Re: Universal Sign Language?/ no such thing

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On 12/27/10, John Schumacher wrote:
> Sign Language is as universal as any other language.

ASL is not universal - it is somewhat international but certainly not
globally used. There is no one sign language that is used across the
globe. ASL is used in some African countries.

I don't know how close FSL and ASL are - I defer to John on that
question. When I asked Big D deaf people who attend international
conferences how they communicate with each other, they sign back to
me - "we manage".

I'm from Philadelphia which has an old and well-established school
for the Deaf/deaf here and it uses ASL but being an old school, there
are signs used here that are specific to Philadelphia. When two
Americans sign, others can often recognize if the person is from
Philadelphia.

It's interesting because Philadelphia has an accent all its own in
spoken speech and signs all its own in sign language.

Sign
> Language in America is diverse from region to region, state to
> state. Canadian version of ASL if different than American
> version of ASL. ASL has as much in common with FSL as Spanish in
> Portugal would have with Spanish in Mexico. (barely similar but
> wildly diverse in meaning). As an American Sign Language
> teacher, I would love to teach in Canada but I would recognize
> the fact that Canadian ASL would be different not only with
> America but also within the Canadian province to province.
>
> Sincerly,
>
> John Schumacher, ASL Teacher
> BA - ASL Studies - Gallaudet University 2006
> Omaha, Nebraska USA
>
> On 12/27/10, Kenny wrote:
>> No, ASL is used in some countries other than America. Canada
>> uses ASL. Some African countries use ASL. ASL was derived
>> from French, I have never seen FSL but Ive heard it was
>> similar in some ways. But I believe Canada is the only
>> country that uses 100% ASL as other countries are more of a..
>> mixed or altered ASL but easily understood.
>>
>> There is an international sign language but there is not
>> really an EXACT way to do it. Intl sign is more of a mix of
>> your language, their language and a few true intl signs. Sign
>> Language is mostly body language so it makes communication
>> much easier.
>>
>> More questions, kdehaan13@gmail.com
>>
>> On 10/22/10, delehla wrote:
>>> Is the American sign language taught and understood only
>>> in America? Is there also a universal sign language, and
>>> if so, what are the advantages/disadvantages of learning it
>>> versus the ASL?
 

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