Besides our table was another one with 4 ladies. They were not noisy at all they were very silent despite the fact that they seemed to have a lot of fun too. They looked like a group of Italian Mammas speaking with their hands but no voice, all four of them were death and dumb. They made big smiles and signs to us and we smiled back and made signs that the food was very good.
At one moment I was at the buffet and one of the deaf women hit me at my arm and pointed on the sauces. I understood that she asked me which of the sauce was spicy. I pointed to the one which was not spicy at all and shook my head and then on one where I opened my mouth and panted like an old dog. She understood and we both smiled.
Later I thought it would be nice to learn the sign language and read on lips. I wonder if in all languages the signs are the same. I asked Mrs. Wikipedia and learned that "A common misconception is that all sign languages are the same worldwide or that sign language is international. Aside from the pidgin International Sign, each country generally has its own, native sign language, and some have more than one, though sign languages may share similarities to each other, whether in the same country or another one.It is not clear how many sign languages there are. The 2013 edition of Ethnologue lists 137 sign languages.
What a pity ! I thought at least the deaf and mute people had the same language all over the world !
If it would have been the same for all languages I would have tried to learn, I once had a deaf friend when I was 18, she read on my lips. At that time I would have learned, but there were no schools where I lived. Now I am too lazy and so I remain with my personal body language. If I want to tell that somebody had been strangled, I just put my hands around my neck open my mouth and let my tongue hang out, while I have a cross eyed look. I think that is understandable for everybody.
Linking to Jenny's Warm heart Wednesday
hee hee if you had been strangled you wouldn't be making any signs just dead on the floor. Its interesting that there are so many different sign languages I knew there were differences but not so many. Sounds like you had fun at lunch.
ReplyDeleteSeeing you in action showing strangulation would be fun. In Australia people use Auslan for signing. R knows quite a bit of it through his previous work.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope I one day see you demonstrate a strangulation! Interesting that sign language isn't universal! My paternal grandmother, Lisa Marais was deaf and dumb. She contracted diphtheria and whooping cough at the age of three. She was in a concentration camp here in South Africa at the time and as the illness was neglected she never spoke normally and her eardrums had burst so never heard. She communicated with everyone in her own particular language - only a few words and also with hand gestures. We loved her.
ReplyDeleteWhat a loving and fun post for Warm My Heart ~ it did!
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend to you, ^_^
I had never thought about it before that there would be so many different sign languages.
ReplyDeleteI guess I knew they weren't the same because they always say "American Sign Language" here. I learned the alphabet years ago, but I'd have to spell everything out.
ReplyDeleteIn the USA, we use ASL or American Sign Language. My daughter-in-law is fluent in it and has been an interpreter. It is so beautiful to watch, especially when she sings.
ReplyDelete=)
I never really thought about it, but years ago I took some classes in American Sign Language and I guess that's why it was called "American" Sign Language. That was about 40 years ago, but I can still sign my name and say a few words.
ReplyDeleteI knew that about sign language because here it is called ASL (American Sign Language), one of my cousins had a son who was born deaf and so they all learned it. Yesterday we watched the Superbowl* and it was beautiful watching the actress Marlee Matlin (who is deaf) perform the National Anthem in sign language as Lady GaGa sang it with a beautiful chorus of military. Sometimes they make a mess of it at such games, but this time it was beautifully done.
ReplyDelete*American Football. And really only Bill watched it -- I mostly blogged, only popping in front of the TV occasionally to see the entertainment.
I never knew that about sign language.
ReplyDeleteI can usually pantomime pretty well and get my message across.
And now that almost everyone I know is getting hard of hearing (not me, of course...hmmm...what did you say?) it would probably be a good idea to learn sign language!
Thanks for the smile and warming my heart for week 12.
XOXOXOXO