We teach Spanish, etc., in skl.. Do you think that Sign language is just as important and should be offered?

Answer 1

Yes.
Because, there are so many people that are learning all of these different language's that can communicate with foreigners, yet we have people, our own neighbors who are deaf that we cannot even communicate with.
To me that is a sin.
That is really sad.
In our own country our own people we ignore our own language one being sign language.
I think that a mandatory course in high school should be that every student should live a week in the life of a handicap person.
They should walk the halls as a blind student (blind folded) with a guide.
They should have to wear some kind of device that prevents them from hearing and depend on there other senses to get them around.
They should have to get to and from class in a wheelchair.
There should be several other things that should be mandatory for highschoolers in this course so they can learn to appreciate what it is like to live with a disability.

Answer 2

It'd be nice if every language was available to kids to learn in schools (and with the internet, that may become true someday). But we need to look at what languages are most important in today's (and tomorrow's) world. Someone mentioned mandarin, which makes sense since China is becoming more and more of a presence in the world (economically, at least). Arabic seems pretty important now with all the stuff going on in the middle east. Spanish is probably the most commonly spoken foreign language in America. Where I live, Portuguese is at least as common as Spanish, if not more so.

I studied French in high school (I actually took 8 years of French total). I never became fluent, and today (16 years later) I can barely speak or read anything in French. But I learned a lot about the English language from taking French, skills and knowledge that I do still possess today. So I think there is a great advantage to studying a language that is similar to English. I doubt (but I don't really know) that the same is true for ASL.

Answer 3

No. Sign language is only used by less than 1/10th of 1% of the population. You might meet perhaps one person every 5 years that relies on sign language; hardly worth the cost of teaching, compared to nearly anything else.

If you want to learn sign language, there are schools that offer it; but don't expect public schools to do it.

On the other hand, Spanish is used by MANY in this country, like it or not. That is useful. Sign language, while admirable, is just not very useful to nearly anyone.

Answer 4

Yes, definitely. It's a language just as much as Spanish, French, etc. I think a lot can learned from Sign Language. I think the connection between hand movement and the mind can be effective for young people.

Answer 5

YES! My friend worked for the FBI as a translator. The language she translted was Sign Language! By learning sign language you also lear how to read lips, she also used this skill.

Answer 6

Yes. Since Mandarin is actually the number one language spoken in the world, I also think that it should be taught in schools as well.