You are finding yourself in a situation where you want to communicate with certain people. Still, the plan goes south due to your poor communication skills or inability to use sign languages. This might trigger your interest in learning sign languages and the first question to pop into your head is, “how long does it take to learn sign language.” Not to worry, because, in this article, we will cover every important aspect of learning sign languages and the big question of how long it takes to learn sign language.
Before we go further, we must briefly introduce sign languages and their benefits.
Table of contents
What is sign language?
To thoroughly understand how long it takes to learn sign language, we must know what sign language is. According to Access Computing, Sign language is a method or pattern of manually communicating with and among deaf people. Sign language varies with country. This means that the sign language of a particular country would be different from that of another country.
Sign language involves communicating by making gestures or symbols. These gestures or symbols in sign languages are arranged in linguistic manners. Each gesture is referred to as a sign. The hand shape, the posture of the hands, and the movement of the hands are all unique aspects of each sign.
We have different sign languages from around the world. They include The American Sign Language (ASL), The British, Australian, and New Zealand Sign Language (BANZSL), The Chinese Sign Language (CSL), The French Sign Language (LSF), The Japanese Sign Language (JSL) Syllabary, The Arabic Sign Language, The Spanish Sign Language (LSE), The Mexican Sign Language (LSM), The Ukrainian Sign Language (USL), and lastly, The Plains Sign Talk (Indigenous to North America).
Out of all Sign Languages, the American Sign Language (ASL) is the most commonly used among others in the united state.
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Benefits of sign languages
Now that you have an idea of sign language, you should also be aware of the benefits of sign language. They include:
- Gives Your Brain a Good Workout
- It’s Around Us All the Time
- Introduces You to a New Culture & Community
- Meet New People & Make New Friends
- Improves Your Peripheral Vision & Reaction Time
- Communicate with Babies
- Communicate with Animals
- Boosts Your Communication Skills
- Become Better at Spelling
- Helps You To Become a Better Listener
- You Become More Diverse
- Boosts Your Business & Creates More Opportunities
- Becomes Easier to Learn Another New Language
- Improves Your Body Language Skills
- Introduces You to the Issue of Deaf Awareness
- It Can Be Used All the Time
- Be Able to Help When Required
- It’s a Beautiful Language
How Long Does It Take to Learn Sign Language?
Learning sign language depends on the individual. Everyone learns at a different rate and has a distinct learning style. Similarly, there are no exceptions when it comes to learning sign language. This means that an individual can take a shorter time to learn sign language than another learner.
However, your ability to understand the concept of sign language would determine how long it will take you to learn them. Another factor determining how fast it would take you to learn sign language is your commitment and devotion to understanding it. You have to put enough time and effort into studying the language, and by that, you can learn it.
Some people prefer learning sign language independently, while others prefer learning in class. It would take an individual approximately six weeks to thoroughly learn sign language in a class setting. And at the end of the course or tutorial, the individual should comprehend the sign language.
However, after six weeks, the learner may still not be completely fluent in sign language. If the learner continues to study and practice frequently, they can become fluent in sign language in a few years. In general, it may take from about three months to three years of learning.
In essence, learning sign language requires setting out your objectives and meeting them. Your objectives would indicate the purpose of why you are learning sign language.
Learning a few essential sign languages is enough for some people, and this could even take a few months to learn. On the other hand, some people want to be fluent and expert in speaking the sign language, which would take several years of learning and practice.
Is it difficult to learn Sign Language?
After discussing how long it takes to learn sign language, we also need to consider its difficulty. As we have said initially, sign language involves hand and body movements, and the problem isn’t specific. It all depends on the level of commitment and devotion they are ready to put into it.
When you compare learning a new spoken language to a sign language, you will notice that learning sign language is less complicated than learning a new spoken language.
What are the most effective methods for learning sign language?
It will be incomplete if we discuss how long it takes to learn sign language and not discuss the most effective ways of learning it. We are now in the digital age, and learning can be done even online through apps or youtube videos.
This would save stress and inconvenience. Although, the most effective method of learning sign language is to employ a qualified sign language tutor. This is because an experienced professional sign language tutor would notice and direct you on what to do and provide you feedback concerning your progress.
Furthermore, a tutor can advise you based on your learning style, ensuring that your studies are progressing in the proper direction and saving you time and effort. As professional and experienced tutors, they can be able to spot your errors and assist you in promptly correcting them.
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Conclusion
At the end of this article, we have been able to discuss what sign languages are; we also highlighted the several benefits of learning sign language and answered the question of how long does it take to learn sign language; we looked at the difficulty of learning sign language and lastly, we looked at the most effective method of learning sign language. I hope this piece of information will guide you toward whatever decision you choose to take. Goodluck.
What is sign language?
Sign language is a method or pattern of manually communicating with and among deaf people.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Sign Language?
It would take an individual approximately six weeks to thoroughly learn sign language in a class setting, and they won’t be fluent. But if focused on learning, in three years, they can become fluent.
Is it difficult to learn Sign Language?
When you compare learning a new spoken language to a sign language, you will notice that learning sign language is less complicated than learning a new spoken language.
