I first saw ASL used in Switched at Birth during the summer of 7th grade. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to learn the language. Admittedly, the original reason I wanted to learn it was because I had a crush on Sean Berdy. But I am so glad I chose to take ASL in high school. I have fallen in love with ASL during the past two years of my learning experience.
Every hearing person should be required to learn ASL, it will teach you how to incorporate real emotion into your conversations and overall will make you more socially aware. ASL isn't the only signed language, it's just the most commonly used one in America. There are other variations such as SEE and PSE. Hearing people tend to use SEE instead of ASL when conversing with Deaf people, and while most Deaf people will be able to pick up what they're trying to say, ASL is much easier to use for both parties involved and takes less time to use. SEE is "signing exact English." That means exactly what it sounds like. You'd be translating word-for-word what you want to say and it follows the exact same sentence structure as spoken English while ASL does not.
Most hearing people assume SEE and ASL are the same thing but they're not. Hearing people also tend to think ASL is just visual English, it is not. ASL is it's own language. ASL has it's own sentence structures and rules and is so different from English in such a beautiful way that it's almost insulting to just push it into the same category as spoken English.
English speaks to your ears, ASL speaks to your soul.
In ASL there are two different signs for poetry, One sign is to demonstrate written poetry that hearing people are used to. The other sign is for deaf poetry. With the sign for deaf poetry, you start with a fist at your chest and you move it up while opening your fist, almost as if a flower is blooming from your heart which I think is a great way to describe ASL as a whole. English can be expressive, depending on vocal inflection, but ASL is expressive in a completely different way. ASL is expressive in the way it uses body movement, hand movement and facial expressions. You can express emotions with ASL in a way you never can with English.
Facial expressions are so important in ASL. Some expressions can change the meaning of a sign completely. For example, if you raise your eye brows at the wrong time you'll be asking a question instead of stating something. Even the way you part your lips matters with some signs.
Deaf people are so in tune with their expressions that they can not only tell you what emotion they're feeling, they can show you.
I know my journey with ASL is not over and I don't think it ever will be. I have fallen so in love with this language and I never want to stop using it.
