your face, torso, and hands. Singing, in ASL, is different from just “speaking” dialogue — same as in the Hearing world. A whole new set of special talents are required to sing in ASL for three hours!
The other concern the MetOpera had was that having interpreters would be distracting to the performers, and the audience and, we agreed, that was a possibility — but Broadway musicals have been ASL interpreted since 1980 without issue — but there’s really no way around that concern in an Opera performance because the Deaf deserve to be in the same room with the Hearing people to experience the Opera with all senses and feelings of participation. The interpreters would not be on stage. They’d be House left, and the first several rows of that section would be reserved for Deaf audience members. The Interpreters would need to see the live captioning, and be lighted in some way so the Deaf could see the ASL being signed. Yes, inclusion can be complicated and distracting. Yes, accommodating the disabled can inconvenience the non-disabled. Janna and I like to say, when it comes to education and experience, “You have to do what’s best for the Deaf person, not what’s easiest for the Hearing.” Some people get that, and some do not, and will not; but aesthetic should never be used as an excuse to exclude certain people from the mainstream experience. Taste and vision change over time. Sometimes doing the right thing is tough, and imperfect, but that’s okay. Dealing with difficult things is how the moral world learns to behave in a right way; because it is cruel to separate those who do not have from those who have, based solely upon the ability to comprehend.
The final concern the MetOpera expressed was how to replicate 50 people singing on stage with only two interpreters. Plus, they added, in a scene with five people singing, how could two interpreters possibly interpret all those singers? Janna told them the answer is simple: Role Shifting. The interpreter sets the character in space, and the Deaf person understands who is speaking and why. Role shifting is a common method of communicating in ASL. As well, male interpreters can interpret female characters on stage and vice versa. Gender, cultural identification, and skin color do not matter in interpreting. The only thing that matters is if what is being signed is being understood. “One interpreter,” I said in the meeting, “can interpret a thousand voices.”
We were also asked how Janna is able to interpret for the Opera if she is Deaf. Janna explained she was born Deaf and grew up in the gospel Church signing songs in ASL, she has performed ASL hymns in Israel, and has been a Broadway musical Juilliard advisor, and an interpreter performer. Opera is her most astonishing, and amazing, challenge for her to meet as an interpreted performance. Janna went on to share that she still has some residual hearing, and that she had to practice her Maria Callas ASL performance song “about a hundred times” to get down the meaning, intention, and correct vibrato. Memorization is a big part of live stage interpreting, and you must not only know the story, and the lyrics, but you need to understand the original intention of the author and composer in order to do a right, proper, job in the interpretation. Opera interpreting is not for every Deaf interpreter, that’s for sure!
Our meeting finished with Janna interpreting, in our ASL High Art Style, the Maria Callas performance of O Mio Bambino Caro — and the response to Janna’s performance was marvelous! What an honor!
After our meeting with the grand Metropolitan Opera people, Janna and I “swam” outside into the 93 degree, and 90% humidity heat, and landed smack in the heart of the Lincoln Center plaza to record, and memorialize, her ASL interpretation of O Mio Bambino Caro — and here are the original Italian lyrics followed by the English interpretation for that aria.
O mio babbino caro
Mi piace, è bello, bello
Vo’ andare in Porta Rossa
A comperar l’anello!
Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!
E se l’amassi indarno,
Andrei sul Ponte Vecchio,
Ma per buttarmi in Arno!
Mi struggo e mi tormento!
O Dio, vorrei morir!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Oh my dear papa
I like him, he is so handsome.
I want to go to Porta Rossa
To buy the ring!
Yes, yes, I want to go there!
And if my love were in vain,
I would go to the Ponte Vecchio
And throw myself in the Arno!
I am pining, I am tormented!
Oh God, I would want to die!
Father, have pity, have pity!
Father, have pity, have pity!
This is Janna’s recorded ASL High Art interpretation of O Mio Bambino Caro — with the Callas performance she’s interpreting right underneath. If you have fast fingers, you can click on Janna’s video, and then quickly click on the Callas video, and they’ll play pretty much in sync so you can get a rough idea of how an ASL interpreted High Art performance of an Opera Aria works!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1C8NFDdFYg?start=10]
We shot Janna’s performance in 4K on an iPhone 14 Max Pro using Filmic Pro software with no recorded audio. That raw, two-minute, 4K video was 17 GB! I remember when we first started HardcoreASL.com in 1996 — the best possible video recordings were no more than 100K — and those videos all look low resolution today, because they are, but back then, they were not! Always, always record in the best possible resolution available because, even in a few years, your effort will not look as good as you remember. This is my technical advance mantra: “Best today, better tomorrow, okay yesterday.”
There was also some sort of musical event being set up at Lincoln Center, and I couldn’t resist taking a quick video of the famous Lincoln Center fountain being topped by a bouncing, giant, mirror Disco Ball! The rushing sound of the fountain will cool you down at least a few degrees. Enjoy!
Our 35th wedding anniversary was a day to never forget. We appreciate The Metropolitan Opera giving us a chance to pitch our ideas for an interpreted “work of Art” solution; and we certainly felt heard.
We hope to move forward with The MetOpera to complete the accessibility vision of our “ASL Opera” project — and we will continue to produce, and share, our “High Art” ASL Opera interpreted arias until the day is won!
In the end, we must all continue to lift our gaze to find the sun, and sing — sing in a way we understand how we wish to be understood!
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#accessibility #accommodation #costumes #davidBoles #deaf #e4e4e4 #interpreting #jannaSweenie #lights #mariaCallas #metopera #mirrorBall #orchestra #performance #sets #vibrato #vocal
https://bolesblogs.com/2023/07/13/yes-the-deaf-just-may-sing-at-the-metropolitan-opera/
#accessibility #accommodation #costumes #davidboles #deaf #interpreting
Krzysztof Kołacz @[email protected] · 2023-07-10 · 16:00 UTC

Apple udostępniło, wyjątkowo udany moim zdaniem, nowy klip promujący baterię w iPhonie 14 Plus.
Zresztą, zobaczcie sami!
Więcej na temat podstawowych modeli iPhone’ów 14 opowiadałem w jednym z odcinków „Bo czemu nie?”.
#apple #bateria #e4e4e4 #film #iphone-14 #klip #pinata #plus #reklama
https://imagazine.pl/2023/07/10/nowy-klip-reklamowy-iphonea-14-plus/

#apple #bateria #e4e4e4 #film #iphone14 #klip
Sascha Siekmann :verified: @[email protected] · 2023-06-15 · 01:14 UTC

open cloud infrastructure Episode 11 – K8sGPT — SRE superpowers through AI – KubeVirt – running VMs on Kubernetes – Microsoft releases its own Linux distribution for Azure

K8sGPT -- SRE superpowers through AI

I am not sure if you heard, but AI is definitely the current thing. I think it was just today that I read that 92% of developers love the assistance that AI can give them.

KubeVirt - running VMs on Kubernetes

Containers, containers, containers!!! I am trying to speak this in Steve Ballmer's voice, but nothing quite compares to the sweat-drenched level of enthusiasm when Ballmer fired up the crows. I was thinking of cloning his voice and having him say containers instead, but the thought of it creeped even me out.

Microsoft releases its own Linux distribution for Azure

You might have heard of CBL Mariner, the Linux distribution from Microsoft. It's been the test balloon from Microsoft to hone in on the requirements of MSFT and build up a practice of building a Linux distribution that’s optimized for the cloud.

A podcast recommendation

Give a listen to “The art of manliness”, The Art of Manliness is a one-stop resource for actionable advice that covers every aspect of a man’s life: character, career, relationships, fitness, style, skills, and much more. Through weekly podcasts and articles, AoM tackles subjects from the philosophical and serious to the practical and fun.

https://docs.k8sgpt.ai/getting-started/getting-started/
https://anaisurl.com/k8sgpt-full-tutorial/
https://killercoda.com/matthisholleville/scenario/k8sgpt-cli
Fabian Deutsch, and Andrew Burden | KubeCon CloudNativeCon EU 2023
https://charlesarea.medium.com/how-to-integrate-legacy-vms-into-container-pipelines-on-kubernetes-with-kubevirt-555137fb3f4a
https://build.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/e84dd80a-f3bb-4d3d-978e-ffd811e3bfe1?source=sessions
https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/knowledge-of-men/podcast-904-how-emerson-can-help-you-become-a-stoic-nonconformist/

#podcast #kubernetes #k8sgpt #kubevirt #azure #cblmariner #azurelinux

#podcast #kubernetes #k8sgpt #kubevirt #azure #cblmariner
David Boles @[email protected] · 2023-06-01 · 14:18 UTC
[UPDATE: September 12, 2023; our ASL Opera Project website is now live! Join us there for new videos, translation updates, and for consultation concerning the right interpretation of Opera in American Sign Language!]
[UPDATE: July 11, 2023. Janna and I met with the Metropolitan Opera to discuss heightened ASL interpreting for their performances. The meeting was positive, forward-thinking, and hopeful! We will soon update with more information! Here’s the July 11 update!]
My delightful wife Janna Sweenie and I are big lovers of opera. Opera is the pinnacle of all the Performing Arts — Painting, Acting, Voice, Costumes, Lights and Sets — and when put together, in unison, in an exaggerated and elevated performance, the entire world glows and resonates! We have always been dismayed that opera is not often, if ever, interpreted in American Sign Language for the Deaf like all Broadway shows are interpreted. Janna and I are currently working on our “Opera Project” where she will present ASL renderings of famous opera arias. We will place those performances online as proof-of-concept. This is a challenging, but rewarding, and complex academic process of interpretation and adaptation, and implementation.
Here’s my Boles.tv live stream discussion of the Deaf singing at The Met:
Here are some of the dramatic, visual, description-rich arias we plan to present in ASL. We will begin with:
O mio babbino caro
Una Furtiva Lacrima
Here are other arias we plan to perform — these recommendations are thanks to our friends in the Reddit /opera group — many who who believe in us and who are helping us:
Der Holle Rache
L’amour est un oiseau rebelle
Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre
Madre diletta abbracciami
Che gelida manina
Ariadne auf Naxos
Pif, Paf, Pouf
I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major-General
Non, Pagliaccio Non Son
Tu qui, Santuzza
In Questa Reggia
If you have a favorite opera aria you think would make a good, dramatic, visual, ASL performance, please leave a comment here, or send us a note!
In the spirit of this dramatic ASL aria project, we sent a letter to The Metropolitan Opera in New York City asking if we might help them set up select American Sign Language interpreted performances. We were not able to find a single point of contact for that request at The Met, so if you happen to know someone there who might be amenable to our request, please get in touch with us!
What follows is the letter Janna and I submitted to The Met asking them to let us work with them to create select, accessible, ASL interpreted opera performances for the Deaf.
American Sign Language Interpreted Performances at The Met
Hi There!
Will you allow the Deaf to sing at The Met?
We apologize for including more than one point of contact for this inquiry, but we didn’t know who is responsible for accessibility for performances at The Met, and we didn’t want this message to get blackholed, and finding specific email addresses has proven a challenge. If we don’t have the right person, might you please forward this email to the correct point?
My wife and I are interested in providing American Sign Language interpreted performances for The Met.
My wife, Janna Sweenie, originally from Iowa, is Deaf and has been teaching ASL for 50 years. For the last 35 years, she has been teaching ASL at NYU and at other major universities in the Tri-State area. She is a language pioneer, and served as a Julliard/TDF instructor for interpreting Broadway musicals for interpreters from around the world. Janna also finds jobs for the disabled as a rehabilitation counselor for the State of New York.
I am Hearing, and I have written several ASL books with Janna. I created the ASL program at CUNY-SPS, and I operate the HardcoreASL.com and sosASL.com websites. I also teach American Sign Language, Theatre, Dramatic Literature, and Public Health. Fresh from Nebraska, I started in New York City as a graduate student at Columbia. I was Peter Stone’s associate. I was Al Carmine’s librettist and lyricist. Milos Foreman and I worked together on film theory in performance. Liviu Ciulei and I collaborated on my Wozzeck adaptation. I was an editor and consultant for Helen Merrill. I fixed dramaturgical structure for Marty Richards and Sam Crothers at The Producer Circle. Since then, I’ve written several books on a variety of topics, done a lot of teaching, and I am now embedded in AI Art, Voice, and Performance research, and revolution.
Janna and I both admire and appreciate opera, and we would really like to provide live ASL interpretation – stage right in the audience near the stage – for select Met performances. We are not seeking payment, we are just hoping to open a dialogue, and perhaps even begin a relationship with – The Met – to see if you are at least willing to try out this idea in some meaningful way for the Deaf Community.
Here are a couple of common concerns you may have:
1. You already provide text captions. Text captions are not ASL and text captions are for Hearing people who don’t understand the language being presented on stage. ASL is a visual language, and many Deaf people do not have good English comprehension, and so providing interpreted performances in ASL, in their language, honors their Culture, and facilitates inclusion in the experience. ASL grammar and syntax are more French than English. ASL was invented by Laurent Clerc, a French speaker. ASL does not equal English text.
2. You stream HD Video and Open Captions. Interview portions of the shows are not captioned. Text translation captions during the performance are not a substitute for experiencing a live performance. The Deaf have the right to be provided the same in-person opera experience that the Hearing audience is able to enjoy in real time, in the same building, with the orchestra and on stage performers. Few realize how much the Deaf enjoy the sounds of music and the vibrations of live music. The Deaf see with their eyes; the Deaf sing with their hands. The Deaf Community appreciates a full, immersive, experience that can easily be provided if you give us a chance to make this happen.
3. The Deaf Community isn’t interested in opera. Sometimes, as Steve Jobs famously said, “People don’t know what they want until they have it.” Opera is the same way for the Deaf. There has been no exposure to the music, no teaching of the ideal, no attendance of the aesthetic. Many Deaf have no clue what they’re missing in an interpreted opera experience at The Met. We can solve that with you. We can demonstrate the beauty of the Art and bring in a whole new audience of appreciation.
For many years, all Broadway shows have been live interpreted via the TDF. We understand The Met has been kind, and wonderful, in providing disabled wheelchair access for performances. Why doesn’t The Met offer the same, disabled, groundbreaking inclusion of the Deaf? You can if you decide in favor of a reasonable accessibility.
If you have any questions or concerns for us, we are delighted to answer them in email or in person.
Janna and I would love to have a meeting with you to discuss the viability of this idea. Janna will even do a live, ASL interpreted, presentation of “O mio babbino caro” for you if you are interested.
We realize ASL interpreted Met performances will require many hours of preparation on our side – the translation from the original language to English to ASL will be important to get right, and we will work with you to get there – as well as also involving several accommodations on your side; but we know this should be important to The Met, and for the Deaf community, to finally be brought together to unite in unison of purpose and performance.
Yes, together, we can help the Deaf sing at The Met!
Best Wishes,
David Boles
Janna Sweenie
We have yet to receive a response from The Metropolitan Opera. If, and when, we receive a reply to our inquiry, we will update this article as necessary.
In the meantime, be sure to get in touch with The Met and let them know you support American Sign Language interpreted performances for the Deaf!
(NOTE: All images in this article were created with AI. These people, places, and dreams, do not exist — even though, perhaps, they should find life.)
UPDATE: June 2, 2003
Via Medici.tv, we discovered a 2019 performance — Don Pasquale de Donizetti — at Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie Pyrénées-Méditerranée that included French Sign Language interpretation on stage! Here is the PR blurp:
This highly theatrical staging by Valentin Schwarz at the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, starring Bruno Taddia in the title-role, Julia Muzychenko in her role debut as Norina, as well as Edoardo Miletti as Ernesto, is also the first time an opera is adapted and staged in the French Sign Language (LSF), with LSF actors Katia Abbou and Vincent Bexiga playing a full role in the action.
Here is a screenshot — (not AI!) — from the HD performance:
Now, it’s The Metropolitan Opera’s turn to stand up for accessibility and the disabled!

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