this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
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I assume there must be a reason why sign language is superior but I genuinely don't know why.

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[–] lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee 25 points 9 months ago (1 children)

ASL (or whichever sign language) is NOT a direct visual translation of English or French or Mandarin or whatever. It's a totally different language and the written language is a second language. People might be highly proficient at reading and writing English in an English speaking country but it's a different language.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

And incredibly regional as well.

Any isolated language with a small local population is going to differentiate quickly, and while the Internet is bringing everyone together and making written language more consistent, it's not like deaf people send each other videos online, they just use written English because it's insanely easier and faster for everyone.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I knew a 3/4 deaf girl who had learned ASL, who had a bf who was fully deaf from birth… he did send her videos of himself signing.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Sure, lots of couples send videos to each other.

But I doubt that was their sole method of conversation

I meant more of general conversation, like instead of scrolling comments on here, we had to watch a video of what everyone say without knowing where it was going.

Completely impractical

[–] pseudo@jlai.lu 1 points 9 months ago

Well, it's not like being handicaped is practical.
People with disability have to deal with impractical situation all the time bc what is practical for able people is just not faisable or extremely unpractical for them, and society is far from being inclusive.

[–] Devi@kbin.social -1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

A decent amount of deaf people don’t speak English so wouldn’t be using written English. Schools that teach both are actually called dual language schools

[–] DeadPand@midwest.social 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Deaf people that can’t hear at all, still read and write, please stop speaking for a lifestyle you don’t know anything about.

[–] Devi@kbin.social 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

😂 I’m deaf you numpty. There’s entire deaf communities that don’t read or write english. It’s actually a hotly debated topic as some think kids shouldn’t be forced to learn both.

[–] Gabu@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Only in 'murica (and the anglosphere) could people think that learning more languages could possibly be a bad thing...

[–] Devi@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago

I’m not American but it’s suggested that learning a sign language and a ‘spoken’ language at the same time can slow the acquisition of both.

We see it in kids with two ‘spoken’ languages too but I believe to a lesser extent.

If I had a deaf kid I would teach them both but I understand the choices of parents that don’t do that.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

And they'd have no idea what ASL was....

So what's your point?

Not even every English speaking country uses ASL, and it's different in different regions even in America.

[–] Devi@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You’ve got confused. A lot of deaf people speak ASL, BSL, AUSLAN etc exclusively. They don’t speak English. Speaking both is bilingual.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Who's talking about speaking?

We're talking about reading/writing/typing...

I would be insanely surprised if someone used American/British/Australian sign language yet didn't know a single written language. Especially not the one used in their geographical location

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Who's talking about speaking?

We're talking about reading/writing/typing...

I would be insanely surprised if someone used American/British/Australian sign language yet didn't know a single written language