Banquet questions (cont.)

Every banquet night before I get up to speak I say this prayer. It's exactly what I want to do and be each night. I'd love it if you would join this prayer for the second half of our banquet tour!

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy."

- St. Francis of Assisi

Here are answers to 2 more common questions that I'm asked at the banquet:

3. How do you communicate when you work in all these deaf communities that use different sign languages?
This is a great question because it means that people got one of the core messages of the speech: there are hundreds of different sign languages in the world and they are different enough that they can't use the same materials! Jason and I handle communication issues during our work in a variety of ways. Sometimes we use an interpreter (a deaf person who know American Sign Language (ASL) and the local sign language, or a hearing person who knows Spanish or English and the local sign language).

We also do our best to do as much rapid sign language learning as possible - the first week in a new location is devoted to developing relationships, learning the unique deaf cultural norms, understanding the right questions we need to be asking, and learning the local community's sign language. I think learning diverse sign languages could in some ways be compared to learning different Romance spoken languages - the more you know, the easier it is to learn the next one. So, for example, if you know English, and you learn Spanish, then it will be that much easier to learn French. And so on. We also aren't afraid to gesture as much as needed to get the point across until we learn their words. We do our best to check ASL at the border and immediately start using the local community's sign language so we show our respect of their language and minimize influence of outside sign languages. And many deaf people are pros at negotiating communication and more than happy to help us learn their language! We love getting to know them and learn so much through their willingness to teach!

So the short answer is that we typically use a combination of interpreters, language learning, gesturing, and the written majority language until we feel comfortable enough to work entirely in their sign language. Language and culture learning is part of the fun of our job! 

4. Is there an International Sign Language?
This question is tricky because, as I talk about in my speech, sign language is most definitely not universal. However, there is something that people refer to as "International Sign". International Sign is a sign system that has been developed by borrowing words from a number of different more commonly used sign languages (such as American Sign Language and British Sign Language) and signs that are more highly iconic (look like the object/idea they represent) and in more common use in many sign languages around the world.

International Sign has a limited set of core vocabulary that can be learned. It is often used at international deaf conferences where deaf people from a lot of different countries are coming together. Its limited standard vocabulary is augmented by the language user's own native sign language and the sign language of the host country to communicate. International Sign uses a lot of role play and gesturing to get the target message across to deaf people from diverse backgrounds.

So the answer to this question is "Yes, there is something called International Sign, but it is not a complete language and does not infer that sign language is universal." Feel free to shoot me more questions about it if you're interested - there's a lot of research still happening about what International Sign actually is and I can point you to some of it if you want to know more.