“Hawai‘i Sign Language: How I Keep HSL Inside My Heart”

October 3, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Mānoa Campus, Henke Hall 325

In this presentation, Linda Lambrecht will be sharing stories from her life and work researching Hawai‘i Sign Language (HSL)—a unique and previously undocumented language that people in Hawai‘i have been using for generations (researchers have found written evidence of this language dating back to 1821) until American Sign Language (ASL) began to gain prominence in Hawai‘i in the 1950s. As a child, Linda learned Hawai‘i Sign Language and her recollections of it ultimately led to its rediscovery and documentation.

Linda Lambrecht was born in O‘ahu, profoundly birth deaf. She is the last of six children and the second child to be born in Hawai‘i from her parents, who were full Chinese. She has two deaf brothers and three hearing sisters. They can all sign. Linda has been married for 47 years now to a deaf husband, Jeff Lambrecht, from Mississippi, and they have three hearing children and seven hearing grandchildren. She graduated from the Deaf School near Honolulu Zoo and attended Gallaudet for three years. Linda has worked as an ASL teacher for 36 years, including 20 years at Kapi‘olani Community College, and also part-time as a Deaf Dialect Interpreter for 25 years. She is currently working on a book and research about preserving and documenting HSL.


Event Sponsor
Center for Biographical Research, Mānoa Campus

More Information
956-3774, biograph@hawaii.edu, http://www.facebook.com/CBRHawaii

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