| American Sign Language, usually abbreviated to "ASL", | | | | origins to the 19th century, and many people attribute |
| is the principal sign language in North America, including | | | | its early development to the Reverend Thomas |
| the United States of America (with perhaps 2 million | | | | Hopkins Gallaudet who was the first principal of the |
| people knowing the language), and English-speaking | | | | Hartford School for the Deaf in Connecticut, which is |
| parts of Canada, as well as parts of Mexico. ASL is | | | | today known as the American School for the Deaf. |
| also used to some degree in a number of other | | | | American Sign Language is of course principally used |
| countries around the world, but it should be | | | | by the deaf and hard-of-hearing, and by their families |
| emphasized it is not mutually intelligible with the sign | | | | and others to communicate with them. Many families |
| language used in the United Kingdom which is known | | | | do use ad hoc sign languages to communicate with |
| as British Sign Language ("BSL") and is in fact quite | | | | deaf children, but ASL classes are widely taught in |
| different (ASL is in fact very similar to modern French | | | | secondary and postsecondary schools in the United |
| Sign Language, and has about 60% vocabulary in | | | | States. For those who wish to learn ASL at home, or |
| common with it). | | | | perhaps brush on their skills, the Internet can be helpful |
| ASL has its own grammar, syntax and idoms, that are | | | | - for example, you can find downloadable courses that |
| distinct from spoken English. The language traces its | | | | teach it. |