Everyone has seen people out and about signing to each other and most likely want to know what they are talking about. All throughout my life I was drawn to these people who were communicating with their hands; talking without sound. My mom would always tell me "Kelsey, it's rude to stare. Stop that!" She would make me look away but I would always fight for a final glance. In middle school I taught myself the alphabet, but that was about it.
When I went onto high school I learned that I had the opportunity to take 13 different languages- one of them being ASL. I finished Spanish in 9th grade and then signed up for ASL 1 in 10th grade. The great thing about sign language class was that from the beginning we were not allowed to talk. We were allowed to write notes to each other or to the teacher until we learned signs and then we were expected to sign for the rest of the year. Many of the students in my class immediately started complaining, saying things like "But now we can't talk!" That was dumb. We could talk... just using our hands.
One of the things that I find so wonderful about sign language is that it takes what most people view as "communication" and turns it upside down. I took three years of American Sign Language in high school and it became my favorite class of all time. Now that I am a college student at George Mason, I have not been taking classes because ASL is not recognized as a foreign language and they don't offer classes... so in the summer I am going to be taking classes at Gallaudet in Washington D.C. My hope is to become fluent my my sophomore year in college and become an interpreter either privately or for the government.
Here's the link to Gallaudet's website. Check it out.
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