SteveG

So, I have a question. I currently speak English and Spanish fluently. I know some European Portuguese, but not completely fluent in it yet. I started studying American sign language two years ago. So I'm at the very least bilingual striving for multilingual. Far from being considered a polyglot. Does knowing American sign language (or any country's sign language) fall into the realm of being considered multilingual or polyglot? I've been told no and yes. Non-signers tell me no. Hearing signers tell me yes. Even looking it up online seems to have a division for the same reasons. Just curious.

Hello.  My name is Steve.  Sorry for taking a long time to write my intro.  I am hearing 46 years old gay man living in south Texas. I have one year of learning American sign language under my belt.  I completed one year in April 2021.  I love signing.  I love learning languages.  I speak Spanish as well.  I attempted to learn sign language in 1998 from a book.  The book was just black and white drawings and it was very difficult to understand the signs.  I tried again in 2005, but with no luck.  I finally dove into it a year ago.  I had a very good reason for wanting to learn; personal reasons.  Now here I am, going into the second year of signing.  It is very difficult and a bit boring to learn on your own.  Let me clarify, I have two qualified ASL instructors.  I do not see them every month, but I have stuck with them for over a year now.  When I do not see them, I send them videos of my progress.  I sign to myself all the time.  I finger spell when I drive.  But I have no ASL friends to sign with.  Hoping to make some friends, but until then, I continue to learn on my own, with the help of my two instructors.