When I signed up for my classes for my first semester ever of college, the one class I was the most excited for Beginners Sign Language. And pretty much anyone who has encountered me since has probably heard a spiel on why they should learn ASL. I'm now going to share my 11 main reasons on why you should learn ASL at some point in your life.
1. You can still communicate with food in your mouth.
This is one thing that I've found to be super helpful with my friends that also know ASL. To me it's just become second nature to sign when I'm not able to use my voice, and this is only after taking ASL for two semesters. Even if I'm not with someone who knows ASL, if I have food in my mouth my first response is to sign what I intended on saying.
2. You can communicate with someone from across the room.
This reason is pretty similar to the first one, but if you see a friend across the way and they aren't able to hear you boom problem solved sign to them. It can make conversations a lot easier when you don't have to worry about someone being able to hear you.
3. You're bilingual.
Despite what some uninformed people think, American Sign Language is actually a language. By learning you will become bilingual, and that's pretty rad
4. If you come across someone who is deaf you can communicate with them.
There are a few different ways in which this would be beneficial. One if you just come across someone who is deaf and want to hold a conversation with them, you're able to. Or if the deaf person for whatever reason is having trouble communicating with a hearing person, you can always step in and try and assist. Let's saying they're trying to order at a coffee shop and there's miscommunication, with the okay from the deaf person you can help interpret.
5. Easy to learn.
American Sign Language is such a straightforward language, and all of the nuances make so much sense that in the beginner's classes that I've taken not many people struggle. And if they do it's because they're not showing up to class. If you want to learn a language, and you have trouble with learning languages I would strongly suggest ASL.
6. Popular language.
There are various studies that say ASL is the fourth most spoken non-English language. Other studies say the third or the sixth. The reason there's such a variation in place is the fact that there are different forms of ASL, and it's hard to pinpoint how many ASL users are there. But the message is clear ASL is a much more popular language than most think.
7. You don't have to worry about mispronouncing things.
Unlike with Spanish or French you don't have to see a difficult word and get scared about pronouncing it. ASL is not a verbal language so that concern just disappears. Sure you might mix up signs, but it's generally pretty easy to figure out what you're trying to say based off of context.
8. Applicable in a lot of different jobs.
I can't really think of a job where there's a guarantee that you won't ever have the possibility of using ASL. You never know who you're going to come across, and I find it reassuring knowing that if I came across someone who is Deaf in my profession I can communicate with them. It might not be a complex and intricate conversation, but I would still be able to communicate with them.
9. It helps show you job opportunities.
Taking an ASL class can help open your eyes to various other job opportunities that you might not be aware of. If you're unsure of a future career take ASL and see if any of the various job opportunities that you become aware of might interest you. You learn about all of these other careers related to the Deaf or ASL that you aren't super aware of before.
10. There's an amazing culture associated with ASL.
Part of learning ASL is learning about the culture associated with it. And there's so much rich history associated with ASL, and it's such unique culture. It's one of my favorite aspects of learning the language.
11. You become a part of the culture.
If you stick with ASL long enough you begin to become a part of the culture. Even now after only taking it for a year, I've noticed that I sometimes do things that are considered a norm in Deaf culture. And it's pretty cool to see how much I'm immersing myself in the language.
American Sign Language is such an interesting language with a rich culture and history. It's such a fun language to learn and I truly think that everyone should give it a chance and try to learn it.
