Does sign language count as a second language?

Question

a lot of colleges want you to know a second language and im learning sign language, so would that count?

Answer 1

Yes,sign language would fulfill foreign language requirements

Answer 2

It definitely counts =].

Answer 3

YES!

Answer 4

i consider it a second language but youd be better off asking a college counselor so that you dont waste your time  

Answer 5

It depends on who you ask. I personally don't think sign language is a language on its own. It is more of an alternate way to communicate within the same language. I don't think Braille is a language either. There is no harm in learning sign language or braille, but I'm not sure they would count as "foreign languages" (and these are the ones schools want you do learn). It comes down to the particular school you attend, so ask the counselors at your college. EDIT: Ah, thank you bugitz0223 for the clarification. I didn't know that. I'm also curious so I have a question (in case you're reading this): Does ASL have the same depth of expression as is found in English? For example, can poetry be expressed in sign language?

Answer 6

Absolutely and very beneficial

Answer 7

Yes, actually!  A former co-worker of mine is married to a man with a deaf brother, so he grew up learning sign language to communicate with the brother.  Then the husband went to a college that offered for-credit sign language classes, and he tested out of some of it and then took the remaining courses necessary to fill his graduation requirements.

Pretty cool, eh?

Answer 8

Absolutely. Just because it's called American Sign Language doesn't mean all Americans can understand it. In fact, many native ASL "speakers" have trouble with American English grammar and spelling, because ASL is so different and much more simplified.

Answer 9

Many colleges count it  but some do not.  So better to think about what college you want to go to and make sure they count it.  And in response to what Caleigh said:  it's not a matter of opinion.  ASL is its own language with grammar and syntax which have been researched and determined by linguists to meet every criteria to declare it a full and complete language seperate from English.  Just one example to further illustrate the point is that American Sign Language and British Sign Language are completely different, even though the spoken languages of the two countries are virtually the same.  American sign language has its roots in French Sign Language, because the first American school for the Deaf was established by a Deaf  teacher for France who brought his native sign language to the US, and used it as the basis for the first formal sign language used in the US.  Braille is just a transcription of each letter in a word into raised dots on a page.  ASL is totally different than English, which is why most colleges do accept it as a second language.

Answer 10

Indy's Child

Sign Language The Best Second Language?

http://littlesigners.com/article14.html

Answer 11

Yes!! it definitively counts. In fact just 2 days ago I watched a CNN story where they emphasized the high demand of translators on these days and counted sign language as one of them. Here is a link to the Wikipedia info page on sign language and the Bureau of Labor Statistics on interpreters and translators.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_langua...

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos175.htm