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As with most languages, there are poems created in sign language, just as there are poems in spoken language (click here and here).  Concerning poetry, much is lost in translation.  Whatever its language of origin - English, Djerma, ASL, Sindebele, Mandarin, or any other - a poem is simply not wholly translatable.  It is for this fact that (sad to say) the beauty and impact of an ASL poem simply cannot be completely conveyed in English, and vice versa.  Hard to believe?  Try this little experiment: Imagine trying to translate a poem from English to ... a canvas.  That's right.  Paint a poem.  This is one of the challenges faced by interpreters asked to render poetry.

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Songs are not written in sign language for the obvious reason.  When a song is interpreted into sign language, it is not the song anymore [remember the poem and the canvas?]; rather, it is an interpretation of its meaning.  If a song's beat or rhythm is relevant information, it will be conveyed visually by the interpreter.  Deaf people do not experience music in the way that hearing people do; a hearing person might enjoy music, or be annoyed by it; a deaf person simply does not hear it or hears limited tones, decibels, or pitches.

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There are language variations among American Sign Language users, just as there are among users of English or any other language.  Language use can reflect the age (generation) of the signer or the area in which s/he grew up.  There are formal ways of signing something, and informal ways of signing, just as spoken English has formal and informal expression.

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The English alphabet can be expressed manually (see fingerspelling).  Non-ASL words can thusly be spelled manually, using signs that represent letters of the English alphabet.  

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Sometimes, fingerspelled words from other languages are used so often in ASL that they become "ASL-icized" (adapted for use by ASL users).  This a common linguistic phenomenon and happens among users of practically all languages.  This is called lexical borrowing.  The resulting signs are called loan signs.  Examples of lexical borrowing in American English include the words pizza and spaghetti, which have traveled linguistically far from their Italian origin, having now been Anglicized (adapted by English users).

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American Sign Language is three-dimensional (3D).  Spoken languages are linear (two-dimensional or 2D).  A person using spoken or written language is able to produce communication that has a beginning, middle, and ending ... with occasional back-peddling to interject or for clarify, of course.  Users of signed languages are able to represent several events or ideas at the same time because they have the use of 3D space - an idea that is at first perplexing to us 2D-communicators.

We have known speech language pathologists, medical care providers, and well-meaning family members to say that learning sign language in some way interferes with speech or with learning a spoken language, that the learner becomes "lazy," or language acquisition will somehow be "delayed."

Before making a final language decision for their child, parents might wish to see the evidence for such claims for themselves, and to speak with other clients or patients who have previously been down the road you are now on (say, 10 or 15 years previously).  Parents can make better-informed decisions after reading the reports, seeing the numbers, and meeting with other families and their now-teenage or -adult children.

Users of sign language include deaf and hard or hearing persons and their family members and friends, as well as interpreters, of course.  

You might be surprised to learn that many hearing persons use sign language as their first language for a variety of reasons.  Persons with Down Syndrome, Apraxia of speech, or other developmental or cognitive disorders, and their families and friends, often find that ASL is just what the doctor ordered - although in truth, the doctor may not yet have mentioned it (sad to say).

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If you are curious, fascinated, even enthralled, by American Sign Language, rest assured that you are not alone.  Thousands of Americans of every age and interest have come to ASL with limited or no background in the language (many with no deaf family members or friends) because the beauty and versatility of this amazing language simply must be experienced.  

Consider yourself invited!  We hope you will explore this and other sites, read books, visit a Silent Social, find a deaf club, read some BLogs, view some VLogs; pore over the dictionaries, and give yourself the gifts of American Sign Language and sign language interpreting.

For an introduction to interpreting, please click here.  To visit the national Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf online, please click here.

We hope to see you at an interpreting workshop in the near future!