do deaf children learn sign language any faster or slower than hearing children learn verbal language?
368058
Children (deaf or hearing) learn sign language at the same speed as hearing children learn spoken language, as far as research can tell at the moment.  The two differences are:\n\nfirst, that due to the difficulty of controlling vocal chord muscles compared to arm and hand muscles, babies are able to produce recognisable signs at an earlier age than they can produce recognisable words, and \n\nsecond, deaf children will only learn sign as fast as hearing children learn spoken languages if they are exposed to sign at the same age (i.e. from birth) and to the same amount (i.e. all the time) as hearing children hear spoken language.\n\nIf you are asking this question because you have a deaf child, or know someone who has, I have three recommendations if you don't know sign yourself.\n\n1. Get a deaf babysitter to come and visit often to sign to the baby.  As he/she gets older, contact your local Deaf organisation and get involved there.\n2. Learn sign yourselves.  It will take you years to become fluent and you won't learn it fast enough to significantly help your child (that's why you need the babysitter) but it will be of great help when they're older.\n3. Also learn Cued Speech (link below). This is not sign, it's a way of making spoken English "visible" to deaf people and it has three good features: it's very quick to learn (20 hours), it will help your child understand English and it can be used as well as sign, not just instead of.
898591
No, absolutely not.  There are different official sign languages from country to country.  Did you know American Sign Language is more like French and Japanese Sign Language than British?  \n\nAlso, there are regional "dialects" and "accents", as well as various slang terms and "home signs" known only to families, friends, and/or classes.  My brother and I are hearing, but we devised a "home sign" language so we could hold a conversation without others knowing it, and our spouses and some of our very close friends "speak" our special home sign, too.  (We think our mom also understands it, but she won't tell us!)
832041
What an interesting question.  :-)  \n\nMusic, like mathematics, is in many respects considered a language.  I've heard it is true that children who grow up learning to play a musical instrument find mathematics easier than children who do not play an instrument.  \n\nIt's a well documented fact that learning one language exercises portions of the brain making it easier to learn successive languages, with each additional language being easier than the one before it.  So it stands to reason that someone who has become "fluent" in the "language" of music might find it easier to learn a foreign language afterward.
675798
I'd much rather be deaf.  I know that I wouldn't be able to hear my daughter say Mommy anymore, but as long as I can see her grow up, I'd be okay with that.  PLUS...I already know ASL.
87617
i learned by listining to parents and children talking to each other... it comes alot faster when there is no english that is present.... always remember ne-verb-pas for not
57297
I think only in siblings that it's most common. Kids have the ability to learn a seperate language so quickly when exposed to it like they are with siblings. I remember my older brother and I translating for my youngest brother to my mom, and I think it was only because we all lived together and still had our innate ability to learn a new language quickly.
421546
Where are the language centers?  All language is first learned through association of sound and sight.  As children, we put these together so we can talk.  Sometimes we get it wrong, sometimes not.  But, all learning has some aspect of associatiative processing.  Look up Noam Chomsky.  He did a lot of research on language.  Look up a good Cognitive Psych and Bio-psych book.  You should be able to cross reference linguistics and learning pathways with sensory perceptions.
353461
Easy... check this out www.deafnation.com also I've been teaching sign-language and I'm almost deaf.  I go places where there is a lot of activity that most deaf people go.  Feel free to contact me.  Easy signing is a good book to start with.
547613
There are many sign languages.  Users of different sign languages cannot understand each other, just as users of different spoken languages cannot understand each other.\n\nYour question suggests you think there might be sign language equivalents of spoken languages, i.e. Arabic sign language is used in places where people speak Arabic.  This is not true because sign languages are created and used by themselves; they are not signed versions of spoken languages.  Nicaraguan Sign Language, for example, was created entirely by deaf children who lived in the same school in Nicaragua; it is not a signed version of Spanish.  American Sign Language also is not a signed version of English -- it has its own syntax and is very different from English in some respects.  I hope this clears that up.\n\n(Actually, there is a signing system called Signed English that IS a signed version of English but it's not considered a language.)
889471
I am homeschooling my kindergartner...although I feel that we have  been since birth.  My dd also was talking well under a year.  I got a kit for baby sign language and started that with her at 7 months she started signing 2 weeks later. She was speaking clear sentences at about 12 months. It finally dawned on me to video her saying her alphabet @ 18 months (she started much earlier).  I have the baby Einstein videos, books various flash cards, etc.  When she was under 2 I started getting her preschool workbooks that she loved.  Basically I always got her educational materials that were advanced for her and let her play with them.  Some things were to difficult to grasp right away but I was always amazed that there was so much that she knew or learned very quickly.  We make everything a game and when she's done playing that game we/she does something else.  We also never talked baby talk. We never dumbed it down for her either...just like a foreign language they will pick it up and understand if spoken to them.  I have recently discovered the Waldorf method and although I am not sure about some of it other parts are speaking to me.  Playing is very important to a child's  development.  Here is some things you could check into...  There are several homeschooling chat groups that would be of benefit to you.  I understand that she is young but you would be able to reap the benefits from those that have lots of experience homeschooling.  There are also gifted homeschooling yahoo groups that can help with advanced children and the difficulties that can arise.  You can also find a local homeschool group and join up with them.  (even though your daughter is young  many people have babies as well as school aged children)
435029
Please don't believe the answers that say sign language is universal - this is a common mistake!  Every country has its own sign language (or more than one!) that have developed, sometimes over centuries, within the deaf communities.  These are all true languages - it's not just mime.  If you doubt this, try watching someone signing and guessing what they're saying - it's near impossible!\n\nLike spoken languages, there are sometimes similarities between sign languages because of their history.  For instance, there are a number of similarities between the French and American slgn languages because one of the early schools for the deaf in the US was run by a French teacher.\n\nTo get round to actually answering the question.  Yes, ASL is used in other countries, either through cultural contact or quite often missionaries spreading it.  It may have diverged from American ASL, but could still be recognisable.  Those countries I know of that use ASL to some extent (not necessarily universally) are: Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada (except Quebec), Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.  There are also a number of countries that have sign languages that started from ASL taught by missionaries, but which have now diverged.
277160
Yes, I've met a few. I always thought it was really amazing how they learnt to communicate with others. They use a form of sign language, like finger-spelling, but can you imagine how hard it must be to teach them the words and their meanings in the first place? Totally amazing people.
425984
Sign language is always 2 handed. It takes a long time to learn but you can get the basics down very quickly by going to the store(good book store) and buying a book called the JOY of signing. It illustrates and shows the correct usage too. Work on everyday words for now. Sign language is very literal you don't need to sign all the little words for her to get the gist of the conversation. Don't expect to be fluent in less than a year. Make sure she knows you are just learning and you are doing it for her.
1081497
I know lots of them.  My family's deaf & we all communicate in ASL.  Why do you ONLY want to know the curse signs & not everything else?
876504
reading and sign language why not
404763
One of the best sites on the web is:\nhttp://www.aslpro.com/\n\nBut, you cant really learn sign from the web or from a book.\n\nShe needs to take classes and mingle with other deaf people.\nThere are deaf clubs and deaf advocacy groups all over the country that would be happy to help her. A lot of regular schools are now teaching sign language as well.
466309
I would review my text books on the differences between the mental capacity of the two age groups.  For example, children of 5 to 6 years old tend to be more concrete in their thinking.  They have less ability to think in abstract ways and lesson plans should reflect these changes.\n\nI found a site that provides ideas of lesson plans for various age groups:\n\nhttp://www.edhelper.com/\n\nHere is a site that is a serach engine for Teachers, lesson plans and other data is available:\n\nhttp://www.lessonplanet.com/?fromgoogle=CbAG1phraselesson_plans&gclid=CN70k7v0j4QCFQe8SgodqlEZxA\n\nRemember that children are in the Pre-Operational Stage of thinking until about 7 years old which would include Second Grade.\n\nPre-operational Stage\n\n2-7 years At the age of 2 children have usually developed their ability to express themselves using language. This means that they have developed some form of Symbolic Representation. This is a key feature of this stage of development. Children do not only develop language as symbolic representation, they also develop other skills such as drawing, dance, modelling, number and music. Symbolic function develops through 4 stages:\n\n1. Deferred imitation\n\n2. Verbal evocation\n\n3. Symbolic or make believe play\n\n4. Symbolic drawings\n\nAt around 7 to 12 years of age, children DO start to think in more logical terms, so lesson plans should take into consideration the children who may be learning in either of these stages.\n\nConcrete Operations Stage — 7-12 years\n\nAgain, children make another leap as they begin to become less egocentric and start to understand and use new concepts. They can now classify things into categories, deal with numbers, take all aspects of a situation into account and understand reversibility. Children become much better at seeing the world from another person’s angle and this has implications for the development of moral behaviour. Children also develop CONSERVATION during this stage. This is the ability to understand how two equal quantities of the same matter remain equal despite changes in their appearance. Piaget tested for this using balls of clay. He rolled one ball of clay into a sausage and left the other as a ball. Children below the concrete operations stage would be unable to understand that the quantities remain equal, despite the change in appearance.\n\nChildren develop the ability to conserve the different dimensions at different times. At 6-7, they learn to conserve mass, or substance; at the age of 9-10 they can conserve weight; and by the age of 12, volume.\n\nMore Data Here:\n\nhttp://www.northern.ac.uk/NCMaterials/psychology/lifespan%20folder/Cognitivethinking.htm