1. Sign Language

2. Sign languages is a language where one can express oneself with combinations of hand shapes, palm orientations( 方向 ), movements of the hands, arms, and body, and through facial( 臉的 ) expressions. It is a manual( 用手操作的 ) form of communication, and because it does not require the voice, it is used among deaf and mute( 啞的 ) people. SynonymSynonym: orientation=direction/ aspect mute = dumb

3. Sign language is used most often within( 在... 範圍內 ) the deaf ( 聾的 )community, which is made up of deaf people, their friends, families, and interpreters ( 口譯 員 ). Some parents teach their children how to use signs before their children learn how to speak, enabling them to become adept( 熟練的 ) at using the language. SynonymSynonym: interpreter = exponent/ expositor adept= skillful / proficient / expert

4. The sign language most often used in the United States, Canada, and Mexico is American Sign Language(ASL), and it’s used by over two million people in these countries. It is also used in some Asian and African countries and in the Caribbean( 加勒比海地區 ).

5. Sign language was first developed in the 18 th centry by a French priest( 牧師 ) by the name of Abbe Charles Michel De L’Eppe. Once this priest visited a home where there were two little girls who did not speak with him. At first, he thought they were rude, but then realized that they weren’t talking to him because they weren’t able to. SynonymSynonym: priest = clergyman / clerical

6. This gave him the inspiration( 靈感 ) to develop a language that deaf people could communicate with; however, the language he developed was only used in Europe. American Sign Language was created in Hartford, Connecticut( 康乃狄克州 ) in 1817 by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a deaf educator( 教育家 ), and Laurent Clerc, who was a teacher from France. They opened the American Asylum( 收容所 ) for the Deaf and Dumb, now called the American School for the Deaf. SynonymSynonym: asylum= refuge

7. Every country has its own form of sign language. Like all other languages, sign language is constantly( 持續 地 ) growing and changing as new words and phrases are created.

8. THE END