When most people hear or see ASL, especially in chatrooms, they don't even think twice about it. Naturally, it means "Age, Sex, and Location," and is a question often asked and answered in chats.
But to somewhere in between eight and ten percent of the word, it stands for American Sign Language. Why? That percentage is deaf. All around us, even in our own communities, there are deaf and hard-of-hearing people and children. Before learning sign language I knew nothing about deaf culture. Most people today are the same way!
A lot of people see a deaf person signing in a public place and either stare awkwardly or think, "Oh, poor them!" Deaf and hard-of-hearing people are just normal! Think of a grandparent who needs hearing aids, and without them would have a very hard time hearing. Being deaf is the same way, only in a more severe circumstance.
In a lot of situations, a deaf person is in a public place, such as a store, and needs help finding something. If no one can sign, they would resort to their last option: writing notes. This can be very frustrating! ASL classes are available at many places in almost each and every town. According to statistics, sign language is the third most popular language in the US behind English and Spanish.
Deaf culture is very important to learn about too. For example, there are things in ASL grammar that differ from other languages. And in spoken languages, voice tone is important in order to show emotion. A conversation in which each sentence is spoken monotone is extremely boring! In the same way, when signing, you can't merely sign small and tightly with a dull facial expression. You should be able to tell how a person feels by the speed and size of their signs. It is also a lot more exciting to participate in a conversation when a signer really gets into it!
The first things I would recommend someone to learn in American Sign Language would be how to say, "Hello," and, "My name ____ ." Deaf people are excited when a hearing person can introduce themselves! Don't worry if you need an interpreter after that. Remember that there are no real signs for each and every name. There is what is called "fingerspelling" and in introductions, you must fingerspell your name using the alphabet. Once everyone can accomplish this, ASL will grow so that the hearing population will be able to have basic communication skills in sign.
Practicing my fingerspelling
*tfklover*
Author's Note:The reason why there is no word "is" in "My name ____ ," is because in true ASL sentence structure, the word "is" isn't nessesary.
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