Hello reader,
Welcome to the second
and last part of my Deaf Awareness Month posts. In the first one, I wrote about
deaf people here and now in this one, I’ll be telling you about sign
language yay!
About sign language
Sign language is considered as much
of a language as English. By this I mean sign language differs country to
country, just like spoken languages. Here we have South African Sign Language
or SASL, in America they have ASL and in Britain there is BSL and so on. All of
these differ greatly, some signs may mean something else altogether in another
country. Also, much like spoken language, sign language has ‘slang’ which
differs from region to region.
Below are the some of the different
kinds of sign language:
Sign Supported English (SSE). This is the preferred method
of hearing people to communicate with the deaf. SSE uses the same sign as
British Sign Language (BSL), but unlike Signed English (SE), you do not have to
sign every word. SSE also doesn’t have its own grammar system like BSL,
enabling hearing people to use the sign system without having to learn a whole
new grammatical structure. SSE can be picked up fairly quickly which expedites
communication.
International Sign (IS). IS is an international auxiliary
language used at international meetings, such as the World Federation of the
Deaf (WFD) Congress and events such as the Deaflympics.
Padget Gorman Signed Speech. This signing system is used
with speech to help those with langauge difficulties. There are 37 basic signs
which when combined can make over 4,000 more complex ones.
Pidgin Signed English (PSE). Another characteristic of
language -much like pidgin vocal language, sign language has a very crude
signing system, in which elements of BSL and spoken English are combined to
allow communication between hearing people and deaf people who only know the
strict confines of sign language. This system is not recommended though haha.
Finger Spelling. This signing system is generally used
alongside sign language. It is used to spell out names, places, and anything
else where there is not usually a sign for. Many times, new words take longer
to be adapted into a singular sign; therefore they must be spelled out. Hearing
people probably have used this a few times in their lives.
Why you
should learn sign language
Who wouldn’t like to learn a new language, especially one as
beautiful as sign language? You can also place this as an extra language on a
CV or résumé
which is an added bonus! Learning sign language will also help in bridging the
gap between the hearing and deaf communities which is beneficial for both.
Also, learning sign language is fun! Did I mention that already? No, well, I’m
saying it now; sign language is fun. You also get to amaze people with sign
language skills and because not many people are fluent in sign language, you
get to communicate in broad daylight with your friend about secret things haha!
It’s a great experience, so if you’d like to try something new, go for it!
Where can
you learn sign language?
The best and fastest way would be to befriend deaf people
and learn from them. If you aren’t able to do that, there are many institutions
which offer sign language lessons; some free of charge and some at a cost. Do a
quick Google search for any in your area but be careful you don’t go to dodgy
places. Always bring a friend as well; this makes it double the fun. If you’d
like to privately learn within the comfort of your own home, YouTube has a lot
of videos of people teaching different kinds of sign language and you can
easily find a sign language tutorial book in your local library or online.
I myself, am constantly trying to
improve my sign language skills. Two weeks ago I watched a video about the
basics of American Sign Language and it was thrilling. You can also learn by
watching TV shows or movies where sign language is heavily used. I suggest Switched at Birth for a TV series (it’s
really awesome and also brings the issues deaf people face every day in a
mostly hearing world to the surface), and this Oscar nominated drama film, Children of a Lesser God (the talented
deaf actress, Marlee Matlin won an Oscar for best actress for her role in this
film at the very young age of 21!) and I heavily recommend it.
*rubs hands together satisfactorily*
So… that’s about it. Again, if you have a question to ask, don’t be afraid to
leave a comment. I’m always happy to help!
