different signs

I am self taught from this Rocket and several books and dvds. I have found a social group that meets once a week for lunch at local mall and went, introduced myself and they warmly welcomed me to their group. They chat amongst themselves very fast but thoughtfully stop occasionally and "baby talk" with me to try to keep me included. The thing I've noticed is many of the signs that I have learned from the courses are not recognized by the group. they use something else. We share the signs and I try to assimilate their sign (I am talking to them as their guest). Is this a common problem? I had read that in different countries, they use different sign language and there may be some disparity from region to region, but I thought these more common everyday words would be pretty common. Any comments?

Hi there, American Sign Language or ASL is the official language of the American Deaf community is practiced and it is used as a secondary Sign Language in many parts of the world. Just as spoken language is unique to its country, the same can be said for sign language. Your experience is a very good way to practice and improve your Sign Language. Good luck!

I would love to meet with a group to practice ASL. I live in Northern Utah

can you help me? I am not released by my doctor to attend formal class & I want to become more fluent in ASL syntax. I have a Deaf daughter, all I know has been self taught. Do you have good suggetion for me? Char helps me lot when she is with me, I want to feel confident to talk to other Deaf people I may meet when Char is not with me. Though Chardena is now 20 years old, I don't feel good fluent in ASL. I would like to voulenteer as an interpreter, if my doctor allows me to. To accomplish this the best I can I need help getting the ASL syntax improved! Respectfully, Rayleene

If your interested in being an interpreter you can contact your local community college to see if they have interpreter classes.

ASL has 4 registers, so that can influence the choice of signs. Also, there is a large range of different signs on "contact sign" (used to be called PSE or Pidgen Sign English). Best to sign for the right meaning. Then there is a type of signing now referred to as Sign Supported Speech. Most common of these is Signing Exact English (careful, different editions show signs differently). Some people try to use Signed English as one of these but if you read the fine print in the back of the book, it's form is really "contact sign". There are some regional differences but not as much as you are describing. I bet it is a different sign system they are using that what you were taught.