
'The language more beautiful than words' - CarolineW
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-39302109
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yiyus
It would be great to teach SL in schools. For the children, it would really
funny to be able to "speak" a wordless language, so they will be willing to
learn. And I am quite sure that learning a new language always is very
beneficial for a child, and in the case of SL it has the added benefit of
helping with inhibition. Being able to communicate with deaf people and maybe
(hopefully) children with other native languages make it even more
interesting.

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luxpir
It'd be great if a universal sign language became the world's _lingua franca_.
No more accent issues, much less loss of meaning in non-native exchanges. I'm
sure some technology will replace language-learning before that has the chance
to happen.

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savanaly
I believe accent issues are just as much a problem if not more in the
communities around the world that use sign language. After all, signed
languages can be as different from each other as spoken languages are from
each other. I know you had in mind a hypothetical universal sign language and
probably weren't mistaking "sign language" as being the same everywhere, but
I'm just saying I don't think we would escape the issue of accents so easily.

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jwdunne
What a moving piece. Yes, schools should teach sign language. How can I read
this and disagree?

Now I can see a future where everybody understands and speaks sign. Deafness
is a disability but it need not be so disablin. I will begin learning today.

I was particularly brought to tears by the image of a leader, the truest kind,
addressing the deaf "How could I ever expect to lead you if I cannot speak
your language? How could you ever look to me when you can't speak to me?",
with disgrace at the idea of not knowing sign. We need, I think, more public
leaders like this.

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Thiez
Most people never get to speak directly to the leaders of their countries, I
strongly doubt that leaders knowing sign language would make much of a
difference. And it's not like there exists an insurmountable communication
barrier today; the deaf can send an email as well as anyone.

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vasira
Yes, Sign language is very beautiful than words. When i see people talking in
sign language, it gives pleasure to me.

