Question by edoedo: Why do hearing people feel dumb if they don’t know Sign Language?
I don’t mean to be rude but everytime when they write down and said ‘I feel stupid that I don’t know Sign Language” or ” I am stupid because I don’t know Sign Language” .
So, my question is why do they or why do some they think they are stupid? Honest, I don’t think they are stupid and it is not their language but why do they think they are stupid?
I am asking this to all hearing people because I am Deaf.
To the mom.123: I am not calling anyone stupid but the question is why do they think they are? I don’t think they are stupid.
To the mom123: Understood.
Best answer:
Answer by the mom.123
I don’t think I am stupid but I have a friend that is deaf and I am learning sign language so that I can talk to him. I am taking out dvd’s from the library to learn sign language. I am having fun learning. it is always great to learn a different language. my friend is also helping me learn. within the month, I have learned so many words. and I can not wait to learn more each day. I know you where not calling anyone stupid. sometimes people don’t know how to act around someone who is deaf. but you should not treat them any different then a hearing person.
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I suppose partly they are being polite and partly because it’s easy to forget that there are a lot of English people who can’t hear, and we can’t communicate with them because we don’t know how to sign. That’s kind of embarrassing, or at least I find it embarrassing, and when you actually meet a deaf person, or a group of deaf people, you can definitely feel kind of dumb for never bothering to learn it.
That’s my experience, anyway.
“Hearing” people are no different than anyone else when in a position when they NEED to communicate.
Being placed in a situation where COMMUNICATION is the objective and one of the parties can-Not communicate is VERY UNCOMFORTABLE for many.
Probably because they have no self-confidence in themselves.
I get a similar yet different “complaint”. I enjoy writing to pen pals all around the world and whenever I get a new one from another country they always insist on apologizing for their English. My “favorite” [sarcasm] ones are the ones who study 4 or 5 languages besides English (or better yet, study the art of language) and insist of apologizing. As an American who wishes I had a talent for languages and who butchers her “native tongue” daily and listens to the constant slang that sounds like a different language, I get insulted when those who are studying it think that mine is any better than they can speak. Honestly–I’ve read a LOT of people’s English skills and I can tell you that the only one’s who need to apologize for their “terrible English” are the ones who can’t write a complete letter, with actual thoughts and opinions and NEWS, for fear of sounding “dumb”.
I’ve sometimes fought my way through letters where the words are out of order, wrong words are used, or other trivial issues– AND I LOVED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!! It’s a simple matter of asking for clarification when I don’t understand and I don’t mind the extra time it takes to read and reply. I love how these people try! I hate getting one small note that says absolutely nothing–it feels like a waste of a stamp. I don’t care if someone wrote me in one word sentences because they knew nothing about English grammar, so long as there was information to be gained.
And I will end by saying that I’ve probably gotten more letters in “wasted English” from Americans than from any Foreign country. The grammar might be perfect but the letter was a waste of time. Give me misspelled words, fragmented sentences, and incoherent thoughts–at least show me that there is something else going on than “work sucks, baby’s sick, I hate Bush/Obama–talk to ya later”.
I don’t feel stupid. Your language has to be learned just like Chinese! No one should feel bad. I don’t know Chinese because there is no reason for me to speak it. The same for signing.If I do need it, I’ll learn!
I’m not sure about why they would say that. I get frustrated when I can’t sign what I want to say fast enough but I can’t remember why I started to sign. I am not deaf but it fascinated me and i learned the alphabet but that is slow. I would like to add full gestures.Sometimes i make my own signs out of frustration to speak with god I use thought and movement with no words sometimes when i am really frustrated and cannot find the words. I am autistic and have problems communicating my thoughts but my signs are not like sign language in that they are meerly between god and I. I used to not talk to people at all just stand in the corner and be silent when others were around. I do have communication problems, People always get me wrong.I use it sometimes to speak with a deaf friend but we still use paper to. I think what they mean edoedo is that they are frustrated and feel inadequate for the task of the pleasure to speak with you.Yes i remember now because it was the way I first communicated with others my true feelings, with the hand gestures and the scriptures in the school I learned better skills in theocratic ministry school. Jehovah helped me a lot to overcome the isolation but i still get misunderstood.
Possibly because you can clearly understand them (I’m assuming you lip read though).
Had a conversation once with a partially deaf person, she told me that the signs for ‘I’m hungry’ in Melbourne is ‘I want sex’ in Sydney. (which she only found out when she told a friend from Sydney that she was hungry)