American Sign Language, Part 2

Other reasons that ASL is a foreign language: it is conceptual, ie. signs communicate ideas, rather than words, and it is a form of communication associated with a distinct and unique culture.

Some people take ASL thinking it's an "easy" language. I heard a comment that the college ASL classes lose half the students after the first 2 weeks. It turns out to be much more challenging than they expected!

This is a language that can't be learned from a book. Videos or DVD's along with your book are better, but a live class or tutor is best. ASL is 3-dimensional, incorporating signs with one or two hands, directional movement and facial grammar. All these features combine to convey meaning.

This probably has made it sound intimidating, please don't give up if you are interested! ASL is useful, even for hearing people, you can ask questions or give directions over a long distance or in loud surroundings. You will learn cultural information about the Deaf people living around you, and maybe make some new friends. The Deaf people we've met have been kind, patient and encouraging.

By the way, speaking and signing together is the only way it is physically possible to communicate in two languages at the same time. Challenge your children to think about that!

American Sign Language

As I mentioned, my 19 year old daughter studied American Sign Language in high school. Most colleges accept ASL as a foreign language (check with the individual college to verify), and ASL is the 3rd or 4th most commonly used language in the US, depending on the source of information.

There are several forms of signed communication. The popularity and use of each varies by region. Think of them as a spectrum, with Signing Exact English (SEE) at one end, Pidgeon Sign Language (PSE) in the middle, and ASL at the other end.

SEE is NOT a foreign language. It is a sign system, but is essentially "English on the hands". Its grammar and structure are the same as English. Each word is at least one sign.

PSE uses signs from ASL and SEE, with its grammar rather mixed, but signs usually understandable by both ends of the spectrum.

ASL has its own grammatical structure, unique, and conceptual in nature. For example, in English, we might say; "The old man sat at the table in his small white house on the farm". To sign this information, we introduce the setting, the farm, then the house, indicating by the way it is signed that the house is small and white, then probably the table and the old man sitting at it.

This structure is why it's a foreign language. You learn not only the signs, but also the unique grammatical structure.

We started with a class at our adult education center, Beginning ASL. At the time my daughter wasn't old enough to take the class herself, so I attended (I had always wanted to learn ASL!), and later taught her. Not the very best way, but it was a start.

Once the beginning class was over, we looked around for more opportunities. To our surprise, we found a lovely lady at church who is an interpreter, and agreed to work with us. She tutored us for 1 1/2 years. We ended by completing the college text used for the first year ASL class at the local university, and Jesse interpreted a song of her choice and performed it at church. We invited a Deaf friend, and she enjoyed the performance. (She cried, I told Jesse I thought she'd done it right then!)

More coming on ASL!