Fourth most commonly used language in the USA?? Guess...

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I love watching people sign, it's so beautiful.

My sister, sister-in-law, and my soon to be brother-in-law all sign. My soon to be B-I-L is and interpreter and my S-I-L is in school to be.

My sister-in-law is signing in a skit she and her friends are doing for a show. I'll post the video if I can find it.

Edit: Here is the video. It's them practicing for the show. (My S-I-L is the one in the black shirt.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXFicbH0PJM

[sirrahbed]

Our church services are always interpreted and so I could keep the person signing in my lower vision as I listened to sermons. So, for many years I was really hearing two languages...the ASL really enhanced what I was hearing - I always loved the sign for "JOY" - rather like confetti spiraling upward

I had no idea that ASL was the 4th most common language!!

[lizbud]

Since the syntax is so different, would the deaf people be able to read
the newspaper or books written by a hearing person? Do you know what
I mean? Would the meaning of the written word be different according to
who was reading it?

[Catty1]

Lizbud...CountryWolf or Gina would be best to answer that question...but I would think it would be like us reading a document in pig latin, in that we would have to keep changing the word order in our minds. We can DO it - but it would be a lot of effort and mentally exhausting (for me, anyway! )

The links I found said it is a separate language from any other, including English. I think there is even a French ASL!

[lizbud]

Lizbud...CountryWolf or Gina would be best to answer that question...but I would think it would be like us reading a document in pig latin, in that we would have to keep changing the word order in our minds. We can DO it - but it would be a lot of effort and mentally exhausting (for me, anyway! )

The links I found said it is a separate language from any other, including English. I think there is even a French ASL!

Thanks, I hope they will. I do know that you can change the meaning of
a whole sentence by just rearanging a few words. I was curious.

[Catty1]

*bump*

[Karen]

Gina reads in English and can write in English better than when she first joined Pet Talk, I think, but when she's in a hurry, like many non-native speakers, you can tell it isn't her first language.