The need to communicate, share your thoughts and influence other people is strong in most people, and those who aren't able to do so using their voice have instead come up with ingenious ways to speak to the eyes instead. Sign language is thus not an invention that can be credited to a single person. Instead it has been developed among deaf people in a very similar manner most spoken languages have evolved.

People in different countries have also developed different sign languages. For example, there is a British sign language and an American sign language, and a person speaking the American one will not understand a person using the British version - and vice versa.

Sign language evolves

Since all sign languages use hand gestures and expressions, many people believe that they are all the same. As many gestures and facial expressions we humans make are indeed similar regardless of culture, this indeed seems like a logical deduction.

However, as sign language is used in a much more complex way - for everything we would use our spoken language of choice - each sign language have developed it's own strict rules. American sign language for example, is different from English and has its own unique grammar.

Just as we can not be quite sure what the first spoken languages sounded like, we know very little of what the first sign language looked like. It is natural to assume that people, before there where real languages, used a mixture of sounds, expressions and gestures in order to communicate. Over time, this communication became more and more complex.

While those people who could hear, came to eventually develop their grunts, screams and whatever into more sophisticated speech, sign language went through a similar evolution among deaf people.

Signing and Pointing

The primary tools of sign language are gestures and expressions. Gestures are those signs performed with the hands. There are gestures that work in a similar fashion words do in spoken languages. For example, one hand gesture or sign may say "ball" while another one means "horse". There are as many signs in sign language as there are words in spoken languages, but not all spoken words have an equivalent gesture and not all gestures have a corresponding word.

A particularly useful gesture is that of pointing. The person performing the sign language can point at himself, at other people or other things close by just like people would normally use this gesture when talking. However, using sign language you can also point to various locations without there being anyone or anything there. In this case, something or someone has been allocated to that particular spot earlier on in the conversation.

Learning American sign language can not only give you a grater understanding of the deaf culture. As ASL is the fourth most "spoken" language in the US, it may also help you become more of an asset to any potential employer - as you will no longer only be able to speak using your voice, but you will also be able to speak using your hands.

For more about American Sign Language, including resources to learn it, visit the Rocket Langauges Sign Language Course.

People choose to learn American Sign Language for many reasons. Some have a loved one who is deaf and they want to be able to communicate. Others want to be able to communicate to deaf people that they work with or go to church with. Many wish to become more involved in the deaf community. No matter what your motives, the Learn American Sign Language program from Rocket Sign Language is simple, quick, and effective.

Would you like to become an interpreter for the deaf? The Learn American Sign Language program will help you quickly and easily acquire the skills needed to be eligible for a position as an interpreter. Even if being an interpreter is not your goal, knowing sign language is a huge asset on your resume. Many employers will pay you more if you know another language, and sign language is one of the most useful languages to know.

Many people desire to learn American Sign Language as a ministry outreach of their church. Others wish to become full time missionaries to the deaf community. Maybe you just want to be able to share your faith with people who have a hearing loss. By completing the Learn American Sign Language program, you will be on your way to the ministry of your choice in less time than you think.

ASL, or American Sign Language, can trace its roots back to Italy and France. There was a form of signing going on over there, but it was very complicated and involved. In America there was a large deaf community in Martha's Vineyard and they developed a language that was originally called 'Chilmark Sign Language' after the town where the deaf community lived. This was later tweaked and modernized to become what is known today as ASL.

Learning American Sign Language is a very useful thing to do. It can help you personally and professionally as well as giving you a sense of accomplishment. The easiest way to learn ASL is to take the Learn American Sign Language program. You will not regret it!

For more about American Sign Language, including resources to learn it, visit the Rocket Langauges Sign Language Course.

There are about half a million deaf people in the U.S. almost all of whom speak American Sign Language. ASL is also spoken by an untold number of friends, relatives, associates, employers, employees and other associates of deaf people. ASL is probably the third most-spoken language in the U.S. after English and Spanish.
American Sign Language was developed by deaf people to communicate with other deaf people. It is a unique, complex, versatile and effective language in itself. With roots in the French Sign Language of the end of the 16th century, combined with Native American Sign Language, it took on its own unique flavor.

You may remember the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806), from your history books. It was headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and was the first American overland expedition to the Pacific coast.
They took along a French-speaking, part-Indian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau, whose young Shoshone Indian wife, Sacagawea, translated for the expedition.

Indian Tribes along their route all spoke different languages. But the Native Americans used sign language to communicate between different peoples. The sign language they used seems to have been very widely, even universally, known and understood.

Elements of that Native American sign language were incorporated into American Sign Language. Moreover it is a three-dimensional language using more than just simple hand signals to convey meaning.
A language that is spoken and not written tends to evolve and change faster than one with a written record, dictionaries and other authorities to keep the form intact and more or less static. So there are regional, even city-wide dialects. Signs for special terms and ideas are frequently confined to speakers in one local area.

But the basics remain the same, and can be easily learned by watching videos of the words and syntax being used. Excellent learning courses are available on the Internet where they can be bought and sent out on DVD's or downloaded directly in digital form.
It is interesting to note that messages in American Sign Language can be conveyed clearly at much greater distances than those of any language conveyed only by sound. For privacy concerns, it is also much more difficult to record surreptitiously.

To learn more about the useful and interesting language called American Sign Language or ASL, follow the links below.

For more about American Sign Language, including resources to learn it, visit the Rocket Langauges Sign Language Course.