American Sign Language is known as ASL and is used to communicate with so many people in this world. ASL is a language that is not spoken - it is created with your hands, which is what makes it so interesting and beautiful.

I began learning ASL due to an encounter with one of my friends in middle school who was talking about how one of her sisters had recently gone deaf. and they were learning the language together, so they would still be able to communicate. I was so fascinated by the language that I began to learn myself.

It is so easy to learn the language. There are several online resources available that people can use for free to learn ASL. The only way one can actually learn this language is if they have the motivation and the desire to learn.

I began learning basic phrases on an online website and now I am on the way to becoming fluent in the language. Something that increased my drive for wanting to learn ASL was an encounter with a deaf couple ahead of me in a line at Universal Studios. They were talking to each other in ASL and I began to understand some of what they were saying. They noticed that I could sign too since I was showing off to my mother about how much I knew, and they began to talk to me. I loved being able to communicate to such wonderful people who actually have so much to say about the world, no one just has enough patience to listen. Once you become better at ASL, it becomes such a fluid language that looks beautiful because of the graceful hand movements. It's important to increase the awareness of this language so more people can get out here to learn and communicate more with the unique people of our world.