What type of sign language is used?

[BubbleAndSquark]

My daughters 5 and keeps asking me how to say things in sign language, I don't know any so have been checking the words online to tell her, but was wondering if the 'american sign language' is the correct one to use in the UK?

Er, in Britain we use British Sign Language...

In the UK we use British sign language.
Manor in is also used by some people with learning disabilities and communication problems, but bsl is the official language if the Deaf community.

Makiton, not manor In!

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Sign_Language

British sign language, unsurprisingly... Although at 5 Makaton might be more appropriate - let her watch Something Special.

She'll likely pick up makaton easier than bsl at 5 if she's verbal as the sentence structure in bsl is different. Most of the signs are the same I think but on makaton you sign what you say

My understanding is that BSL and ASL are fundamentally different languages, at least as different as English and French.

BSL. Absolutely no need to bother with makaton unless specifically for small children or with LD.

I always think we've missed a trick by not having a universal sign language and teaching all children - you could instantly communicate with people in any country!

ASL is now considered the universal standard & as PP said totally different to BSL.

I always think we've missed a trick by not having a universal sign language and teaching all children

Yes we should have a universal spoken language taught to all children.

Oh wait - languages don't work like that, either signed or spoken.

OP

American Sign Language is based on French Sign Language so is very different to BSL.

Auslan and New Zealand sign language are 90%+ the same as BSL

I always think we've missed a trick by not having a universal sign language and teaching all children - you could instantly communicate with people in any country!

BSL is a language in it’s own right. It would be ridiculous to suggest that every child in the world is taught spoken English.

Why should sign languages be the same in different countries any more than spoken ones are? There are loads of regional variations in BSL across this country.

Sashh - no need to be sarcastic. Not to replace any other language, which obviously all have different grammar structures etc, but why would it not be possible? Children have the ability to learn numerous different languages at a young age - a baby can speak Mandarin, Russian and English, why would a sign language be any different?

Would deaf people have to learn this new universal language in addition to their local sign language then?

Good point. That would mean eroding their own culture's language, I'd not thought this through!

We'll go back to Esperanto then : )

Bran given that the child is just expressing an interest rather than needing to learn sign language, and doesn't have anyone to teach her BSL, the Makaton suggestions are more realistic. She'll probably pick loads of Makaton up from Mr Tumble but won't learn usable BSL from someone who has no previous knowledge of sign language at all who is looking signs up on the internet.

Sashh - no need to be sarcastic. Not to replace any other language, which obviously all have different grammar structures etc, but why would it not be possible?

It would be possible, but it is exactly the same as children all learning the same spoken language. Sign languages have grammar, structures, dialects, everything spoken languages have. They also have a couple of features spoken languages do not eg it is impossible to say two words at once, but you can sign different things with different hands.

Ask at her school, some use Makaton if they have children who use it as assistive communication due to learning disabilities. Others use BSL if for example there are children in the school who are deaf.

but you can sign different things with different hands. not the way I sign...

They also have a couple of features spoken languages do not eg it is impossible to say two words at once, but you can sign different things with different hands.

In BSL? Could you give an example?

Daisies and sleeping

Think bout signing two cars crashing, when you sign you will have the cars hitting in the correct direction and where they hit. In English you might say someone came out of a side road and hit you and then have to add in your speed and theirs, in BSL you can show both at the same time.

Also when you placemark - not sure correct term, so if you were showing a group of people walking up to a tree, you might 'hold' the tree sign with your left hand and show a group walking up with our right. Now you probably think that you have just signed there is a tree and people walk up to it, but actually you are holding the tree sign so you are signing, "here is a tree" and simultaneously signing "a group of people walked up to it"

My comment was more a reflection on my inability to multitask and my mediocre makaton