Hands That Talk: An Introduction to Sign Language

Imagine you are in a very noisy swimming pool. You want to tell your friend to jump in. You can't shout — they won't hear you. What do you do? You probably wave your arms, point at the water, and pull a big grin. Without knowing it, you have just used your hands and face to send a message! Some people communicate this way all the time — using a complete language made of movements instead of sounds.

Sign language is a complete language that uses handshapes, movement, and facial expressions instead of spoken sounds. Deaf people — people who cannot hear — often use sign language as their main language. But many hearing people learn it too, so they can talk with Deaf friends and family members. Sign language is NOT just waving your hands randomly. Every sign has a specific meaning, just like every word in English does. Signers also use their face a lot — raised eyebrows can turn a statement into a question, for example. The face is like the 'tone of voice' of sign language. Here is a surprising fact: there is no single, worldwide sign language. Just as different countries have different spoken languages, they also have different sign languages. British Sign Language (BSL) is used in the UK. American Sign Language (ASL) is used in the USA. These two countries both speak English, but their sign languages are actually very different from each other! Sign languages developed naturally in Deaf communities over hundreds of years. They have their own grammar — rules about how to put signs together — which is often different from the grammar of the spoken language nearby. BSL grammar, for example, is not the same as English grammar. Sign languages are recognised as real, full languages by scientists who study language. They can express any idea that a spoken language can — jokes, poetry, news, or a tricky maths problem.