Q&A

Whilst on holiday, I met a woman who has a deaf son. We were talking and comparing ASL (American Sign Language) and BSL. There are quite a few differences - for example, in BSL you use both hands for the alphabet, in ASL you use one hand, the signs for most words are different etc. Although there were some similarities - for example, the signs for 'I need help' and 'do you want help?' were the same. I'm sure there are other similarities as well.

That brings me to questions I'm frequently asked about sign language and myself.

Q: Why is sign language different in each country?
A: Most countries have their own spoken language, it's the same for signed language. There isn't one universal spoken language that everyone speaks, it's the same for sign language. Having said that - it's a lot easier for people that sign to understand each other when signing in a different language, than it is for people that are speaking different languages to understand each other.

Q: Why is the sign language for American English, English and Australian english different?
A: AUSlan (Australian Sign Language) and NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) are similar to BSL, as they evolved from 19th century BSL - the deaf schools set up in Australia were run by deaf people from London, Dublin and Edinburgh. So AUSlan developed from those three sign languages but is most similar to BSL. Auslan, BSL & NZSL have the same grammar.
ASL on the other hand is quite different and very similar to the sign language used in Zimbabwe, Haiti, Singapore, Kenya and many other countries. It is also similar to SLF (French Sign Language). In 1817 a man named Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clarc opened a deaf school in Connectict. At this school SLF was taught and most students brought in their own sign language that they had used at home. These all combined and eventually formed ASL.

Q: Is BSL the same all over the country?
A: There are slight differences in the South and North and other parts. Just as people speak in different accents in England, BSL also has different accents.

Q: Why do deaf people feel so passionately about sign language?
A: For a long time, it was illegal to teach BSL in schools and parents were told to stop their children from using signs or gestures as it would interfere with their deaf children to learn lip-reading and speech skills. It was only about 30 years or so ago that it finally became legal to teach BSL. Until then, the language was kept alive by deaf children of deaf parents teaching other deaf children the language. For a long, long time deaf people have been surpressed and discriminated against. Very few people realise that during World Wat 2, deaf people, alongisde Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, were put in to concentration camps and killed. After facing so much persecution, it is only natural to feel strongly about fighting for our rights and the right to have our language accepted.

Q: Why do you overemphasize your facial expressions when you sign?
A: Hearing people use vocal emphasis, pitch and volume to speak. You can't do that in sign language - instead you use facial expressions and the speed of your signs etc to bring points across. You don't talk in a monotone voice, it's a similar thing in sign language.

Q: Why doesn't every deaf person learn how to lip-read and speak?
A: Why doesn't every hearing person learn how to sign? Some deaf people do learn how to lip-read and speak so as to be able to live in the world, but a lot of deaf people don't feel the need - the deaf world is a very nice place - it isn't necessary to for many deaf people to leave that world, so why should they?

Q: Why do you personally know more swear words than normal words?
A: I do know more normal words than swear words... but when learning a new language I always think it's fun to learn the rude words first! Not practical, but fun.

If there's anything else anyone would like to know, just ask and I'd be happy to answer if I can.

Deaf Girl