| American Sign Language ("ASL") is the a sign | | | | the language to Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, |
| language used by the deaf and hard-of-hearing | | | | who was the first principal of the American School for |
| communities. It is the most widely used sign language in | | | | the Deaf (known as the time as "The Hartford School |
| the United States, with perhaps 2 million people | | | | for the Deaf"). |
| knowing the language. ASL is also used in English | | | | In many homes containing a deaf child, parents use ad |
| speaking parts of Canada, parts of Mexico, and a | | | | hoc sign languages to communicate with their children. |
| wide variety of other countries around the world, | | | | However, ASL is taught formally in secondary and |
| including many African and Asian countries. ASL is | | | | postsecondary schools in the United States, and thus |
| however quite different from British Sign Language | | | | provides a method of communication which the whole |
| ("BSL") which is used in the United Kingdom. This | | | | community can understand and use to communicate |
| because ASL is in fact closely related to modern | | | | with each other. If however you missed the |
| French Sign Language - ASL and French Sign | | | | opportunity to learn ASL at school and wish learn it |
| Language actually share about 60% common | | | | now, or if you simply want to brush on your skills if |
| vocabulary. | | | | they have perhaps become rusty, then the Internet |
| American Sign Language traces its roots back into the | | | | may the answer - you can for example download |
| 19th century. Many people attribute the development of | | | | Internet courses that teach American Sign Language. |