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Should everyone learn how to sign?

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

I always wondered why sign language wasn't taught in school, this article shows that slowly it gets into schools. At least in some countries.

This article was released in January....

New Scientist: "why everyone should learn some sign language"

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg ... -language/

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
panyamnyenyekevu
Ukraine

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by panyamnyenyekevu »

Yes, we should! But also, how many different sign languages are there? And how different are they? I think I was reading today that there is a Tanzanian Sign Language. Yes! I was not wrong! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzani ... _languages

🇺🇦

User avatar
xXJachi
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by xXJachi »

I think the overall thought is amazing, but the problem arises, as it's not universal.
So I suppose you start with your local language and then expand ... like regular languages :|

If you always do, what you already can, then you will always be, what you already were. 8-)

Native :de: :us: | Learning :es:

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

I think it would be great to learn it and I guess there are similarities between the different sign languages.... Words like drink, eat, etc.

At Memrise I check out ASL and it's fun.

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
Hallumir
Canada

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by Hallumir »

Is there a right-handed bias in sign languages?

TL 🇵🇱 🇺🇦

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

As far as I know, if a sign requires just one hand, you use what's more natural for you. Quite a few signs need both hands. But I just checked out ASL a bit, so I might be wrong...

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

A piece about sign language and the idea to create a universal sign language.

https://wecapable.com/international-sig ... al-global/

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

LizLizLiz
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by LizLizLiz »

Is there an online platform for learning American sign language? I suppose it would be difficult to learn it online and get feedback because it is a physical language.

User avatar
Jacko079
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by Jacko079 »

LizLizLiz wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 1:43 pm

Is there an online platform for learning American sign language? I suppose it would be difficult to learn it online and get feedback because it is a physical language.

I have dug into ASL a little bit, and the best resource I found was this YouTube channel….

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvd8SH ... 55qFI0-dDA

Some of the videos aren’t high quality, but in terms of the content, the content is quite good!

Learning: Italian and Arabic.

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IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

Thanks for posting the link! I'll check it out!

The Memrise course has (so far) all signs / letters in video sequences, so it's perfect for my tram rides. ;)

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

ehanson3530
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by ehanson3530 »

I think so. Learning languages help your brain development and have been shown to help in a whole slew of ways. I grew up in a place with out much diversity so even if we learned a new language, it was impossible to practice it because everyone only spoke English. Learning sign in school would not only help us to make a community of learning a new language. One argument I hear of having more languages in our school system is that a lot of people stay in the country or go to English speaking places. They are saying learning the new language would be pointless. The thing with sign is that you can easily use it in your own country. It helps you communicate with your countrymen. I think learning Sign language is great! :)

LizLizLiz
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by LizLizLiz »

Great info. Thank you!

User avatar
lrai
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by lrai »

There is no universal sign language as each country has a unique sign language which incorporates the culture. I have learned ASL but I have been trying to also learn CSL (Chinese Sign Language) and it is very different. Knowing the spoken language helps, however, we all to some extent use signs when we try to communicate in a language that is not Native to us, or even to emphasize something we are trying to say. I wrote a thesis on using ASL as a modality for teaching English to Chinese learners. It's a long story. Knowing ASL has allowed me to communicate with many other people in many circumstances. Not all of them were deaf. My goal has been to learn CSL without being fluent in Chinese, so far it's sort of working.

Great topic...thanks for posting this.

lrai
what's your legacy
Image 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 Learning Yiddish, Chinese, Russian

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

In the UK British Sign Language will get more attention!

BBC.com: British Sign Language set for legal recognition.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60785449

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

Just came across an interesting article about ASL in literature and why it is difficult to "translate".

Literary Hub: Toward a Literature of Sign Language ‹ Literary Hub.
https://lithub.com/toward-a-literature- ... -language/

Guess it's time to check out some deaf writers!

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
lrai
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by lrai »

Dear IceVajal:

Why are you interested in sign language, I'm just curious.

lrai
what's your legacy
Image 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 Learning Yiddish, Chinese, Russian

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

I'm a curious person, too, so I don't mind you're asking about it.

Somehow I see people sign quite often on a tram ride, perhaps I incidentally live in towns where are specialized school.... Coz it's that way for about 30 years.
When people signing I can't get anything while I eventually picking up words when some speaks a different language. It feels like being excluded, and it makes me aware about how much they are excluded from "normal life".

Beside that signing is very useful in a loud environment. ;)

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
lrai
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by lrai »

Dear IceVajal:

Good to know, I started to learn because I couldn't stop watching when people would sign, then many years later my great-nephew (he has autism) was diagnosed as language impaired. He has non-verbal autism so the only way for him to communicate was using simple sign language and what they call pec-cards. He has an Ipad that can speak for him when he uses the pec-card feature. Since I had learned ASL I was able to sign with him.

I moved to China about 15 yrs ago and I moved to the NE of China 11 years ago. It is here that I discovered a large deaf community. I want to learn CSL but it's been very hard to find classes. If I could speak Chinese maybe it wouldn't be so hard..LOL. I am always interested when I find people who are drawn to learning sign language. Thanks for your answer.

lrai
what's your legacy
Image 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 Learning Yiddish, Chinese, Russian

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

I would wish there would be a sign language class in schools! I think it would be the best way to include deaf people, coz usually just some family members and friends speak their language. I would have loved to take that class!

Pec-cards and sign language are really great for a person like your great-nephew! Unfortunately you still have to be lucky to meet a doctor who do the right diagnosis and to understand what are the needs of this special person!
Many people don't understand what autism means and about the different ways it shows.

At a talk show I saw Laura Schwengber first, she is signing at concerts, if the artists hire her, for the hearing impaired and deaf at their concerts. Even at Wacken Open-Air she did it at 3 shows in 2018 in front of almost 100.000 people!

A few weeks ago I started learning Dutch and needed a source to learn het/de for nouns as there is no rule, Duolingo hasn't it included in the word list, so I started using Memrise and discovered an ASL course there, so I started learning. Still focusing on Russian and Dutch, but learning ASL little by little.

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
trackerwannabe
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by trackerwannabe »

LizLizLiz wrote: Tue Mar 15, 2022 1:43 pm

Is there an online platform for learning American sign language? I suppose it would be difficult to learn it online and get feedback because it is a physical language.

In the process of archiving posts I ran acrosss SignSchool. I don't know much about the site (and their about page didn't leave me much more enlightened), but it looks promising.

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

Thank you, [mention]trackerwannabe[/mention] !

I'll check it out these days... and might comment on it later.

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
lrai
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by lrai »

To Anyone Who Wants to Learn ASL:

The best way to do this is to take a class, and many community colleges in the US offer a course. There are some resources on-line, but if you can find someone in the deaf community where you live and you ask them to help you, I have found them most helpful.

I strongly encourage being in a classroom. That is where I did my initial learning and it was the best. The teacher was wonderful (that is a must for any language learning) and the other students were very helpful too. Any language (even ASL) requires you use it. If you don't engage in the language you really don't learn it.

BTW many high schools now in the US offer courses in ASL. I know several colleges that also do that.

Learning to sign is unique and it requires that you think in concepts not just words. It is so expressive and that was one reason I was drawn to it.

Thanks again for this thread.

lrai
what's your legacy
Image 🇨🇳 🇷🇺 Learning Yiddish, Chinese, Russian

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

Unfortunately - when it comes to ASL - I'm not in the US, but I learned a few signs from friends on tour, so I now dabble a bit with it.

In Germany it isn't that easy to find a class for the local sign language. At least I figured out that the alphabet is almost the same, just 3 letters differ.

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
trackerwannabe
United States of America

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by trackerwannabe »

IceVajal wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:02 am

Unfortunately - when it comes to ASL - I'm not in the US, but I learned a few signs from friends on tour, so I now dabble a bit with it.

In Germany it isn't that easy to find a class for the local sign language. At least I figured out that the alphabet is almost the same, just 3 letters differ.

I understand that there's an historical relationship between American Sign Language (ASL) and French Sign Language (LSF). And, according to its Wikipedia page, French Sign Language is related and partially ancestral to German Sign Language (DGS). So it makes sense that there's some overlap.

If you're interested in DGS, you might want to check out the websites of the Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf and/or German National Association of the Deaf. (Both websites are in German.)

If you learn more, I'll be interested to hear about other similarities and differences you discover.

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

Right now I focus on Russian and Dutch, only doing a bit in ASL. But I'll look for similarities as soon as I have a basic knowledge of ASL.

To have many resources at hand it always good and a friend here in Germany is interested in DGS, so perhaps we can see what similarities we find.

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

Just learned that Snapchat has an ASL lens.... I'm not on Snapchat, but perhaps this is interesting for some of you....

https://www.engadget.com/snapchat-ameri ... 25207.html

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
Meli578588
Italy

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by Meli578588 »

I love this topic because I had a deaf friend in school who was in the processing of teaching me to sign , but I didn’t stay the next year at that particular school.
I wanted to be a sign language teacher after that , but ended up going in another direction.

Interesting part of this is, I haven’t used it at all.
Yet , I remember how to sign the whole alphabet.
I forgot some of the other signs , though.
This was Junior high. - correction or —> ( middle school)
So, this topic will always Interest me.

User avatar
IceVajal
Germany

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by IceVajal »

[mention]Meli578588[/mention], at Memrise you'll find ASL decks with a short video for every sign. I use it to learn a few signs, just for fun, but already helped me in a situation.

N :de: - B2 :us: - Beginner :ru: (Busuu: B1) - :netherlands:

User avatar
Meli578588
Italy

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by Meli578588 »

[mention]IceVajal[/mention] ,

Thank you much for this information. Looking forward to this. :)

Last edited by Meli578588 on Sat Jun 04, 2022 1:52 am, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
Corinnebelle

Re: Should everyone learn how to sign?

Post by Corinnebelle »

[mention]IceVajal[/mention] Laura Schwenberger is absolutely memorizing! It's amazing how she has put her talents to good use, music, acting dancing into something that reaches people in a whole new way.

I think if there was enough interest, @Duome might create forum for learning sign language here.

🇺🇸 L1 🇮🇱 Advanced beginner Duolingo levels

Languages without borders, languages bridging gaps, the Red Cross are my heroes.

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