I said, Hello.” Did you hear me? Well, I bet several high school students in Westminster, Maryland knew what I said. The State Board of Education changed their requirements for foreign languages and now includes American Sign Language I – III as an option for fulfilling the foreign language graduation requirement.
The Need for American Sign Language
“In Maryland, more than 17,000 deaf individuals are residents, according to information provided by Galludet University in Washington, D.C.” This has led some high schools to begin teaching American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language. The interest in the classes continues to grow and enrollment goes up each year. The teachers and the students are excited about the opportunity to learn this form of communication.
Charlene Handley, a teacher at Westminster High school, opts to be silent for the entire first week of ASL I. How does it go over with the students? Great – they usually learn about 60 signs by the end of the first week. The students are amazed at how quickly they pick up the silent language.
An Effective Option
In reading about this I got jealous. How I wished I had the opportunity to learn ASL while in high school instead of taking French. I suffered horribly at the hands of my French teacher… I could read and write the language, I just couldn’t speak it or tell you what someone was saying to me. Kind of a hindrance when trying to be proficient in a foreign language, right?
What About You?
BUT, Sign Language? I actually had a chance to learn the alphabet and the Star Spangled Banner when I was in grade school (it was offered through our gifted program one year). I LOVED IT! Maybe it had something to do with being a kinesthetic learner. Whatever it was that made it interesting, appealing, and something I could actually DO worked for me. To this day I still remember most of the alphabet. I even got hooked on this site that quizzes you (with short words) while finding information for this blog. Give it a try – I bet you’ll be hooked in no time!
