from the Office of Publications and Information Dissemination

Have you ever wondered about...

HOW DEAF PEOPLE COMMUNICATE (Series 2)
Page 7

We've already seen that signs for some words in the United States can vary. Sign languages in different countries are also as different as spoken languages. A deaf American in Russia would have to learn Russian sign language to communicate with a deaf Russian. just look at the differences among the signs for "mother" in six sign languages.

Mother
USA	Brazil	China
Denmark	Finland	England (tap on palm twice)

Did you notice that the sign for "mother" in England is different from the American sign? Although people from the United States and England both speak the English language, the sign languages are completely different. Even fingerspelling is different. In Britain, fingerspelling is done with two hands instead of one.

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