Sign language or American Sign Language (ASL) is fun to learn! Signing is fun to do! Plus you get to make new Deaf friends! This site will help you learn about the ASL fingerspelled alphabet (fingerspelling), sign language interpreting, Deaf culture, Deaf history, baby signs, and other methods of communication with people who are Deaf.
ASL Definitions: A definition that has been around for a
long time is: "American Sign Language
or ASL is a visual-gestural language used by
500,000 members of the North American signing Deaf community." According to www.dictionary.com we have: American Sign Language n. Abbr. ASL
The primary sign language used by Deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United
States and Canada, devised in part by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet on the basis of
sign language in France. Also called Ameslan. A quick trip to
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (www.m-w.com) and we get: Main Entry:
American Sign Language: Function: noun. Date: 1960:
a sign language for the deaf in which meaning is conveyed by a system of
articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body. Notice
the date of that entry from Merriam-Webster? 1960! Signing hasn't been
"recognized" as a language for very long has it? Oh sure, ASL has been
developing and in use since the early 1800's but it wasn't until 1960 that
"experts" started recognizing it as a full-blown autonomous language.
Sign
Language Images.
Also visit this fingerspelling site where you can
learn ASL fingerspelling.
There are free sign language websites such as Lifeprint.com that are intended to be a
good place to learn signing.
The main topics for this site are: sign language classes, history of American Sign Language, ASL phrases, American Sign Language letters (fingerspelling), American sign language for babies (baby signing), and a sign language chart. ASLU is an online curriculum resource for ASL students, instructors, interpreters, and parents of deaf children:
I like to discuss
American Sign Language (ASL), interpreters, deafness, and signing. Note:
Interpreting is a broad field that involves more than just "signing and body
language." ASL qualifies as a foreign language (but really we would do
better to refer to it as a modern language.
When I'm around "Hearing people" I tend to use a hearing aid. If I'm in a
meeting I will either use an interpreter or, depending on how close I am to the
speaker and how quiet the room is I'll lip-read and use my hearing-aid. My wife
and I have had four children and we taught them all how to sign.
I also write a bit about deaf education and baby sign / baby talk using sign
language. "Baby signing" is sort of new to Deaf culture. Deaf children have, of
course, used sign language but it is (was) new for hearing children. We do not
have a deaf child but one of our kids is hard of hearing and attended the Utah
School for the Deaf. Remember, ASL is so much more than just "deaf
communication" -- it is truly becoming a world language. In this website I also
talk about deaf services agencies, some of which provide "Deaf interpreters."
It seems so many people these days want to learn sign. However, I notice many
bloggers (and my students in their research papers) don't even know how to spell
it. This is a personal pet peeve of mine. All of the following are WRONG: sign
langage, american signs language, american sign languages, american sign
langage, signs languages, etc.
And don't get me started on what they call fingerspelling (e.g. lettering
alphabets). Plus there are the weird old names for ASL that never caught on,
like "Amslan." One time I saw someone calling it auslan but I reckon that is
Australian Sign Language?
We should say "at least" 500,000 people use ASL. That is an OLD
statistic from the 1980's. My estimate is more along the lines of: 2 million
people are using ASL on a daily basis and at least 500,000 of those people are
using it as their primary means of communication. Millions more people know
"some" sign language and use it "once in a while." For example, a grandmother of
a deaf child. She may have taken a six-week community education course and now
she knows just enough to offer her grandson candy and cookies.
"ASL is a visual gestural language." That means it is a language that is expressed through the hands and face and is perceived through the eyes. It isn't just waving your hands in the air. If you furrow your eyebrows, tilt your head, glance in a certain direction, twist your body a certain way, puff your cheek, or any number of other "inflections" --you are adding or changing meaning in ASL. A "visual gestural" language carries just as much information as an oral/aural (mouth/ear) language.
Is ASL limited to just the United States and Canada? No. ASL is also used in
varying degrees in the Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria, Chad, Burkina Faso, Gabon,
Zaire, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Kenya, Madagascar,
Benin, Togo, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong.
Is ASL a universal language? No. Those countries I just mentioned have their own
signed languages. ASL is the dominant signed language in North America, plus it
is used to some extent in quite a few other countries, but it is
certainly not understood by deaf people everywhere.
Did we get ASL from Native American sign language? Answer: No.
:)
