A New Language

Image from  http://www.motifake.com/

I've been watching "Switched at Birth" and it rekindled my desire to learn sign language.  I've wanted to learn since I was in Intermediate School, and even considered learning it when I was pregnant with my son (since it's supposedly a good way to communicate with very young toddlers).

At the very least, now I can sign "WTF", thanks to the image  to the left.  :-p

Seriously, it's been said, over and over again, that people in general should learn different languages... but how many times do people consider learning sign language when they say, hear, or read this?  Why is it any less important?

Also, I keep thinking... it would be another way of helping my children continue learning about tolerance and not succumbing to the boundaries that differences, perceived or real, create between people from different walks of life.  Hubby and I encourage them to be "color blind" when it comes to people of every color (we all feel, we all bleed, we all have hardships, we all live, and we all die).  That's not to say that we don't teach them to be careful.  Stereotypes exist for a reason, but they also exist for every group of people.  It's when people come to believe that those stereotypes exist for the entire group (or even most of the group) that it becomes racism.  I've lived in an upper middle class, predominantly White neighborhood, but I also lived in a ghetto, two steps from "the projects", and was one of the only white girls there.  Racism exists in every group, and is equally distasteful and unacceptable, even if some groups can "get away with it" more than others.  So, teaching my children to be "color blind", but to appreciate the differences in people's cultures and subcultures... I think that's a good way to go.

Through sign language, perhaps I'd be able instill this openness in my children even further.  A further breaking down of boundaries.  Perhaps...