My interest in signing piqued after I came across a YouTube channel called ‘the daily sign’ which interprets songs into PSE (Pidgin Signed English). It’s fascinating really. Although PSE is a much easier one to form sentence due to American Sign Language’s (ASL) subject-object-verb rule, it is not a verified sign language.
I started trying to interpret songs myself by using some online asl dictionaries like SigningSavvy. It is a really good way to learn phrases and words, if you don’t know where to start. Although my way of creating sentences remains influenced by PSE, I’m beginning to be able to translate sentences much better.
Now, why ASL? At first, I always thought maybe I should learn Indian sign language. To be fair ISL is used by many Indians. However looking more into it, I found out ASL is actually a majorly used sign language in the country. It is also the most commonly used worldwide.
For me, signing is not just a way to connect to deaf or mute people. I personally have never met someone who uses sign language. Though I remember, I once saw a 10-12-year-old girl signing to a friend while I was stuck in traffic at a red light.
As a conclusion, I believe signing is not just about supporting disabled rights or some other thing, it’s about learning something new. It can be fun, it can be engaging, it can be life changing to.
And after all, we all know this, sign language can be pretty handy at times!