FAQs
Welcome to the Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research (CAEBER) frequently asked questions site. We have compiled the most commonly asked questions and researched answers which we hope will be useful to you. If you have additional questions that we have not addressed or would like to provide feedback on ways we can improve our site, please send an email to caeber@gallaudet.edu.
American Sign Language (ASL)
- Where can adults take ASL classes?
- Where can children take ASL classes?
- Is there an international signed language?
Deaf Culture and the Deaf Community
- What is Deaf Culture? UNDER CONSTRUCTION
- Where can I go to socialize with Deaf people?
Online Resources
Interpreting
- How do I become an interpreter?
- Where can I train to become an interpreter?
- What interpreting agencies are located in the DC Metro Area?
Other
- Does Gallaudet have lip-reading courses?
The Anwsers
Where can adults take ASL classes?
Due to the number of ASL classes offered throughout the country, it is challenging to maintain updated information for each listing. When gathering information about classes, it is important to know that quality of ASL classes may vary due to a wide range of factors such as:
Where can children take ASL classes?
Is there an international signed language?
There is no International Sign Language, per se. The book,
Gestuno, International Sign Language of the Deaf, published in 1975 by the British Deaf Association, is a collection of signs agreed upon by the Unification of Signs Commission of the World Federation of the Deaf as being appropriate to help facilitate communication among persons from different countries which have their own national signed languages. It was never intended to replace any national Sign Language, a common misconception of the work. The work was a continuation of two previous attempts to put together a collection of basic gestural signs to help individuals communicate more effectively in international meetings and conferences. It ended up replacing those two initial efforts. The work should not be labeled ISL because that label probably belongs to Irish Sign Language which is different from British Sign Language, for example. "Gestuno" is an acronym coined by the Italians as meaning "one system of gestures," but it is NOT a language in any sense of the word. In the United States and Canada, we have used signs from Gestuno to help people return to more basic gestural communication in preparation for international conferences and for international deaf sports competitions. The Deaf Way (I and II) is one example of a world conference where Gestuno has been used more or less formally by trained deaf and hearing interpreters to assist participants in following lectures or presentations given in ASL (American Sign Language) and English as official languages of the conference. Some countries use their own interpreters to interpret from spoken English to their native Sign Languages.
Where can I go to socialize with Deaf
people?
In addition to formal instruction, social interaction with native/native-like language users is important to not only achieve ASL proficiency, but to gain awareness and knowledge of Deaf Culture. Click on the following web sites for social events/interactions that include both Deaf and hearing people.
DC Metro Area
How do I become an interpreter?
Where can I train to become an interpreter?
What interpreting agencies are located
in the DC Metro Area?
Does Gallaudet have lip-reading courses?
