http://www.boroday.info/sign-language-deaf-people/
Do all deaf people learn sign language?
This is probably a very stupid question, I hope it’s not offensive, but I was wondering if all/most people who were born deaf learn sign language/lip reading or both?
I have a friend who is deaf and would like to be able to communicate with them better
Good for you for wanting to know more. If you don’t ask, you won’t learn.
It depends on the child in question, and the circumstances surrounding the child.
some parents want their deaf children to learn sign language, while others want lipreading/speech skills to be taught.
So there are deaf people who do not know how to sign. It depends on their level of hearing whether they can speak well or not.
Others do not speak ar all, but only communicate via the national sign language of the country. (For example, Irish Sign Language, ISL, British Sign Language , BSL, or even Gambian Sign Language.)
People like myself were given the opportunity to learn both ways of communicating. I was taught how to speak, and at the same time, I learnt sign language as a pupil at the school for the deaf. (In the classrooms, teachers spoke to us, in the playground we signed to each other.)
I have to say, the best way to learn sign language is to sign with people. Learning from books is no good. CDs or DVDs are better as they show you how a sign is executed, though 70% of the meaning is gleaned from looking at the person’s face, not looking at the hands. So your friend would be a better resource than the most expensive CD on the planet!!
you don’t say whether your deaf friend prefers to talk or sign, but I commend you for your interest in wanting to communicate better with this person. Why not ask your friend to teach you sign language, if s/he is a signer?
Be warned, someone asked me this when I was at uni, and she is now a full time interpreter, and one of my closest friends! We sign to each other, though we spoke in the early days.
After all that… back to your question… no, not all deaf people learn sign language. it depends on their family background, parental wishes, where they went to school (the neighbourhood school as opposed to the school for the deaf), whether they are members of the deaf community, and so on.
ASL: Deaf people like what?
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